Immigration: Costs
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Home Secretary's speech on immigration, published on 5 March 2026, if she will publish the (a) evidential basis and (b) breakdown of the costs of the £10 billion estimate for the cost of low-skilled workers and their dependents that will qualify for settlement.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The methodology behind the figures cited in the Home Secretaries speech were published 5 March 2026, see here: Estimated lifetime net fiscal costs for care workers and their adult dependants - GOV.UK.
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.
The responses to the consultation are being reviewed and analysed. Implementation of the final earned settlement arrangements will be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which will be published in due course.
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