News and comments on latest policy developments — October/November 2026 

Home secretary backs down on care worker settlement 

As the newsletter was being finalised, home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced changes to the proposed earned settlement rules, benefitting care workers who were in the country before May 2025 who have met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year. These workers will now be able to gain indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years. Workers in a set list of public service jobs — such as doctors, nurses and teachers — will also be able to qualify for ILR after five years, even if they do not meet the standard salary threshold. 

Mahmood also said that the care-worker route had also been abused, with some “rogue” companies sponsoring workers for jobs that did not exist. People affected will be given a “second chance” to apply for a new five-year Health and Care visa, restricted to “genuine work” in the sector. After this period, they will also be able to apply for settlement. 

Care workers who arrived after May 2025 will have to wait 10 years before they can earn ILR. 

The new settlement arrangements have been published by the government and can be downloaded here. 

The i Paper had quoted Andrea Egan, general secretary of UNISON, as accusing the home secretary of “dehumanising” migrants, especially care workers, by making them wait 10 years to get the right to live in the UK permanently.  

NHS employers and trade unions had also urged the government to allow staff already in the UK to remain on the five-year settlement route. Otherwise, thousands of healthcare support workers would have waited up to 15 years before settling. Personnel Today claimed the NHS might face a bill of at least £169 million to keep them. 

Taking a different stance in UnHerd, David Jeffery warned that, under Boris Johnson, Britain opened the doors to an extraordinary influx of care workers and their dependants. The Home Office estimates 616,000 people arrived through the health and care visa route between 2022 and 2024. As a result, many are now approaching the point at which they might qualify for indefinite leave.  

More responses to the announcements on 2 November will be included in the next newsletter, scheduled for early December. 

Over 55 organisations write to PM on earned settlement proposals 

Southall Black Sisters and more than 55 other organisations have written to the prime minister to raise concerns about the impact of the earned settlement proposals and wider immigration reforms on women and girls, and victim-survivors of domestic violence. 

The letter is headed by a quote from Jess Phillips MP: “The only qualification for access to support, housing, refuge, social security, and police protection for victims of domestic abuse in this country should be this: are you human?”

People who have worked in the UK for years and are on track to be granted permanent residency have told The i Paper they fear proposed changes could see them separated from their families. One is Julian Grant, 32, born in the USA, who has built his “whole life” in Scotland, where he moved when he was 18. “It’s not just a whole career but a community. It’s been the entirety of my adult life,” said the freelance consultant. 

Around 200,000 people have been granted indefinite leave to remain since the proposals were first made in November 2025. Without changes, around 1.6 million people could qualify for ILR between 2026 and 2030, with at least 16,000 reaching settlement each month under the current rules. 

Asylum Matters and a range of other bodies have issued a new MP briefing on earned settlement, calling on them to insist on more evidence on its effects. 

The government has published updated factsheets and impact assessments for the Immigration and Asylum Bill. Line-by-line scrutiny of the bill at Committee Stage continued in October and is scheduled to conclude on 3 November. Track the progress of the bill here.  

In more news on naturalisation:

• While the Work Rights Centre says Andy Burnham has noble ambitions for care, they say these ambitions must include migrant care workers
• The Migration Observatory has a new briefing on work visas and migrant workers in the UK
• Another Observatory briefing looks at citizenship and naturalisation for migrants in the UK, providing data on the number of migrants who become UK citizens and how this varies for different migrant groups. 

Petition to scrap the ‘refugee tax’ 

The Refugee Council has launched a petition urging the government to drop its proposed £10,000 ‘refugee tax’ from the Immigration and Asylum Bill. People who come to Britain after fleeing war, persecution and violence simply want to be safe and to build new lives here, they argue. But, when they’re finally recognised as a refugee, the government will saddle them with £10,000 of debt before they’ve even had a chance to apply for a job. And until they’ve paid this money in full, they’ll be unable to get permanent permission to stay in the UK.

Councils struggling to meet domestic abuse housing needs 

The Local Government Chronicle has a survey showing that English councils are struggling to meet housing demand for victims and survivors of domestic abuse. According to a survey of 49 councils, in 2025/26, they received 410 presentations for safe accommodation, with an average of 298 placements actually made. Seventy-eight per cent of respondents cited a lack of suitable accommodation for those with specific needs as a barrier, while 69 per cent noted wider shortages of safe accommodation. Financial pressures were reported by 73 per cent of councils as negatively impacting the ability to provide safe accommodation. 

