Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain on NHS workforce planning and the retention of internationally educated nurses.

The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.

The consultation sought views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. We received over 200,000 responses and are now analysing the results of this to inform the development of the final model. As no final decisions have been made, I can give no further detail at this time.

Once the Home Secretary has decided the final model, it will be subject to economic and equality impact assessments. These will be published in due course.