Written questions

Social Workers: Visas

Commons · Question 77554 · Tabled 16 Sep 2025 · Home Office · Official record

Answered 17 Oct 2025

Question

Asked by Cat Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason she decided to use NHS pay bands instead of local authority pay bands when determining income requirements for overseas social workers applying for a skilled workers visa.

Answer

Answered by Mike Tapp, 17 Oct 2025

We use Office for National Statistics (ONS) data to set salary requirements for occupations, except where a national pay scale exists. In the case of social workers, the NHS Agenda for Change is the only available national scale, as Local Authority rates ...