𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Foreign care workers could cost taxpayers £36,000 each, a scathing report has revealed – or more than £100,000 if they bring a spouse with them. Some 117,000 migrant care workers are expected to receive settlement rights over the next four years. And a committee of Lords warned this could have a devastating impact on the public finances.

The carers themselves cost the public purse £36,000 over their lifetimes, on average. The impact of family members moving to the UK will be even more severe, Peers said, with each adult dependant expected to cost £67,000. It means a care worker who brings one adult dependent such as a wife, husband or parent to the UK with them could cost £103,000 in total. And the Home Office also faced fresh fury over a “disturbing” revelation that officials do “not know which or how many migrants are in the UK”.

A group of Lords on the Justice and Home Affairs Committee revealed: “Analysis from the Home Office and the MAC (Migration Advisory Council) has estimated that 117,000 care workers are expected to settle between 2026 and 2030, representing a lifetime net fiscal cost of £36,000 each, and 79,000 adult dependants of care workers are expected to settle in the same period, representing a lifetime net fiscal cost of £67,000 each.

“For context, it should be noted that the OBR calculates that the average UK resident, born and raised in the UK becomes a net fiscal cost after the age of 80, as their use of state services (e.g. NHS, pension) starts to outweigh their lifetime tax receipts.”

The startling admission will prompt renewed debates over the number of domestic workers being trained for care workers, as well as debates over pay and conditions.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has vowed to overhaul settlement rules after 616,000 people arrived in the UK on health and care visas.

Roughly half of these are believed to be family members.

Ms Mahmood has previously warned of “dodgy providers” hoodwinking migrants into moving to the UK, only for no job to exist.

The Home Office is trying to make it more difficult for migrants to get indefinite leave to remain.

Under Labour’s plans, migrants will be told to wait at least 10 years before they can apply for settlement rights.

Foreign nationals who arrived in the so-called ‘Boris Wave’, when there were high levels of migration, face a 10 to 15-year wait to apply for indefinite leave to remain.

And migrants could be barred from claiming benefits unless they become British citizens.

Arrivals applying for indefinite leave to remain after 10 years must have no criminal record, speak English to A-level standards and have no debt, under Labour’s new proposals.

The Home Office was told it must address the “woefully inadequate data” on migrants, with officials unaware of how many people are currently in the UK.

Peers branded it the “most disturbing revelation” of its probe “that we do not know which or how many migrants are in the UK”.

They added: “For large numbers of visa entrants, we have no data to assure us whether they did in fact leave when they were meant to.

“This is a historical problem of data collection and includes an absence of departure records for migrants who have arrived or been due to leave the UK between 2021 and 2026, and is ongoing.

“This is simply not good enough and this data failure should be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

Lord Foster, Chair of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee said: “We need better data on who is, and is not, in the UK, and better data on migrant outcomes, to see the full picture of how migration affects the country and whether people are integrating. Without this picture, misinformation becomes rife.

“We need a settlement system that promotes integration, and which shows that integration is a two-way street. The Government needs to ensure migrants have the tools and opportunities they need to become part of British society, including opportunities to work and learn English. Migrants need to take those opportunities.

“We also need a government that plans ahead on migration, rather than just reacting to it. We are calling for the Government to develop and publish a migration plan every three years, setting out the principles and priorities guiding the Government’s decisions on migration and settlement.

“Settlement, citizenship and integration policy presents complex issues, but they are not impossible. We can and must do better. We look forward to receiving the Government’s response to our conclusions and recommendations in this report.”