Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that migrants entering the UK do not receive instant access to welfare benefits.

We have strict measures in place to ensure benefits are only paid to those people who have a legal right to live and work in the UK.

Additionally, people coming to the UK, or returning here, must demonstrate that they are habitually resident to be eligible for income-related benefits. Since 1 January 2014, most migrant jobseekers must also have been living in the UK for three months before any consideration can be given to whether they are habitually resident to be eligible to receive income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.