Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of including an annual earnings requirement of £12,570 for three to five years within the proposed Earned Settlement reforms for Indefinite Leave to Remain on women who take statutory maternity leave.

Proposals for introducing an earned settlement model, as set out in the Command Paper ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’ (CP1448), were subject to a public consultation, which opened on 20 November 2025 and closed on 12 February 2026.

We are now reviewing and analysing the results of this to inform the development of the final model. The consultation sought views on the impact proposed changes might have on different groups.

Implementation of the earned settlement arrangements will be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.