Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will provide a guarantee that any changes to settlement rules will not have an adverse impact on families that are on the five-year pathway to remain.

The earned settlement model, proposed in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.

The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement.

We will continue to offer a shorter pathway to settlement for non-UK dependants of British citizens, on the family route, to five years, provided they have remained compliant with their requirements, and we will retain existing safeguards to protect the vulnerable, including settlement rights for victims of domestic violence and abuse.

I do not want to prejudge the outcome of the consultation, so there is no further detail I can give at this time.

The government’s response to the consultation will be subject to an economic and equality impact assessment, which we have committed to publish in due course.