Latest news with #GeoffreyClifton-Brown
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
How to watch as Keir Starmer faces Liaison Committee grilling
The Prime Minister will appear before Westminster's Liaison Committee in Parliament at 2.30pm on Monday. The Liaison Committee brings together the chairs of the UK Parliament's committees who get a chance to question the PM on a wide range of topics. READ MORE: Labour launch review into raising retirement age They have set out two main themes for today's session: Poverty in the UK and International Affairs. During the Poverty in the UK part, he will face questions from: Debbie Abrahams MP – Work and Pensions Steve Barclay MP – Finance Liam Byrne MP – Business and Trade Ruth Cadbury MP – Transport Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP – Public Accounts Dame Caroline Dinenage MP – Culture, Media and Sport Florence Eshalomi MP – Housing, Communities and Local Government Patricia Ferguson MP – Scottish Affairs Helen Hayes MP – Education Andy Slaughter MP – Justice Nick Smith MP – Administration Then from: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP – Public Accounts Dame Caroline Dinenage MP – Culture, Media and Sport Andy Slaughter MP – Justice Dame Emily Thornberry MP – Foreign Affairs You will be able to watch the session on the Parliament Live website or on YouTube.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Two charities in Cotswolds receive whopping £25,000 donation
Two Cotswolds charities have received a £25,000 donation following a recent house draw in the area. The beneficiaries are Cirencester Housing for Young People (CHYP), which supports vulnerable 16-to-25-year-olds facing homelessness, and Cotswold Friends, a longstanding charity providing essential services for older and vulnerable members of the community. Omaze was introduced to both charities by Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Member of Parliament for the North Cotswolds. The donation follows Omaze's recent house draw in the Cotswolds, which saw 25-year-old Clarkson's Farm fan, Anthony Martin, win a five-bedroom property worth £5 million along with £250,000 in cash. READ MORE: Locals close to Clarkson's Farm have one issue with Jeremy Clarkson Anthony Martin at his Omaze £5m Cotswolds home. (Image: MARK FIELD PHOTOGRAPHY) This draw also raised £4.2 million for Guide Dogs. Omaze has a commitment to leaving a lasting legacy in the communities where its Grand Prize houses are located, in addition to the main donation for its House Draw charity partners, and is 'delighted' to be supporting these two very worthy local causes. CHYP has been operating for nearly 40 years and provides round-the-clock support along with an individual plan for each young resident to make sure their needs are met, and that they are moving towards living independently. Most of CHYP's vulnerable young residents are homeless as a result of family break-up, abuse or leaving care. Many have additional problems such as special educational needs or mental health issues. READ MORE: Inside Cotswolds Distillery where former Prime Minister visited Maggie Edney, Andy Johnson, Sherry Newton, Rebecca Cotton, Millie Curtis, Kim Lear, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Luanne Bond and Jane Gunner. Sherry Newton from Omaze presents members from Cirencester Housing for Young People (CHYP) with a cheque. (Image: Tom Wren / SWNS) In recent years, CHYP has seen a significant rise in the number of young people presenting with complex mental health challenges, now affecting 80 to 90 per cent of its residents. In response, the charity has reviewed its accommodation and services and is developing a new unit. The current house will be dedicated to the youngest and most vulnerable residents, while the new space, supported in part by the £12,500 Omaze donation, will provide a home for more independent 20–25-year-olds who require less intensive support. Planning discussions with senior council officials are already underway. READ MORE: Who is Emma Watson's new 'love interest' at Oxford University? Help support trusted local news Sign up for a digital subscription now: As a digital subscriber you will get: Unlimited access to the Oxford Mail website Advert-light access Reader rewards Full access to our app Cotswold Friends has been working to alleviate loneliness and isolation, improve health and wellbeing and support independent living for more than 45 years. Over 2,300 people benefit from the services, delivered by over 340 volunteers and a staff team. The charity will use the £12,500 donation to support its Community Activities Programme (CAP). It costs Cotswold Friends around £300 per person to support lonely, isolated older people, meaning the much-needed new funds will support more than 40 people attending Community Activities for a year. CAP offers many activities including Friendship Cafés, Lunch Clubs, Day Clubs, Knit and Natter sessions, Community Singing, Walking Football, a Community Garden, and Men in Sheds – all designed to bring people together and support well-being across the Cotswolds. READ MORE: Hammond reveals what got him Top Gear job with Clarkson and May John Lucas, Sherry Newton, Sharon Perrins, Diane Bell, Jo Hammond, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP and Ed Meed. Sherry Newton from Omaze presents members from Cotswolds Friends with a cheque. (Image: Tom Wren / SWNS) Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, MP for North Cotswolds, said: 'Across the Cotswolds, charities and volunteers contribute so much to our community, providing support and services to those who need it most. 'It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with Omaze and introduce them to these two amazing organisations. 