The figures below show the number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) assigned in support of visa applications for Pharmacists in each of the last three years. A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is required to support all visa applications and a sponsor is required to enter a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code on their CoS. There is a SoC code for Pharmacists.

Assigning a CoS does not guarantee a visa will be issued.

2013 380

2014 380

2015 400

The Government works closely with all carriers, not just British registered carriers, to connect their systems to the Government’s border systems to ensure those connections are operating properly and to ensure that any IT problems are identified and resolved. Should any circumstance arise where a carrier should have refused authority to carry an individual to the UK, that individual will be met on arrival. Border Force also conducts 100% checks at passport control on all passengers arriving in the UK by commercial air, rail or maritime services at passport controls. This includes screening against watch lists.

The Government works closely with all carriers, not just British registered carriers, to connect their systems to the Government’s border systems to ensure those connections are operating properly and to ensure that any IT problems are identified and resolved. Should any circumstance arise where a carrier should have refused authority to carry an individual to the UK, that individual will be met on arrival. Border Force also conducts 100% checks at passport control on all passengers arriving in the UK by commercial air, rail or maritime services at passport controls. This includes screening against watch lists.

The Government works closely with all carriers, not just British registered carriers, to connect their systems to the Government’s border systems to ensure those connections are operating properly and to ensure that any IT problems are identified and resolved. Should any circumstance arise where a carrier should have refused authority to carry an individual to the UK, that individual will be met on arrival. Border Force also conducts 100% checks at passport control on all passengers arriving in the UK by commercial air, rail or maritime services at passport controls. This includes screening against watch lists.

In 2015 227 compliance visits were undertaken to Tier 2 sponsors who have the ability to sponsor individuals under the Tier 2 ICT route.

We routinely monitor all licensed sponsors to ensure they are meeting their duties and responsibilities. This includes undertaking visits to sponsors to inspect their compliance with the sponsor guidance. All visits to sponsors are undertaken according to published guidance which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-sponsor-management

We are, however, unable to comment on specific cases.

The non-recent child sexual abuse investigations being conducted by the National Crime Agency are in response to requests from the Chief Officer of the local police forces. As such, the funding for these investigations is from the local police forces.

The National Crime Agency CEOP Command assists UK police forces to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse in a number of ways. This includes providing training and advice on specialist capabilities, specialist operational support, and expert child protection advice. For example, the Command assists local police forces with advice and guidance on interview and search strategies, categorisation of indecent images of children, victim identification and victim strategies. The wider NCA, including CEOP Command, also provides support to forces as set out in The NCA Commitment to Working in Partnership with UK Operational Powers, which is available on the NCA website.

The Home Office does not hold this information in the format requested.

Guidance for sponsors specifies that UKVI will revoke the licence of a sponsor who has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) but has not adhered to the specified job description and/or salary. However, prior to the consideration of revocation action, UKVI will suspend the licence and allow the sponsor the opportunity to make representations against the matter(s) identified. UKVI does have residual discretion to apply a lesser sanctions depending on the severity of the matter(s) and the mitigating circumstances presented by the sponsor; these sanctions include downgrading the licence rating and issuing a time limited action plan or reducing the sponsor’s CoS allocation or setting the allocation to zero.

The Home Office does not hold this information in the format requested.

A variety of checks are undertaken on sponsor licence holders and the migrants they assign certificates of sponsorship to. Compliance visits are undertaken during the licensing process and post-licensing audits are undertaken to verify the duties performed by the sponsored workers adhere to those set out by the sponsor in the certificate of sponsorship. Officers can request payslips, work contracts and evidence of duties performed by the sponsored worker during compliance visits. In some cases, other regulatory requirements are verified with other government departments or regulatory bodies during investigations of possible non-compliance. Officers can interview both sponsors and sponsored workers during compliance visits to seek assurances and gather information and evidence of compliance with the duties of sponsorship. Overseas we can undertake checks in to the credibility of the international presence of an ICT sponsor licence holder where there is concern to do so.

All roles are assessed to confirm the duties and salary meet the requirements set out in the standard occupation classification codes. The sponsored worker may also be called for interview during the visa consideration process to check their credibility and test the individual meets the requirements of sponsorship under Tier 2 (ICT).

A list of the sponsors that have assigned more than 50 Tier 2 (ICT) Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) in a calendar year for each of the last five years, which also provides the figures of how many of those CoS were used in support of an individual Tier 2 (ICT) application, are to be placed in the House Library.

To break these figures down further into in and out of country applications, and whether the application was successful would require manual intervention and would exceed cost limits.

Each application for a Tier 2 (ICT) visa must be accompanied by a certificate of sponsorship (COS) issued by the applicant’s sponsor. The COS will set out the job description and the job role the applicant is required to perform, as well as the salary they will be paid and the hours of work they will undertake. The Secretary of State will examine the information on the COS against the codes of practice for skilled workers to ensure the criteria under the Tier 2 (ICT) arrangements are met. The codes of practice set out the relevant skill level and minimum rates of pay that apply to any job.

The Secretary of State may also consider whether the application meets the genuine vacancy requirements set out in the Immigration Rules. This assessment is to satisfy that the information in the certificate of sponsorship has not been tailored specifically to meet the requirements of the Tier 2 criteria.

Entry Clearance Officers within visa sections overseas also have the discretion to conduct additional assessments should they have concerns about specific sponsors. Further compliance checks are carried out after the visa has been issued during compliance visits to ensure roles are genuine and meet the appropriate skill level for sponsorship. Compliance officers routinely assess the credibility of the job roles and collect evidence that the duties of sponsored migrants are in accordance with those stated by the sponsor in the certificates of sponsorship.

