Speeches by Mahmood.

“The basis on which an application for indefinite leave to remain is assessed is based on the rules at the time that you apply. That has always been the case, and I think that that was upheld in case law—it has been tested in court and been upheld in case law since 2009.”

“To the extent that we have shortages in any sector. The Migration Advisory Committee advises on what those should be and we will always take that advice on board. You will know that the Health Secretary has said we will have a fair pay agreement for the care sector by, I believe, 2028. There is a need for us as a socie…”

“That is exactly what we are consulting on. We know that we will need to develop careful pathways to deal with the particular issue of children. We will want to look at those who are older versus those who are younger in this new system. Obviously, the policy is still being designed, and we are very open to what the con…”

“I think that’s the job, in a funny way. Sorry to be quite basic about it, but we are designing a new system, and obviously I have to make sure that the Home Office is capable of delivering it, but it is not unusual for us to have rule changes at least twice a year anyway. They are often technical, and they sometimes re…”

“I would not say it is deterrence. There is a particular issue where we have seen migration into the country on a very large scale—much more than was expected—and of a very different nature to what we have had before, both in terms of the skills range and the number of dependants. Something like 50% of the care work num…”

“No, it is our ability to get people on a plane and get them back to France. We are having claims all the time. On our side, we have had practical and legal hurdles to overcome; on the French side, there are practical hurdles to overcome as well.”

“I am confident that the measures that we have announced will have an impact and start to bring numbers down. I cannot give you a timeline of exactly when all of that will happen, partly because we have to pass legislation. That all necessarily takes time. We are obviously dealing with counterparts in other countries an…”

“I think it is right that we move to a system where refugee status is temporary, rather than permanent. At the moment, once you are deemed to be a refugee and you succeed in your claim, as you say—that’s it. At that point, you have full status here. In fact, until we changed the rules on family reunification, you were a…”

“I know that these contracts have caused quite some consternation among a number of different parliamentarians, and I know that they are of interest to this Committee. Obviously, I inherited these contracts and we are trying to make the best of them. I think that the actual contract management itself has improved, becau…”

“The question is about not just the contracts themselves but what the alternatives are, because we are, on any measure, dealing with a large housing need. I think we will have to progress very carefully, but I can assure you that I have ensured that the Department is sweating the contracts, as it were. The actual accomm…”

“The reforms for settlement are precipitated by the issues in relation to the scale and pace of recent migration into the country. Between 2021 and 2024, net migration stood at 2.6 million people, which means that around one in every 30 people in this country today arrived in those four years. We have seen particular is…”

“Yes, I believe we are. I think we have already saved—I was just checking—something like £500 million. The cost of hotels has come down: in 2023-24, it was £8.3 million a day, and in 2024-25 it was £5.77 million. Savings are already being made. Obviously we will want to go further and meet at least what we are expected …”

“Well, we should never have been in the position where we were in the contracts in the first place—”

“And we shouldn’t have been in hotels either. Those are policy choices that have been made previously. The difficult factor in what you are saying is more about, as I say, the alternatives and how you transition to a better model for—”

“We obviously want to be able to ultimately break this business model. We are interested in all and any mechanisms that we have at our disposal to do that. It requires co-operation with international partners. We are in the middle of a negotiation at the moment, and I will not—”

“Evidence has already been given to the Committee about what was said in front of me on 8 October—”

“You are absolutely right. Obviously, what I want is for as much as you can physically do on site to be done there. As this part of the estate grows, and as we get out of hotels and into more large sites, there will be a rationalisation of what we are able to do. A lot of lessons have been learned, even since Wethersfie…”

“Generally speaking, we would want to avoid that.”

“As of today—correct me if I am wrong, Dan—we have had 305 people go out and 367 people come in. There is still a discrepancy between the numbers. But throughout the pilot and when we first started, those numbers were heavier on the French side, and that has shifted all the way through. That is usually down to being abl…”

“I am afraid I do not have that exact date to hand. I do not want to give you an incorrect date, but it was understood throughout that—”