'The combined £25,000 donation they're receiving will have a huge impact - keeping important services running and delivering new activities for both young and old people across the region.' Millie Curtis, CHYP General Manager, said "We are incredibly thankful to Omaze for this generous donation and Sir Geoffrey for putting us forward. "This £12,500 will help us make improvements so that we are able to support even more young, vulnerable homeless people in the future." READ MORE: Emma Raducanu watches Carlos Alcaraz win as 'romance blossoms' Our Summer Sale is LIVE! Get 6 months of trusted local news for just £6! 🌞🗞️ Full details here 👇 — Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) July 2, 2025 Joanna Hammond, CEO, Cotswold Friends, said: 'Cotswold Friends are very grateful for this fantastic donation from Omaze. "The £12,500 will help fund our Community Activities Programme this year, supporting the continued delivery of local activities that help older and vulnerable people stay connected to the community.' Sherry Newton, Omaze, said: 'Everyone at Omaze is absolutely delighted we have been able to make a contribution to these two influential charities. 'I was honoured to meet representatives from both charities and hear about the incredible people they are supporting - and the teams who provide these vital community services. "Omaze will continue to help more local causes in the areas where we host our house draws, wherever possible."
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Business Standard
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Migrants on UK Skilled Worker visa face debt, fake agents, exploitation
A key British work visa route used by thousands of Indian and other foreign professionals leaves migrants vulnerable to abuse by their sponsors, a parliamentary panel has warned. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which reviews government spending, raised concerns on July 5 over the structure of the Skilled Worker visa and the Home Office's failure to prevent exploitation. How the Skilled Worker visa works The Skilled Worker visa allows people from outside the UK and Switzerland to live and work in the UK for an approved sponsoring employer. It replaced the earlier Tier 2 (General) work visa and is a major part of the country's post-Brexit immigration system. Applicants must have a job offer from a UK employer with a sponsor licence, and their right to remain in the country is tied to that employer. This dependency, according to the PAC, increases the risk of exploitation. Parliament flags abuse, debt bondage and fake agents 'There is evidence that applicants have been charged extortionate fees for Skilled Worker visas in their home countries, before they come to the United Kingdom,' the PAC report notes. It adds that workers have been subjected to debt bondage, long working hours and poor conditions. These issues have been particularly severe in the social care sector, which was opened to foreign recruitment in 2022 to address shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Government moved swiftly to open up the visa system to help the social care system cope during the pandemic… Our report finds that this speed came at a painfully high cost – to the safety of workers from the depredations of labour market abuses, and the integrity of the system from people not following the rules,' said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, PAC chair and Conservative MP. He added that the Home Office still lacks basic data, including how many visa holders have been identified as victims of modern slavery or have overstayed their visas. PAC criticised the Home Office for not doing enough to stop fraudulent recruitment practices in migrants' home countries. Many applicants have fallen prey to bogus agents promising jobs in the UK and charging illegal fees. Adis Sehic, policy manager at the Work Rights Centre, said the findings confirmed concerns of widespread abuse involving at least 39,000 migrant care workers, including many Indians. 'This report is yet more damning evidence that the principle of sponsorship, which ties migrant workers in the UK to their employer, is inherently unsafe for workers and, in our view, breaches their human rights,' said Sehic. 'Structural reform of the sponsorship system must urgently be undertaken if this government is to meaningfully uphold its commitments relating to employment and human rights.' Drop in Indian work visas amid rule changes According to UK Home Office data, Indian nationals accounted for 81,463 of the 369,419 work-related visas granted by the UK in 2024 — the highest of any nationality at 22%. However, this marks a sharp 50% drop from 162,655 visas issued to Indians in 2023. The number of main applicants fell by 53% and dependents by 48%, likely reflecting new restrictions introduced in early 2024. These included: • Raising the minimum salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas to £38,700 • Banning social care workers from bringing dependents • Reducing the number of jobs eligible for lower salary sponsorship • Increasing the income requirement for spouse or partner visas from £18,600 to £29,000 Within the Indian cohort: • 34,954 were main applicants (43%) • 46,509 were dependents (57%) • 30,301 held Health and Care Worker visas (37%) • 27,922 were on Skilled Worker visas (34%) Other categories included senior or specialist business workers (6,219), creative workers (1,860), international sportspeople (241), religious workers (148), seasonal workers (101), and ministers of religion (70). The Home Office has said it will formally respond to the PAC's recommendations in due course. A spokesperson said, 'We have rolled up our sleeves to fix the broken immigration system, suspending the highest total of skilled worker sponsor licences since records began in 2012, raising the Skilled Worker threshold back to degree level and ending overseas recruitment to the care sector.' The government also recently released its Immigration White Paper, proposing further changes to the Skilled Worker route and international recruitment practices.