A Tier 2 (Intra company transfer) certificate of sponsorship (CoS) issued by a Tier 2 (ICT) licensed company is required for a migrant worker to be granted a Tier 2 (ICT) visa. There is no limit to the number of Tier 2 (ICT) CoS that a company can apply for each year. When applying for a sponsor licence the company must tell UKVI how many CoS they may need to the end of the financial year and justify why they need them.

Licensed companies with a proven history of compliance are automatically allocated the same number of CoS they used in the previous financial year. All other sponsors must request CoS each financial year and justify why they are needed. Additional CoS can be requested at any time by all licensed sponsors.

Although NCA officers can be designated with the Powers of a Constable (and other powers), NCA officers are not police officers, nor were the SOCA officers that formed the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. When the NCA was launched on 7 October 2013, 99 posts were transferred into the NCA from the SOCA-affiliated Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. The NCA CEOP Command currently has 129 core posts.

At the WePROTECT Children Online Global Summit in December 2014, the Prime Minister announced an additional £10m would be provided in 2015/16 to create further specialist teams in the National Crime Agency to focus on the worst online child sexual exploitation and abuse offenders. This funding is enabling the National Crime Agency to target more offenders, strengthen victim identification and create additional intelligence and child protection advisor capabilities. This has included 174 additional posts (an increase on the 168 new posts envisaged when the NCA Annual Report and accounts were published last year). These 174 posts, are in addition to the NCA’s core posts and are all dedicated to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse, within the CEOP Command and supporting functions.

Specific funding for NCA investigations into non-recent child sexual abuse is provided through alternative arrangements. All of the National Crime Agency commands contribute to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse. NCA commands work collaboratively and are supported by specialist capabilities drawn from across the Agency.

Although NCA officers can be designated with the Powers of a Constable (and other powers), NCA officers are not police officers, nor were the SOCA officers that formed the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. When the NCA was launched on 7 October 2013, 99 posts were transferred into the NCA from the SOCA-affiliated Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. The NCA CEOP Command currently has 129 core posts.

At the WePROTECT Children Online Global Summit in December 2014, the Prime Minister announced an additional £10m would be provided in 2015/16 to create further specialist teams in the National Crime Agency to focus on the worst online child sexual exploitation and abuse offenders. This funding is enabling the National Crime Agency to target more offenders, strengthen victim identification and create additional intelligence and child protection advisor capabilities. This has included 174 additional posts (an increase on the 168 new posts envisaged when the NCA Annual Report and accounts were published last year). These 174 posts, are in addition to the NCA’s core posts and are all dedicated to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse, within the CEOP Command and supporting functions.

Specific funding for NCA investigations into non-recent child sexual abuse is provided through alternative arrangements. All of the National Crime Agency commands contribute to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse. NCA commands work collaboratively and are supported by specialist capabilities drawn from across the Agency.

Although NCA officers can be designated with the Powers of a Constable (and other powers), NCA officers are not police officers, nor were the SOCA officers that formed the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. When the NCA was launched on 7 October 2013, 99 posts were transferred into the NCA from the SOCA-affiliated Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. The NCA CEOP Command currently has 129 core posts.

At the WePROTECT Children Online Global Summit in December 2014, the Prime Minister announced an additional £10m would be provided in 2015/16 to create further specialist teams in the National Crime Agency to focus on the worst online child sexual exploitation and abuse offenders. This funding is enabling the National Crime Agency to target more offenders, strengthen victim identification and create additional intelligence and child protection advisor capabilities. This has included 174 additional posts (an increase on the 168 new posts envisaged when the NCA Annual Report and accounts were published last year). These 174 posts, are in addition to the NCA’s core posts and are all dedicated to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse, within the CEOP Command and supporting functions.

Specific funding for NCA investigations into non-recent child sexual abuse is provided through alternative arrangements. All of the National Crime Agency commands contribute to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse. NCA commands work collaboratively and are supported by specialist capabilities drawn from across the Agency.

As a national law enforcement agency, the National Crime Agency (NCA) works closely with and in support of all police forces in the UK in tackling serious and organised crime. Since its inception in October 2013 the NCA has provided investigative assistance to all police forces in England across a range of law enforcement activities and capabilities.

Although NCA officers can be designated with the Powers of a Constable (and other powers), NCA officers are not police officers, nor were the SOCA officers that formed the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. When the NCA was launched on 7 October 2013, 99 posts were transferred into the NCA from the SOCA-affiliated Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. The NCA CEOP Command currently has 129 core posts.

At the WePROTECT Children Online Global Summit in December 2014, the Prime Minister announced an additional £10m would be provided in 2015/16 to create further specialist teams in the National Crime Agency to focus on the worst online child sexual exploitation and abuse offenders. This funding is enabling the National Crime Agency to target more offenders, strengthen victim identification and create additional intelligence and child protection advisor capabilities. This has included 174 additional posts (an increase on the 168 new posts envisaged when the NCA Annual Report and accounts were published last year). These 174 posts, are in addition to the NCA’s core posts and are all dedicated to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse, within the CEOP Command and supporting functions.

Specific funding for NCA investigations into non-recent child sexual abuse is provided through alternative arrangements. All of the National Crime Agency commands contribute to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse. NCA commands work collaboratively and are supported by specialist capabilities drawn from across the Agency.