PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(18 March 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to her statement of 5 March 2026 that extending the waiting period for Indefinite Leave to Remain for 350,000 low skilled workers from five to between fifteen and twenty years is necessary to avoid a £10 billion drain on public finances, how much of this lifetime fiscal £10 billion cost her Department estimates is saved by its policy of delaying the qualification for settlement by 10 years, and how much of the fiscal cost remains incurred in the scenario that this policy is not pursued.

Asked by:
Ms Stella Creasy (Labour)

The analysis undertaken by the Home Office to estimate the £10bn figure is set out at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants

This analysis is based on work undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee which includes further detail on the characteristics and time profile of fiscal impacts and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6938108633c7ace9c4a41e42/The_Fiscal_Impact_of_Immigration_Final__1_.pdf

Answered by:
()