Powys County Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Powys County Times
Home Office unaware how many might have overstayed skilled worker visa, MPs warn
The Government has failed to gather 'basic information' such as whether people leave the UK after their visas expire or how many might have stayed to work illegally, the chairman of a cross-party committee of MPs said. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which examines the value for money of Government projects, said the Home Office had not analysed exit checks since the skilled worker visa route was introduced in 2020 under the Conservatives. Some 1.18 million people applied to come to the UK on this route – to attract skilled workers in the wake of Brexit – between its launch in December of that year and the end of 2024. Around 630,000 of those were dependants of the main visa applicant. But the PAC said there is both a lack of knowledge around what people do when their visas expire and that the expansion of the route in 2022 to attract staff for the struggling social care sector led to the exploitation of some migrant workers. Its report said there was 'widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions', but adds there is 'no reliable data on the extent of abuses'. It noted that the fact a person's right to remain in the UK is dependent on their employer under the sponsorship model means migrant workers are 'vulnerable to exploitation'. Figures published earlier this year suggested thousands of care workers have come to the UK in recent years under sponsors whose licences were later revoked, in estimates suggesting the scale of exploitation in the system. The Home Office said more than 470 sponsor licences in the care sector had been revoked between July 2022 and December 2024 in a crackdown on abuse and exploitation. More than 39,000 workers were associated with those sponsors since October 2020, the department said. In its report, published on Friday, the PAC said: 'The cross-government response to tackling the exploitation of migrant workers has been insufficient and, within this, the Home Office's response has been slow and ineffective.' It also noted a lack of information around what happens to people when their visas expire, stating that the Home Office had said the only way it can tell if people are still in the country is to match its own data with airline passenger information. The report said: 'The Home Office has not analysed exit checks since the route was introduced and does not know what proportion of people return to their home country after their visa has expired, and how many may be working illegally in the United Kingdom.' Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said while the then-Tory government had 'moved swiftly to open up the visa system to help the social care system cope during the pandemic', the speed and volume of applications 'came at a painfully high cost – to the safety of workers from the depredations of labour market abuses, and the integrity of the system from people not following the rules'. He added: 'There has long been mounting evidence of serious issues with the system, laid bare once again in our inquiry. 'And yet basic information, such as how many people on skilled worker visas have been modern slavery victims, and whether people leave the UK after their visas expire, seems to still not have been gathered by Government.' Earlier this week legislation to end the recruitment of care workers from abroad was introduced to Parliament as part of a raft of immigration reforms. The move has sparked concerns from the adult social care sector, with the GMB union describing the decision as 'potentially catastrophic' due to the reliance on migrant workers, with some 130,000 vacancies across England. The Home Office believes there are 40,000 potential members of staff originally brought over by 'rogue' providers who could work in the sector while UK staff are trained up. Sir Geoffrey warned that unless there is 'effective cross-government working, there is a risk that these changes will exacerbate challenges for the care sector'. He said the Government must 'develop a deeper understanding of the role that immigration plays in sector workforce strategies, as well as how domestic workforce plans will help address skills shortages', warning that it 'no longer has the excuse of the global crisis caused by the pandemic if it operates this system on the fly, and without due care'. Adis Sehic, policy manager at charity the Work Rights Centre, said the report 'unequivocally finds that the sponsorship system is making migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation because it ties workers to employers' and that the Home Office had 'simply relied on sponsors' goodwill to comply with immigration rules'. He added: 'This report is yet more damning evidence that the principle of sponsorship, which ties migrant workers in the UK to their employer, is inherently unsafe for workers and, in our view, breaches their human rights. 'Structural reform of the sponsorship system must urgently be undertaken if this Government is to meaningfully uphold its commitments relating to employment and human rights.' Among its recommendations, the PAC said the Home Office should work with relevant government bodies to 'establish an agreed response to tackling exploitation risks and consequences' and identify what data is needed, including 'how to better understand what happens to people at the end of their visa and the effectiveness of checks on sponsoring organisations'. It said a clear method must be set out on assessing what happens when visas end, 'specifically what measures are in place or will be put in place to record when people leave the country'. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'This report affirms again that the previous government's decision five years ago to relax visa controls on skilled workers helped to drive an unprecedented increase in the UK's level of net migration, with almost one million people coming here in 2023. 'We have rolled up our sleeves to fix the broken immigration system, suspending the highest total of skilled worker sponsor licences since records began in 2012, raising the skilled worker threshold back to degree level and ending overseas recruitment to the care sector. 'With our immigration White Paper we will deliver lower net migration, higher skills, backing British workers and repairing the public's trust.'
