Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Migration Advisory Committee will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Double Contribution Convention with India on net migration levels.

A DCC is an international treaty between countries which ensures that workers and their employers are only liable to pay social security contributions in one country at a time on the same earnings. A DCC only covers social security contributions, whereas a wider Social Security Agreement (SSA) can include provisions on pensions, healthcare and other contributory benefits. International standards for SSAs are set by the International Labour Organisation.

We have social security agreements covering over 50 countries including EU countries, the US, Canada, South Korea and Japan, where this exemption is extended to 2-5 years. We've agreed to negotiate a similar agreement with India as part of this trade deal.

A detached worker is an employee who is sent by their employer to carry out a period of temporary working in another country. It is standard practice internationally for SSAs to provide for detached workers to continue paying social security contributions in their home country to minimise administration burdens on workers and their employers and to prevent fragmentation of an individual’s social security record.

Detached workers who will be subject to the DCC are able to use several temporary economic migration routes and will remain subject to the requirements of those routes, including those around salary thresholds.