News and comments on latest policy developments — July 2026 

More than 200 charities urge the new PM to ‘reject the politics of division’

Many organisations, including CIH, welcomed Andy Burnham as the new prime minister. 

Coordinated by Together with Refugees, over two hundred refugee and migrant groups, including Care4Calais, Choose Love, City of Sanctuary UK, Freedom from Torture, NACCOM, Refugee Action, Refugee Council, Scottish Refugee Council and Women for Refugee Women, sent a letter to the new prime minister, calling for a new approach to immigration policy. 

The letter said: “As leaders of charities and organisations supporting refugees across the UK, we witness every day the extraordinary compassion shown by ordinary people. While recent scenes of far-right marches, intimidation and attempts to spread fear have dominated headlines, they do not reflect the reality we see in communities across the country.” 

It went on: “Prime Minister, we ask you to reject the politics of division, and focus on what unites us, to build common ground, and to extend dignity, humanity and hope to those who have already endured so much. Now is the time to champion a narrative that reflects the very best of our country, because we believe we are stronger together.” 

But what will Andy Burnham do on immigration? 

That Shabana Mahmood stays as home secretary suggests to the FT that Burnham is not immediately abandoning tougher immigration policies. Mahmood herself welcomed her reappointment, stating that the government has “begun the work of major reform” of the immigration system and intends to “finish the job”. 

However, earlier the FT thought that Burnham might move back towards local authority-led asylum accommodation, rather than using contractors, as well as looking to set up more “safe routes” for refugees. 

Burnham should also “expand high-skilled migration through talent routes” argues Lauren Gilbert. She says that it’s possible for Britain to have a compassionate, economically prudent immigration policy that wins public consent. 

The new PM cannot demand integration while building an asylum system on insecurity, says Amina Khanom, writing from Manchester in openDemocracy. She asks whether Burnham will push ahead with inherited plans for an asylum system built around deterrence and insecurity, or whether he will bring the principles he has championed in Manchester into national policy. 

Immigration and Asylum Bill will force refugees to pay for asylum accommodation 

The day before presenting the Immigration and Asylum Bill 2026, the home secretary announced that asylum seekers could soon have to pay around £10,000 towards their accommodation costs. The Bill will require asylum seekers to pay off the full amount they owe before they are eligible to settle in the UK permanently. 
 
Women for Refugee Women called the move “another act of performative cruelty from this government. It is punitive, short-sighted, and risks creating yet another barrier to independence, integration and dignity for refugee women”. 
 
Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, added that the decision was “a government shakedown of refugees so it can pay for its own waste and incompetence”.  

“Instead of forcing destitute people into debt,” he said, “ministers must stop paying billions to private housing contractors and lift the ban on work so people who are able can start to rebuild their lives.” 

What else is in the Immigration and Asylum Bill 2026? 

The Immigration and Asylum Bill passed its second reading on July 13, by 264 votes to 90. 

The Bill’s main proposals include: 

• A new Independent Immigration Appeals Authority 
• Tightened application of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights 
• Reformed modern slavery legislation 
• New measures to tackle exploitation and provide for the identification of and support for children 
• Replacing asylum/refugee and humanitarian protection claims and grants of leave with a single ‘core protection’ model.   

Additionally, the Bill will require people receiving asylum support to make a contribution payment once they are financially able to do so. 

The government published the equality impact assessment for the Bill. The House of Commons Library published a research briefing and Free Movement analysed the Bill and provided a free-to-access Bill tracker. The Refugee Council published a briefing on the proposals. 

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has issued a call for evidence. Written submissions can be made here. The deadline is 1 September. 

Here are some responses to the Bill: 

• The Scottish Refugee Council said that “safety should never be for sale” 
• Amnesty International UK’s view is that it is “politics as performance not problem solving” 
• In The Conversation, Andy Rain explained why “yet another attempt to overhaul the system won’t work” 
• Dan Sohege’s BlueSky post argued that the Bill contains “some of the most regressive measures we have seen”  
• The Work Rights Centre labelled the Bill “cruel, costly, and completely unnecessary” 
• Labour Hub said that the Bill is “unfair, unsafe and unworkable” — but pointed out that few Labour MPs vote against it 
• Lauren Gilbert said asylum seekers could just be allowed to work and not be kept in forced inactivity for a year. 

The latest Housing Rights newsletter has a detailed article arguing that letting asylum seekers work is a better option than accommodation charges. 

Latest on the government’s ‘earned settlement’ proposals 

A substantial group of Labour MPs are urging the new prime minister to soften or abandon parts of the ‘earned settlement’ proposals, according to The Times. It reports that ministers are considering possible compromises, including exempting many care workers and allowing existing migrants to retain a five-year route while delaying access to welfare benefits. 

The Electronic Immigration Network argues that: 

• Migrants accepted under published five-year settlement rules made life decisions on that basis  
• Extending the route after arrival amounts to “moving the goalposts” 
• Uncertainty over settlement risks making recruitment to the UK less attractive for skilled workers. 

Proposals to extend the leave to remain timeframe for care workers to 15 years are “cruel and unconscionable”, according to workers’ rights campaigners. They back proposals to exclude care workers from the government’s plans. 

The House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee’s new report argues that retrospective application of the changes would be unfair, harm integration and increase child poverty and labour exploitation. “Extending the qualifying time to ILR [indefinite leave to remain] risks undermining integration by reducing affected migrants’ security of status,” it reads. “This would limit their ability to make long-term employment, family, and housing decisions.” 

