About the Client
Our client is a well-established residential care home in West London, specialising in dementia care, challenging behaviours and end of life care. The home has been operating for nearly 20 years and employs a team of 20 care workers, of whom 8 are sponsored under the Skilled Worker route. These sponsored workers make up 40 percent of the care workforce and are integral to the daily wellbeing of the home’s residents, all of whom live with some form of dementia.
What Went Wrong
The Home Office revoked our client’s sponsor licence with immediate effect, without any prior suspension, warning or opportunity to respond. The sponsor licence revocation letter cited three grounds: alleged underpayment of a sponsored worker’s salary based on HMRC data, alleged failure to respond to compliance requests, and alleged failure to report changes in worker circumstances.
The consequences were swift and severe. The Home Office notified the Care Quality Commission, the Department for Health and Social Care, the Local Government Association and other regulatory bodies. Curtailment letters to the 8 sponsored workers were imminent. The care home faced losing 40 percent of its workforce within weeks, with devastating implications for its vulnerable residents.
Our client only became aware of the sponsor licence revocation when he was unable to log into the Sponsorship Management System. He contacted the Home Office and was informed of the decision seven days after it had already been made.
How City Legal Solicitors Approached this Case
Our client instructed us within days of discovering the sponsor licence revocation. Given the urgency and the immediate threat to the care home’s operations, residents and sponsored workers, we moved at pace.
We conducted a detailed analysis of the sponsor licence revocation letter and identified significant factual errors and procedural failings in the Home Office’s decision. The underpayment allegation was based on a misreading of HMRC data. Our analysis of three years of payroll records, including payslips, P60s and payroll summaries, demonstrated that the worker in question had been paid well above both her Certificate of Sponsorship salary and the National Minimum Wage in every year of her employment.
We prepared and served a pre-action protocol letter on the Home Office. When no substantive response was received by the deadline, we issued proceedings for judicial review in the Administrative Court, applying for urgent consideration and interim relief to suspend the effect of the sponsor licence revocation. We prepared a comprehensive witness statement, a detailed payroll rebuttal analysis and a full indexed and paginated claim bundle in support of the application.
What was the Outcome
The Administrative Court treated our application as urgent. The presiding judge made an order abridging the time for the Defendant to file an Acknowledgment of Service and summary grounds of resistance to just 7 days. The order further directed that the applications for permission and interim relief would be placed before a judge for decision on the papers within 7 days of the Acknowledgment of Service being filed.
Faced with those timescales and the strength of our client’s case, the Government Legal Department agreed to settle the matter within 7 days of the court’s order. The Secretary of State agreed to withdraw the sponsor licence revocation decision in its entirety and reinstate the sponsor licence. The Defendant also agreed to pay our client’s costs of the proceedings.
A consent order reflecting the full terms of settlement was filed with the Administrative Court. The licence was reinstated within a few days, fand our client’s 8 sponsored care workers were able to continue in their roles, providing uninterrupted care to the home’s residents.
Why this Case Matters
Sponsor licence revocation can have catastrophic consequences for businesses, particularly in the care sector where sponsored workers form a significant proportion of the workforce and where the people they care for are among the most vulnerable in society. This case demonstrates that even where the Home Office has revoked a licence with immediate effect, that decision can be successfully challenged where it is based on factual errors, procedural unfairness or a disproportionate response.
If your sponsor licence has been revoked or suspended, or if you have received a compliance request from the Home Office, it is critical to seek specialist legal advice immediately. The time limits for challenging these decisions are short and the consequences of delay can be irreversible.
How City Legal Solicitors can Help
At City Legal, we have extensive experience in challenging sponsor licence decisions, including sponsor licence revocations, suspensions and downgrades. We work with specialist counsel and move quickly to protect our clients’ businesses, their workers and the people who depend on them. If you are facing a sponsor licence issue, contact us today for an urgent consultation.
