Recommendation 4

The Government’s current proposals would allow shorter routes to settlement based on meeting earning requirements set at current income tax thresholds. This means that people who make a net positive direct fiscal contribution to the UK, but earn below the higher rate tax threshold, could face a 10-year route to settlement. The Government has not been clear about the basis on which the reduction thresholds have been set, nor what outcome they are intended to achieve. Given the Home Office does not intend to keep reduction thresholds in line with tax thresholds in the future, it appears that that current tax thresholds have been used as a convenient, but not yet justified, basis for setting the earnings required to reduce waiting periods for settlement. This also adds a layer of administrative complexity, and therefore potential for abuse, to a system the Home Office already struggles to manage. (Conclusion, Paragraph 24)