Rights of Women regularly produces updates on rule changes that affect migrant victim-survivors of domestic abuse. The latest update is available here. It complements the September update, after the expansion of the settlement route for victims to include adult children whose immigration status depends on a parent. The Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession has now been expanded.  

The migrant news outlet imix reported the home secretary revealing that almost every woman reaching northern France has probably been subjected to sexual violence on the way, and that smuggling gangs, not the UK, are deciding who gets on a dinghy. The Guardian led coverage of the remarks, also picked up by The Express. The Refugee Council’s Imran Hussain welcomed the acknowledgement but asked why family reunion, the route that overwhelmingly helps women and children, was closed last year. 

The Guardian also reported that an immigration judge had quashed Home Office decisions blocking two young mothers and young children from joining husbands and fathers with refugee status in the UK. The judge found the policy had been applied unlawfully. Around 250 to 300 people in Gaza are in a similar position, and the Refugee Council estimates around 20,000 people have been denied reunion since the scheme was suspended in September 2025. 

Southall Black Sisters report on five years of the Support for Migrant Victims (SMV) fund: a vital safety net, but not a solution when No Recourse to Public Funds conditions make women three times more likely to be subjected to violence. They call on the government to introduce long-term and holistic support mechanisms for migrant victim-survivors. 

The Scottish Government’s Fund to Leave scheme for women and children experiencing domestic abuse is set to double, to £4 million. 

‘We will never let that go’ — new campaign on family reunion 

Women for Refugee Women has launched a new campaign calling for the immediate reinstatement of family reunion. The ‘We will never let that go’ campaign is supported by influential people such as Annie Lennox, Peter Capaldi, Laura Whitmore, David Morrissey, Aisling Bea and more. The sudden suspension of Refugee Family Reunion last September disproportionately harms refugee women and children, with over 92% of visas granted to them before the route was closed. With few updates on when the route will reopen, Women for Refugee Women says it is vital to put pressure on the government to reinstate it.

UK Resettlement Scheme reopens for new referrals  

The home secretary has announced the reopening of the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) for new referrals, with around one in four referrals prioritising Afghan women, girls and Palestinian refugees fleeing war and persecution. Working in partnership with local authorities, referrals will reopen immediately, with first arrivals expected before the end of the year (reports the East Midlands Migration Briefing). 

This is in addition to three new safe and legal routes, announced in the Restoring Order and Control Statement in November 2025, opened in October. 

Charities and non-profits will be able to apply to become sponsors for a community sponsorship route, which will allow communities to host refugees, and a similar student sponsorship route. The first arrivals of refugees for both routes are expected in Autumn 2027. 

Applications for the work sponsorship route, which will allow companies to host refugees, will open in Spring 2027. All sponsors will provide accommodation, integration support and help finding work, reducing pressure on local authorities. 

First arrivals will follow later that year. Numbers will be capped, starting in the hundreds and rising to the “low thousands” only as small boat arrivals fall. The House of Commons Library has a research briefing on the new routes. 

A related measure is the end of the ‘one-in, one-out policy’ that involved removing asylum seekers to France. 

More on resettlement: 

• Palestinians. The UK is accused of giving people in Gaza false hope over a new refugee safe route, according to The Guardian. Only a “very small number” of people already in Lebanon or Jordan will be referred, says the organisation running the scheme. 
• Syria. A surgeon from Syria faces deportation as the Home Office revokes refugee status for Syrians. Despite Foreign Office guidance advising against all travel to Syria because of the “volatile” security situation, the government has classified it as a safe place for refugees to return to. 
• Afghans. Since 2021, the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP) has resettled 39,058 people and the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) has resettled 4,589 refugees. In the year ending June 2026, 3,840 Afghan individuals were resettled in the UK, 48 per cent less than the previous year. 
• Ukraine. A total of 240,969 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK since 2022, 181,468 of whom arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Arrivals continue. A total of 159,341 Ukrainians have been granted additional leave under the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme, with only 472 refusals. It is noteworthy that Ukraine’s population, which stood at 52 million when it declared independence in 1991, was down to 28.5 million by mid-2026 and has fallen further since, primarily because of people leaving. 
• More Ukraine. An academic study looked at media coverage of Ukrainian refugees in the US, UK, Germany and Turkey. It found Ukrainians were generally reported on favourably, in contrast (for example) with descriptions of Syrians escaping earlier crises in their country. 
• Homelessness fears. As the Housing Rights website has noted on its page about helping Ukrainians, the ‘thank you’ payments for people hosting refugees are to be cut from £350 monthly to £100 from next year. The government says it has so far provided more than £1.81 billion for the scheme. However, The Guardian quotes several Ukrainians saying their accommodation is now at risk because of the change. 

