Labour has failed to collect data about whether people leave Britain when their visas expire or how many remain working illegally.

Parliamentary watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, revealed that the Home Office has not analysed exit checks since the skilled worker visa route launched in 2020 under the Conservative government.

MPs found the department lacks knowledge about what happens to visa holders after their permits expire.

The Home Office admitted it can only determine if people remain in the country by matching its records with airline passenger data.

The report suggested Labour has lost control of tracking visas

The committee's report stated: "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."

The scandal affects 1.18million people who applied to come to Britain on the skilled worker route between December 2020 and the end of 2024.

Around 630,000 of these were dependants of main visa applicants.

The Public Accounts Committee, which scrutinises government spending, condemned the Home Office's handling of the system. MPs found "widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions" but noted there is "no reliable data on the extent of abuses".

The Home Office said that it hopes the changes will send a clear message that sex offences are treated with the 'seriousness they deserve'GETTY

The committee's report, published on Friday, stated: "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."

The care sector has been particularly affected, with more than 470 sponsor licences revoked between July 2022 and December 2024. Over 39,000 workers were associated with these sponsors since October 2020, according to Home Office figures.

The sponsorship system itself creates vulnerability, as workers' right to remain depends on their employer. The committee found this makes migrant workers "vulnerable to exploitation".

Earlier this week, legislation was introduced to end overseas recruitment of care workers, sparking concerns from the sector. The GMB union called the decision "potentially catastrophic" given 130,000 vacancies across England.

North Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

The Home Office believes 40,000 potential staff originally brought by "rogue" providers could fill roles while UK workers are trained.

Committee chairman and North Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the previous Tory government had "moved swiftly to open up the visa system to help the social care system cope during the pandemic".

However, the Tory MP said this 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: "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."

The Home Office responded to the report's findings

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.”