Ministers have been told to stop letting migrants treat the UK like ‘a cash machine for the world’ after new figures suggested a quarter are on universal credit.
The Tories demanded action after the Government’s own figures show there were 179,482 non-EU migrants with settled status claiming the benefit in December 2024.
Analysis by the Migration Observatory for the same time suggests the total number of this class of migrants at the time – the latest for which figures are available – was around 720,000, based on an estimated range between 620,000 and 820,000.
This would mean one in four was in receipt of the benefit – and the proportion of claimants could have risen since.
The Department for Work and Pensions’ statistics show that the number of non-EU benefit claimants has since risen to a high of more than 222,000 in January this year.
The Tories have outlined plans to prevent people with leave to remain in the UK claiming benefits.
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: ‘Our country simply cannot afford the ballooning benefits bill.
‘People who come to the UK should be contributing not drawing benefits.
‘We are not a cash machine for the world.’
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: ‘Our country simply cannot afford the ballooning benefits bill.
There have been Home Office projections that another 1.6million people are set to be given settled status between 2026 and 2030.
Almost 400,000 of them could be on Universal Credit by the end of the decade, according to existing trends – ultimately costing £5.5billion a year in welfare payments by 2030.
Labour is in the middle of a major internal row as the government tries to tighten migrant rules against the wishes of party backbenchers.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood believes the Government must cut migration or risk opening the door to right wing parties who would divide communities with the kind of anti-immigration raids seen in the US.
Under plans revealed last week, people granted asylum in the UK will have their refugee status reviewed every 30 months.
Refugees whose countries are deemed safe will be expected to return home.
The Government also suspended study visas for migrants from four countries over accusations they were abusing the asylum system.
Study visas for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan have been halted, as have work visas for Afghans, as Ms Mahmood accused them of using legal migration routes as a backdoor to claim asylum in the UK.
She previously set out new ILR proposals last November – including how the new baseline ILR would double to 10 years.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is seen arriving for a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning – she has previously announced proposeed changes to the ILR rules
Migrant workers doing lower-skilled jobs, such as care assistants, would have to wait 15 years for ILR, also known as ‘settled status’.
The 15 year wait would apply to migrants doing jobs which require qualifications lower than a bachelor’s degree.
In addition, further time penalties would be imposed on foreign nationals who claim benefits in this country.
Those who claimed welfare support here for less than a year would have to wait an extra five years to become eligible for ILR.
Anyone claiming benefits for more than a year would suffer a ten-year penalty.
It means that lower-skilled workers who have come to Britain in the last five years – and have claimed state hand-outs for 12 months or more – would be forced to wait up to 25 years to secure ILR.
For higher-qualified foreign workers the standard time period would be 10 years.
A Government spokeswoman said: ‘The Home Secretary recently set out new conditions to get indefinite leave to remain, including being in work, and having no criminal record.
‘We are also planning to double the standard time for migrants to settle in the UK to 10 years and increasing the period of time it takes to access benefits.’