It comes after The i Paper revealed in July that ministers are considering restricting migrants’ access to benefits as part of efforts to tackle the small boats crisis.
Asked about the issue at the time, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson said: “Illegal migrants with no immigration status cannot receive universal credit, and refugees and non-UK or Irish citizens can only receive payments once they’ve had their status granted by the Home Office.
Currently, asylum seekers awaiting the outcome of their claims are offered a place to live and can also receive £49.18 each week for things like food, clothing and toiletries, or £9.95 if their accommodation provides meals. They can also access the NHS.
Labour is looking at its plans to tackle rising migration – not just illegal migration – in order to counter the political threat posed by Reform UK.
Other proposals included introducing higher salary thresholds for work visas, and expanding deportations, using disputed figures to claim billions of pounds would be saved.
Ben Brindle, a researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, told The i Paper that for EU migrants who came to the UK under free movement and now have Settled Status, access to benefits is covered by the Brexit withdrawal agreement. It would be impossible for the UK to change their eligibility for benefits without an agreement from the EU.
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The Government is also unable to restrict eligibility for non-EU migrants who now have British citizenship.
This means that the only group of people for whom the Government could potentially look to change the criteria for universal credit and other benefits are non-EU nationals with indefinite leave to remain. However, it is not clear how easy it would be to do this.
These figures cannot be combined, as some households comprise both EEA and non-EEA claimants. They also include payments to UK and Irish claimants living in the same household as an EEA or non-EEA claimant.
Cutting benefits unlikely to discourage migration
“Plenty of people have come to the UK on visas that don’t allow them to claim benefits,” he said.
Amreen Qureshi, a research fellow in migration, trade and committees at the Institute for Public Policy Research, told The i Paper: “People are already subject to extremely lengthy routes” to securing indefinite leave to remain, “and the Government is planning to extend the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain to 10 years.
She also said that work from the Migration Advisory Committee suggests that “welfare rules are not a primary driver of migration, compared to economic opportunity, family ties or safety”.
There would actually be an economic cost
Overall, this results in billions in income for the UK.
“It can redesign the immigration points system to reward employer investment in domestic training, and use a labour market evidence group to better match visa policy with labour and skills demand.
“Changing welfare rules is ultimately, unlikely to make a difference to numbers.”
What is indefinite leave to remain?
Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) gives people the right to work, study and live in the UK for as long as they like.
Usually, people can apply for it if they have legally lived in the UK on a visa for five years, although they may also need to meet salary requirements, which for most workers will be £41,700 per year, or the “standard going rate” for the type of work they’re doing.
Having ILR gives someone access to the benefits system where eligible, and also enables them to apply for citizenship, generally after 12 months.
It also enables their family to migrate to the UK under certain conditions.
The Government is currently consulting on a proposed doubling of the average wait to apply for ILR to 10 years from the current five.
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