Shabana Mahmood rowed back on controversial plans to hit migrant care workers with draconian new rules – as she unveiled reforms she said will ensure the right to settle in the UK is earned
Shabana Mahmood dramatically rowed back on controversial plans to hit migrant care workers with draconian new rules in a major victory for the embattled sector.
In a combative speech in the Commons, the Home Secretary said people from overseas must now earn the right to settle in the UK after years of failed policy. In a huge concession, she tore up plans to make 300,000 care sector staff wait 15 years before qualifying for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) – up from its current five.
But care workers from overseas will have to earn over £25,000 and have five years of continuous employment – meaning around a quarter will not qualify and face an extended wait.
Announcing the biggest overhaul of migration rules in a generation, Ms Mahmood said half a million people currently in the UK will be hit with a delay before qualifying for ILR. These include small boat arrivals – who will be ineligible until they have lived in the country for 20 or 30 years.
The shake-up will save billions of pounds from the welfare bill, she said. For the first time, the Home Secretary confirmed, those granted ILR – which entitles people to welfare, free education and social housing – must have a clean criminal record, no debt to the government, speak English to a high standard and at least three years of paying National Insurance.
Migrants who claim certain benefits will also be penalised under the new rules. Ms Mahmood told MPs: “These reforms are the right thing to do, both morally and financially.”
And she added: “The right to live in this country forever must now be earned. It will no longer be automatic.” But unions accused the government of putting “tech bros” above doctors, and called on the government to water the plans down further.
Under her plan, high earners and public service workers – like doctors, nurses and teachers – will be fast-tracked. People earning over £125,141 and who come on highly skilled worker visas will qualify for ILR after three years. Those paid over £50,271 and skilled public workers – like NHS staff – will qualify after five.
Refugees who come on safe and legal routes will be eligible after five years, but small boat arrivals will have to wait 20 years if they are in work or study or 30 years if they are not.
Following the announcement, Andy Burnham said: “People want to see an immigration system based on control, contribution, and which rewards those who play by the rules.
“These proposals are based on that principle and recognise the contribution made by overseas workers to our country. Following Brexit, the previous government lost control of immigration, with an unprecedented spike in numbers.
“This Home Secretary is gripping this problem, and she has my full support in doing so.”
Mr Burnham went on: “It is only fair that those who are making the most valuable contribution to our communities are given the opportunity to settle earlier. Those in other roles should expect to wait longer while people who abuse the system or arrive illegally will be refused or will also have to wait longer.”
When Ms Mahmood originally put forward her plans, when Keir Starmer was PM, she proposed making low-paid migrant workers wait 15 years for ILR. The change would apply to people already in the UK – a move Labour frontbencher Angela Rayner dismissed as “un-British”.
In a last-ditch plea for a re-think at the weekend, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned the move risked scuppering Mr Burnham’s aspiration of creating a new National Care Service.
Acknowledging the U-turn, Ms Mahmood said: “In recognition of the contribution care workers made to Britain when the sector was reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic, those who met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year will be able to settle after five years.”
Unison general secretary Andrea Egan said: “We are glad she has finally listened to us and not implemented the worst aspects. These plans were morally bankrupt and a threat to public services – they should be dropped altogether.
“The government has spent a year attacking workers who are the backbone of our health and social care system, in a futile attempt to appease the far-right. It’s time to stop demonising migrant workers and start celebrating their contribution.”
Ms Egan said the government must ensure care workers who do not meet employment and salary conditions because of rogue employers must not have ILR unjustly denied. She said: “Penalising workers for that would be completely unfair and risk another Home Office scandal.”
Ms Mahmood said care workers whose application fails will be given a second chance. She said: “Everyone will have a fair shot to make their contribution, and no-one will be punished for the sins of their employer, but we will also preserve the critical element of this reform – that settlement must be linked to contribution.”
Care England chief executive Professor Martin Green said: “This announcement deserves recognition, but it cannot be the end of the story. We need protections that work in practice, certainty for workers and their families, and a system that allows care providers to retain the people our communities rely on every day.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham welcomed the U-turn, but added: “There are still some inconsistencies yet be explained. For example, why it is deemed acceptable for an NHS doctor to wait five years, while a city ‘finance bro’ paying additional tax is able to go through the system in three.
“The question is, is it fair to bring workers to Britain and change the goalposts mid-stream? We need to be vigilant. Let us not forget the original plan was full steam ahead until there was a backlash.”
Ms Mahmood announced she had scrapped proposals to let migrants earn ILR faster through volunteer work in their communities. It followed concerns around safeguarding, verification and the risk that vulnerable people could be pressured into unpaid work, the Home Office said.
Human rights groups have hit out at the impact on succesful asylum seekers. Imran Hussain, from the Refugee Council, said: “These plans condemn refugees to decades of deep insecurity, unable to lay down roots in Britain and contribute their potential. And there is no evidence to suggest that harming refugee integration will act as a disincentive to refugees fleeing the Taliban or brutal conflicts like Sudan.”