Most of the committee opposes the changes, which are estimated to affect more than two million people. 

And a new report from IPPR, Windrush Day: The unfinished business of immigration reform, suggests that under the earned settlement proposals, the majority of people from Africa and South Asia will wait 15 years to settle, while most people from North America and Europe will wait just five years. 

News on other government measures 

On 30 June, Shabana Mahmood announced plans for new, capped safe and legal refugee routes as part of wider immigration and asylum reforms. The proposals include a new community sponsorship route, under which approved community groups would be able to sponsor refugees to settle in the UK, taking responsibility for supporting integration, housing and access to employment. 

A parliamentary inquiry in 2024 found that immigration policies have a significant effect on poverty levels. A follow-up study by the APPG on Migration and the APPG on Poverty and Inequality, published on 8 July, found that the government’s latest proposals would intensify these effects rather than address them. The evidence also found that the proposals would undermine the government’s ambitions to reduce child poverty, end homelessness and strengthen social cohesion. 

Asylum accommodation: The move away from hotels 

On 29 June, the Home Office announced the closure of a further 20 asylum hotels, saying that the number in use has fallen from around 400 at its peak to fewer than 170, while the number of asylum seekers in hotels has fallen from around 56,000 in 2023 to 21,000 now. 

“We are dying little by little here,” asylum seekers at the mercy of Home Office hotel closures told The Guardian. Legal challenges have been launched on behalf of those at one hotel due to concerns about government failure to assess individual vulnerabilities before mass evictions. 

The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) is the government body responsible for overseeing major public infrastructure and project delivery. NISTA’s ‘RAG’ rating assessment shows the asylum accommodation programme as ‘red’. Red-rated projects “are receiving deeper, more targeted support to help projects get back on track”. 

Home Office abandons plan to house asylum seekers at military base 

Plans to send up to 300 asylum seekers to a military base in the Scottish Highlands — Cameron Barracks in Inverness — have been abandoned by the home secretary in the face of legal objections. 

However, alongside the hotel closures, the government announced proposals to use more military sites in which to place up to 3,750 people in Bicester in Oxfordshire, Barnham in Suffolk and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire. They also plan to extend the capacity of existing camps at Wethersfield in Essex and Crowborough in East Sussex. 

The proposals have already been met by community opposition. Asylum Matters issued a statement on the plans, and there’s a shareable digital asset here about the cost (camps being five times more expensive than dignified accommodation within communities). 

Councils are ready to buy hundreds of new homes for asylum seekers 

Joe Duggan, writing in The i Paper on 5 July, said several councils are ready to engage with a planned Home Office pilot scheme under which they would house asylum seekers in acquired properties, but that there was little progress in implementing the idea. However, five days later, a follow-up news item by Arj Singh reported that the pilot scheme has now been abandoned as it was too costly. 

Previous newsletters have included several articles on the background to the scheme. 

In The Conversation, Jacqui Broadhead of Oxford University makes the case for community sponsorship of refugees coming via the new settlement routes. 

More asylum news 

• The new borders inspector published a damning report on the quality of asylum casework, saying “…staff recruitment and training are terrible, staff morale is rock bottom, speed and quantity of decisions have been prioritised over quality and Home Office staff and managers have no idea what is going on” 
• The Home Office’s Asylum Move-On Liaison Officer (AMLO) team has recently expanded its coverage across Leicester, Derby and Nottingham, reports the East Midlands Quarterly Migration Briefing 
• The UK asylum system is a form of neo-colonialism, argues Sharan Dhaliwal in openDemocracy: “Our hostile immigration system forces traumatised queer migrants to perform rigid, Westernised scripts for safety.” 

Ukrainian refugees’ job prospects boosted by training scheme 

A government-backed training and English language programme for Ukrainian refugees has significantly boosted employment rates, according to a study set to become a model for integrating migrants more widely. 

More than 13,000 Ukrainians have participated in the specialist training and employment programme (Step) since 2023, and nearly two-thirds of them were in work a year later. 

Diana Berg, an artist still living in Ukraine, tells The Guardian what she feels about the extreme contrast between her life in wartime and the lives of her friends who have fled abroad. 

New training opportunities 

• Mapping services for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees experiencing homelessness. On 1 September, an online mapping workshop will be run by St Martin’s in the Field: Frontline Network in partnership with Justlife. It will bring together organisations across Brighton and Hove that support migrants who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. The results will inform a future workshop for organisations supporting people experiencing homelessness. Please book a place (email jo@justlife.org.uk) but only if you are confident you can attend. 
• Housing rights for migrant communities: Private renting. Advicenow is running a free housing rights course on private renting for migrant communities, aimed at frontline organisations. The course will be delivered online and is funded by A B Charitable Trust. You can sign up here. 

Other news items 

• The Green Man festival in Wales celebrates 10 years of assisting asylum seekers and refugees 
• A new EHRC code of practice (pdf) on services, public functions and associations comes into force on 5 August  
• An updated code of practice on avoiding discrimination during right to work checks takes effect on 1 October; it covers digital checks, eVisas, online services, the Employer Checking Service and safeguards for those without digital access 
• The Welsh Senedd voted 52-38 to reaffirm its ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ after a Reform UK motion and debate, reaffirming support for integration and cohesive communities (watch or read the transcript of the Senedd Plenary Session here) 
• Last month, the Home Office published the evaluation report of its pilot scheme to extend the move-on period for newly granted refugees, which can be found here; NACCOM has published an analysis of that report, which highlights the overwhelming support for permanently increasing the move-on period to at least 56 days.