The Procurement Files

The UK Taxpayer spent £50,000 to study “Shrimp health in Bangladesh” Awarded to one supplier; Bangladesh Agricultural University Awarded by the FCDO

@MartianSeervant Pleasure!

@procurementfile thank you for taking the time to search & post these

@DDRB_Official The most comprehensive database of Certificate of Sponsorship numbers is @UKDecline ‘s website; it has been recently updated to include numbers from as far back as 2015. The data is also on a number of publicly available FOIs; the best platform I have found is whatdotheyknow.

@procurementfile Do you have any tips on who to find the detailed data from? We have a list of visa sponsors in Derbyshire Dales but wish to find how many each organisation has sponsored. Thanks.

🧵Over 500 companies that assigned c.22,000 visa sponsorship certificates for care workers in 2023 are now dissolved or have entered insolvency procedures*. Doncaster care company ‘GBU Care & Support Services Ltd’ assigned 484 CoS for ‘Skilled Workers’ in ‘23. It incorporated in ‘22 and dissolved in ‘24. It has now been removed from the visa sponsor register Its registered address, according to Google maps, is shown below.🧵1/5

@LurkingSquire Yes. And they did.

@procurementfile Can all these "skilled workers" bring dependants?

@Antisaint13 This is the most important question. And don’t forget their dependents…

@procurementfile Do the people who arrive have to leave? Surely they do, right?

@latheron_pamela Children’s homes are on my list. I am extremely worried about the rise in children’s homes that are not registered with Ofsted; I did not think this was allowed and it is a clear safeguarding concern.

@procurementfile Has anyone noticed that there are loads of normal homes being turned into children's care homes for 1 or 2 children and the person who has applied is foreign and doesn't actually live in that area? We have had a few in town and the next, that have been approved but doesn't add up

@Educationm58133 That is the most important question

@procurementfile So where are all the people they sponsored?

@ChadwickLe9942 Thank you! I was interested in the building. Has two signs outside; ‘Created Academy School’ and ‘Created Academy Fitness Centre’. I wonder if they are somehow related to the care company?

@procurementfile 11608686 company number (see Companies House search gov.uk). It’s a compulsory liquidation following a winding up petition. All contracts / agreements terminated usually. Happy to help if you want me to look closer. Used to be a Liquidator /IP.

@kymeriandawn Very much agree

@procurementfile Ridiculous that there is no followup on the visas when this happens. We *know* they aren't working for the company, since it no longer exists. Why is it just assumed they'll have found more work in the same job their visa is ostensibly for?

All of the data is from public sources; it is a combination of 1) Companies House data (using its API) 2) the public register of visa sponsors and 3) publicly available FOIs on the number of certificates assigned. The website whatdotheyknow is a great resource for FOIs. @UKDecline’s website is the most comprehensive I know on visa sponsors.

@procurementfile Is that a publicly available Excel file?

@mr_james_c Also worth mentioning that over 200 of these companies are still shown on the Visa Sponsor Register

Interesting exercise: cross-reference the directors of these companies with ones that took out large government-backed loans during Covid before shutting down

* SOC codes used include 6145 care workers and 6146 senior care workers. Company status used includes dissolved, liquidation voluntary arrangement. A Certificate of Sponsorship does not imply a visa has been issued. All data from publicly available FOIs.

Stoke-on-Trent care company ‘Aston Home Care’ assigned 274 Certificates of Sponsorship in 2023. The only company with that name on companies house is in liquidation. It is still on the visa sponsor register. The registered address, from Google Maps, is shown below’ 🧵5/5

@toadmeister @guardian I really hope you get the grant. The simple reality is that so many accounts, mine included, are profoundly grateful for the existence of the Free Speech Union.

Earlier today a @Guardian journalist sent me this query: Dear Toby Young, I'm Aisha Down, a journalist at the Guardian. I'm getting in touch because we're planning to report that the US state department is considering a grant of $5m to Free Speech Union, your organisation, as part of a new grant-making scheme, and wanted to give you the chance to comment. We would appreciate receiving your comment by 14:30. We are considering reporting the following: - The grant to the FSU is part of a package to Maga aligned groups that former US officials have condemned as a misuse of public money to seek influence over foreign politics and interfere with democracy. - It is rare for the US government to fund partisan political organisations in western countries. - These grants are likely to pose a challenge to Andy Burnham, who has said he will be "very upfront" with Trump about any disagreements. - These grants - including to your organisation - are "sole source" grants, meaning they are to be awarded without any competitive process. This is unusual for a highly regulated process which usually requires grantees to show they have a track record for handling funds and clear plans for the money. - This lack of process has been criticised as "outrageous and absurd" by former US officials, and as "gross incompetence" and "horrible stewardship" of US taxpayer money. - Your organisation does not appear to have a track record of handling grants of this amount. - We describe your organisation as "a rallying point for “anti-woke” grievance" which "frequently allies itself with rightwing causes" and say that you, Toby Young, appeared on Rees-Mogg's GB news show earlier this month to warn about 'Soviet-style' censorship in the UK. - The state department says that its grant to FSU will “support campaigns promoting free speech and countering digital overregulation across the UK, Europe and Australia”. The sole-source award is justified “due to FSU’s global network of free speech activists”. We would like to fully and fairly reflect your point of view and look forward to your statement. Thank you, -- Aisha Kehoe Down Senior Tarbell Fellow, Guardian News and Media I replied as follows: It sounds like a pretty garbled story. Free Speech Union International, which is the umbrella group that FSU UK, FSU Australia, FSU New Zealand, FSU Canada, FSU South Africa and FSU Brazil sit within, has expressed interest in applying for grant funding from the US State Department. This would be to promote the right to freedom of expression in those countries, which, far from being a partisan cause, is a universal human right. But it hasn't submitted a formal application and, consequently, has been awarded no grant from the State Department or any other branch of the US Government. You've mischaracterised the FSUs, all of which are non-partisan organisations that defend people who get into trouble for exercising their right to feee speech regardless of their political views. The FSU UK, for instance, is currently paying for the legal defence of a protestor who's being prosecuted for holding up a sign saying "I support Palestine Action", as well as a protestor for wearing a t-shirt at a Unite the Kingdom rally for saying "Fuck Islam Christ is King". Yes, we helped Lucy Connolly appeal her sentence -- we thought a prison sentence of over two-and-a-half years for a single tweet was excessive -- but we also tweeted yesterday, condemning the arrest of Heather Herbert and offering our support. Yes, we came to the defence of Nigel Farage when he was debanked, but we've also offered to help the Canary in its recent debanking case. So to describe the FSU UK as a "rallying point for anti-woke grievance" is misleading. We are a rallying point for those who want to defend the right to freedom of expression. Best, Toby The @Guardian then ran this story: theguardian.com/us-news/2026/j… You be the judge of whether you think this is good journalism.

@almwatt @based_data_uk 😂

@procurementfile @based_data_uk My sister got a mobile screen protector put on without a single bubble.

@DaxwellsMemon More insanity...

Today's vital worker visa sponsor is "100% HALAL MEAT STORES LTD"! How do they pay these highly skilled, globally mobile top-tier workers with a humble 100% HALAL butcher store front you ask? You tell me! These guys are insolvent.

@based_data_uk More insanity! 😂