Question to the Home Office:

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, what the fiscal impact is of this group on the current fiscal balance in the year five years after arrival, and what is the impact on the debt/GDP ratio (both as defined in the government’s Fiscal Rules).

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