UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has declined to specify the cost of revising plans that would have made some foreign care workers already in the country wait longer to qualify for permanent settlement. She said detailed figures would be released when her department presents the changes to Parliament.
Mahmood said the revised plans would still produce “savings in the billions” for the Department for Work and Pensions, arguing that some workers would be less likely to claim benefits. The Conservatives, however, said the changes would cost the state billions.
The original proposal would have extended The Standard qualifying period for settlement from five years to 10, with some migrants facing a 15-year wait. The Home Office said the proposal could save £10bn. Under the revised plan, some care workers will retain the five-year route, while others will be able to apply for a five-year extension.
Mahmood announced the changes on Monday after criticism from Labour MPs. Care workers who arrived in the UK before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 a year will continue to qualify after five years, alongside some other groups. The updated proposals would leave 517,000 people waiting longer than five years, down from 799,000 under the original plan.
The general qualifying period will rise from five to 10 years. People earning more than £50,000, as well as some workers in healthcare and education, will be eligible after five years; the highest-rate taxpayers earning more than £125,000 will be able to apply after three. Refugees who arrived by small boat or another illegal route will face a 20-year wait if they work or study, and 30 years if they do not.
Mahmood said the changes followed a consultation and rejected the description of the revision as a U-turn. She also did not say whether Prime Minister Andy Burnham had asked her to change course. The revised rules mean that some 500,000 people already in the UK will have to wait more than five years to qualify for settlement.
Sources: BBC News UK.