Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Skilled Worker visas have been granted since 2024 to applicants sponsored by takeaway and restaurant businesses; and what assessment she has made of the occupations for which those visas were issued, the types of establishments sponsoring them, and the skills shortages they were intended to address.

The information requested is not available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Our Immigration White Paper, published last year, set out how we are reducing reliance on international workers and encouraging investment in the domestic workforce. In July 2025, we raised the Skilled Worker threshold to graduate-level occupations, meaning more than 100 occupations are no longer eligible, including restaurant managers and chefs.