Proposed reforms to resettlement system for refugees
Proposed government reforms to the UK’s resettlement system for refugees
‘ACTION’ Responses and objections needed before 12 February 2026
The Home Office has launched a public consultation on proposed reforms to the UK’s settlement system, following the 2025 Immigration White Paper Restoring Control over the Immigration System. The consultation outlines plans to replace automatic settlement after a fixed period with an “earned settlement” approach, requiring migrants to demonstrate sustained good conduct, contribution and integration before being granted Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Praxis, the human rights charity working for migrant rights, argues that the proposals will punish:
- lower income households, by rewarding those who earn high salaries and disadvantaging those who earn less.
- refugees, by subjecting them to a 20-year wait for settlement.
- people who have claimed benefits perfectly legally.
- people who have arrived irregularly, on a visitor visa or overstayed for more than six months. Thirty years is a lifetime.
Praxis also argue that:
- More people, including children, will end up facing poverty and homelessness.
- Children who have spent years in the UK and had no choice about moving here, and who are trying to navigate young adulthood, will be subjected to requirements to “earn” settlement or face punishingly long routes.
- The proposals make an already confusing and delayed system impossibly complex.
Malvern Welcomes will be responding formally as a body, after consultation between Trustees and the Management Team, expecting to submit a response by late January 2026.
But individuals can also submit a response, and we urge you as a member of Malvern Welcomes to do this. The Management Team will send all members its response in January, with a suggested wording for your own response if you would like to use that. You can submit your response on the link at the end of this page on Government Gateway (no sign-in needed): https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/earned-settlement
Background reading
If you’d like to look into the matter and send your response now, the full document is available to read here at the Government Gateway link (no sign-in needed): https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/earned-settlement
A helpful explainer of this document from Praxis is here. It is particularly useful for explaining how the proposals seek to alter the current situation: https://www.praxis.org.uk/news/explainer-earned-settlement
A longer document from Praxis explaining their objections to the proposals can be read here.
Kate Macdonald & Sharon Baker
for Malvern Welcomes Management Team
19th December 2025