Asylum accommodation — more hotel closures and a High Court challenge  

Asylum hotel use is falling, with fewer than 170 operating, down from about 400 at the peak. Hotels used in Southsea, Crawley and Epping will soon be closed (the infamous Bell Hotel in Epping has closed already). 

Hotel closures were considered in a case before the High Court on 6 October, considering a claim that the Home Office had not assessed the impact of closing 12 hotels providing around 2,500 beds, most occupied by women and children. One family had been told to move from London to Aberdeen, The Independent reported. A court case challenging the move was too late, however, and the court declined to consider it. 

Minister repeats incorrect claim about Labour’s asylum hotels record 

Full Fact points out that, during a parliamentary debate, Home Office minister Jo White MP claimed that the number of hotels being used to house asylum seekers “has fallen from 400 when we came into power to fewer than 160.” 

This isn’t correct. The number of hotels in use peaked at “over 400 in summer 2023”, under the previous Conservative government, but had fallen to 213 by the time Labour came to power in July 2024. 

The rushed closure of asylum hotels puts refugee children’s education at risk, charities warned in the Morning Star. 

Opposing the expansion of Campsfield detention centre 

The Home Office is planning to create 1,000 additional immigration detention spaces, expanding the UK’s detention estate by approximately 40 per cent. There is now a public inquiry into the proposed Campsfield detention centre, which you can find out more about here. Right to Remain is calling on organisations to endorse their arguments opposing the expansion on the basis that the Home Office has not demonstrated a need for more detention spaces, and that expanding detention will cause serious harm to people and communities.

Build and buy homes for asylum seekers — it’s the right thing to do 

Kate Wareing of Soha Housing tells The i Paper that refurbishing old military bases and throwing money at hotels and private landlords isn’t a solution. Instead, we need to build or buy homes to use as temporary accommodation, including for asylum seekers. She argues that it is much better value for money. (Kate’s work has featured in previous issues of this newsletter.) 

Other news 

• Ending Destitution Together in Scotland. Scotland has a new delivery plan, which includes dealing with No Recourse to Public Funds. Critics say it should go further. 
• Growing polarisation, hardening views in Scotland. A new report from Migration Policy Scotland finds that attitudes to immigration have become more restrictive. As in previous years, however, views are less restrictive where questions are couched in more specific terms. 
• Windrush scandal. The singer and television personality Mel B has said she is “heartbroken” by the Windrush scandal victims’ fight for justice, as the Windrush commissioner urged ministers to commit to providing funding for legal support for those affected. 
• EU citizens’ rights. The3million has issued a briefing for a Westminster Hall debate relating to the e-petition on the UK re-joining the EU, highlighting outstanding citizens’ rights issues. 
• Trafficking. Free Movement points out that numbers of trafficking victims are increasing, just as the government aims to “make it much harder” for them.  

Courses, training and guides 

Homelessness and temporary accommodation. If you support people from refugee communities, Advicenow’s free online Housing Rights for Refugees: Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation course provides vital legal knowledge to help you do your work. Get more information and register here. 

Domestic abuse. ASAP has a new webinar on 5 November exploring how to support asylum seekers using the Home Office guidance on domestic abuse. It is being jointly delivered by the British Red Cross and Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP). Click here for registration. 

Speaking Out, Staying Safe. Imix is running a series of free workshops delivered region by region, so that organisations can learn together and start building local networks. You can see all the regions and book the session closest to you here. 

Supporting you through your immigration journey. Praxis has a new interactive guide to help migrants come to terms with housing, benefits and other issues. It’s “for migrants, by migrants”. 

Thanks to Asylum Matters for some news items on this page.