IPPR analysis calls for legacy protections in Home Office settlement consultation
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published analysis of the Home Office’s ‘earned settlement’ consultation, estimating that around 1.35 million people currently on routes to settlement could face longer qualifying periods under the proposed reforms. The consultation proposes increasing the default qualifying period from five to 10 years, with Skilled Worker visa holders in roles designated as below graduate level, including many care workers, facing a default period of 15 years. Qualifying periods could be shortened or extended depending on individual circumstances, including reductions linked to English language proficiency and higher earnings, and extensions linked to benefit claims or periods of visa overstaying.IPPR’s analysis indicates that the affected cohort includes around 309,000 children and is primarily made up of people on work routes and refugee permissions, with the most common nationalities being Indian, Nigerian and Pakistani. The research argues that applying longer qualifying periods to those already on settlement routes raises concerns about fairness, legal certainty and legitimate expectation, given that many migrants entered the UK on the basis of a publicly stated five-year route to settlement. IPPR highlights potential impacts on child poverty and calls for the inclusion of a legacy, or ‘grandfathering’, clause to protect those already on routes to settlement from retrospective application of the extended qualifying periods.