Migrant households given record near-£12BILLION in Universal Credit in single year in ‘insult to hard-working taxpayers’

MIGRANT households received a whopping record £11.9billion in Universal Credit last year, with critics branding the bill an “insult to hard-working taxpayers”. Official figures show the amount paid to households containing at least one foreign national rose by a quarter in just 12 months. Foreign nationals can claim universal credit if their immigration status gives them recourse to public funds Credit: PA Andy Burnham must decide whether to water down proposals by the Home Secretary to limit the settlement rights of migrants Credit: Shutterstock Editorial The Department for Work and Pensions handed out £11.9billion to such households in 2025 – up from £9.5billion in 2024 and £7.5billion in 2023, reports The Telegraph. The data was obtained by the Centre for Migration Control through freedom of information laws. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! It shows 15.6 per cent of all Universal Credit payments last year went to households with at least one foreign national. Around £7.7billion, or 65 per cent of the total dished out, was paid to claimants who were out of work. Shabana Mahmood has proposed not granting leave to remain until after 10 years Credit: PA Migrants rescued in the middle of the channel trying to reach the UK are brought to Dover Credit: Getty The figure has sparked fresh calls for tougher restrictions on benefits and migrant settlement rights. Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, said the figures were “shocking”. He accused the Government of forcing British taxpayers to fund billions in benefits for foreign nationals. The Shadow Home Sec said: “British taxpayers should not be paying billions in benefits to foreigners, especially given that over half of these payments are for people out of work. Most read in The Sun “Paying unemployed foreigners is an insult to hard-working taxpayers. “If Shabana Mahmood U-turns on her own ILR reforms as looks increasingly likely, we will see even more low wage and unemployed foreigners qualifying for benefits.” The figures come as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood faces a major Labour backbench rebellion over plans to tighten migrant settlement rules. Ms Mahmood has proposed doubling the standard period before migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five to ten years. The qualifying period could rise to 15 years for foreign care workers, including some already living in the UK. But the proposals have faced opposition from up to 100 Labour MPs, including Communities Secretary Angela Rayner, who argue that applying the changes retrospectively would be “un-British” and “unfair”. Andy Burnham is now under pressure over whether care workers should be excluded from the reforms. Home Office estimates have suggested that allowing foreign care workers arriving from this year to settle in Britain could carry a net lifetime fiscal cost of up to £10billion. Robert Jenrick, Reform’s treasury spokesman, blamed Boris Johnson‘s immigration policies for the rising benefits bill. He said: “Boris Johnson lowered the minimum-salary requirement for migrants and this ballooning benefits bill is the result. “If Burnham bottles ILR changes, the Boriswave risks becoming permanent and will cost taxpayers tens of billions more.” Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control, said the figures challenged claims that mass legal migration had benefited the economy. He said the welfare system should exist “exclusively to help the British people” and called for indefinite leave to remain to be scrapped. Foreign nationals can claim Universal Credit when their immigration status allows access to public funds, including some refugees, people with EU settled status and those with indefinite leave to remain. A Government spokesman said: “Under this Government, net migration is down by 82 per cent from its 2023 peak. “Only people who are in the UK legally can claim taxpayer-funded benefits, of which around half are in work. “Last November, we set out proposals to reform settlement which will double the standard qualifying period to 10 years for most migrants, with shorter routes for those who contribute most to the UK.” 12 comments12