Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to her statement of 5 March 2026 that extending the waiting period for Indefinite Leave to Remain for 350,000 low skilled workers from five to between fifteen and twenty years is necessary to avoid a £10 billion drain on public finances, in approximately which year after arrival does her Department's analysis show that main applicants and their dependents transition from making a net fiscal contribution to becoming a net fiscal cost.

The analysis undertaken by the Home Office to estimate the £10bn figure is set out at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants

This analysis is based on work undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee which includes further detail on the characteristics and time profile of fiscal impacts and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6938108633c7ace9c4a41e42/The_Fiscal_Impact_of_Immigration_Final__1_.pdf