Leader Live
04-07-2025
- Business
- Leader Live
Home Office unaware how many might have overstayed skilled worker visa, MPs warn
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which examines the value for money of Government projects, said the Home Office had not analysed exit checks since the skilled worker visa route was introduced in 2020 under the Conservatives. Some 1.18 million people applied to come to the UK on this route – to attract skilled workers in the wake of Brexit – between its launch in December of that year and the end of 2024. Around 630,000 of those were dependants of the main visa applicant. But the PAC said there is both a lack of knowledge around what people do when their visas expire and that the expansion of the route in 2022 to attract staff for the struggling social care sector led to the exploitation of some migrant workers. Its report said there was 'widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions', but adds there is 'no reliable data on the extent of abuses'. It noted that the fact a person's right to remain in the UK is dependent on their employer under the sponsorship model means migrant workers are 'vulnerable to exploitation'. Figures published earlier this year suggested thousands of care workers have come to the UK in recent years under sponsors whose licences were later revoked, in estimates suggesting the scale of exploitation in the system. The Home Office said more than 470 sponsor licences in the care sector had been revoked between July 2022 and December 2024 in a crackdown on abuse and exploitation. More than 39,000 workers were associated with those sponsors since October 2020, the department said. In its report, published on Friday, the PAC said: 'The cross-government response to tackling the exploitation of migrant workers has been insufficient and, within this, the Home Office's response has been slow and ineffective.' It also noted a lack of information around what happens to people when their visas expire, stating that the Home Office had said the only way it can tell if people are still in the country is to match its own data with airline passenger information. The report said: 'The Home Office has not analysed exit checks since the route was introduced and does not know what proportion of people return to their home country after their visa has expired, and how many may be working illegally in the United Kingdom.' Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said while the then-Tory government had 'moved swiftly to open up the visa system to help the social care system cope during the pandemic', the speed and volume of applications 'came at a painfully high cost – to the safety of workers from the depredations of labour market abuses, and the integrity of the system from people not following the rules'. He added: 'There has long been mounting evidence of serious issues with the system, laid bare once again in our inquiry. 'And yet basic information, such as how many people on skilled worker visas have been modern slavery victims, and whether people leave the UK after their visas expire, seems to still not have been gathered by Government.' Earlier this week legislation to end the recruitment of care workers from abroad was introduced to Parliament as part of a raft of immigration reforms. The move has sparked concerns from the adult social care sector, with the GMB union describing the decision as 'potentially catastrophic' due to the reliance on migrant workers, with some 130,000 vacancies across England. The Home Office believes there are 40,000 potential members of staff originally brought over by 'rogue' providers who could work in the sector while UK staff are trained up. Sir Geoffrey warned that unless there is 'effective cross-government working, there is a risk that these changes will exacerbate challenges for the care sector'. He said the Government must 'develop a deeper understanding of the role that immigration plays in sector workforce strategies, as well as how domestic workforce plans will help address skills shortages', warning that it 'no longer has the excuse of the global crisis caused by the pandemic if it operates this system on the fly, and without due care'. Adis Sehic, policy manager at charity the Work Rights Centre, said the report 'unequivocally finds that the sponsorship system is making migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation because it ties workers to employers' and that the Home Office had 'simply relied on sponsors' goodwill to comply with immigration rules'. He added: 'This report is yet more damning evidence that the principle of sponsorship, which ties migrant workers in the UK to their employer, is inherently unsafe for workers and, in our view, breaches their human rights. 'Structural reform of the sponsorship system must urgently be undertaken if this Government is to meaningfully uphold its commitments relating to employment and human rights.' Among its recommendations, the PAC said the Home Office should work with relevant government bodies to 'establish an agreed response to tackling exploitation risks and consequences' and identify what data is needed, including 'how to better understand what happens to people at the end of their visa and the effectiveness of checks on sponsoring organisations'. It said a clear method must be set out on assessing what happens when visas end, 'specifically what measures are in place or will be put in place to record when people leave the country'. The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
