Skilled migrants to add 115 billion pounds to UK public finances under current rules
IPPR applies the method that priced care workers as a 10 billion pound lifetime cost, Mahmood's settlement reforms could reach migrants already living in Britain
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The home secretary has faced backlash from within her own party over her proposals to double the qualifying period for settlement for most migrants from five to 10 years, and potentially triple it to 15 for care workers (AFP/Getty)
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Migrants working in Britain illegally 'can sue their bosses'
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Skilled migrants and their dependants due to settle in Britain under current rules are expected to contribute £115 billion more to public finances than they cost over their lifetimes, according to analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research. The figure arrives days before Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce her final decision on settlement reform to parliament.
The IPPR applied the same methodology the government used to produce its £10 billion lifetime cost estimate for care workers — the cohort Mahmood's reforms target most directly, with a proposed qualifying period tripled from five to fifteen years. Run on skilled migrants rather than care workers, the method produced a £115 billion net contribution. "Public debate has focused heavily on the costs of recent migration, but this is not the whole story," said Marley Morris, the IPPR's associate director for migration, trade and communities.
Mahmood's package has split the cabinet. The proposals could apply retrospectively to people already living and working in Britain, and the public consultation drew more than 200,000 responses. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has publicly attacked the prospect of backdating; the BBC reports ministers are poised to scale the plans back to head off a Labour rebellion. Prime Minister Andy Burnham strongly supports the principle that settlement is "a right to be earned through contribution," but has stopped short of committing to the reforms in full.
The IPPR welcomed signs that care workers could remain on the current five-year route, and urged a compromise for others already in Britain: let them stay on a five-year route, or introduce an interim status with freedom to change jobs after five years.
At the other end of the labour market, the Daily Mail reports that small-boat migrants working illegally can sue their employers under the workers' rights legislation Rayner strengthened. The hire is cheap because the worker is undocumented; the strengthened law hands that same worker a claim against the employer.
Ministers have faced growing demands to curb migration since record net migration figures under the previous Conservative administration. Mahmood's final decision goes to parliament next week, on reforms that could apply to migrants who arrived under the rules now being retired.