Energy Secretary Declines to Back 15-Year Settlement Wait Plan
Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh declined on Wednesday, October 21, to say whether she backed Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's plan to extend the wait for permanent residence for foreign workers from five years to 15. In an interview with Sky News, she said she fully backed Mahmood and everything Mahmood was trying to do, and that she supported reforms requiring people to contribute to the country before they can become citizens. Asked whether she did not back the 15-year proposal specifically, she replied: "Don't … put words in my mouth."
The dispute follows a post on Fahnbulleh's Peckham constituency website, which appeared to criticise the 15-year plans and has since been removed. The Guardian reported on October 19 that the post said the policy would prolong the wait for settlement. The Times reported the same day that a cabinet minister was the latest to attack the proposals. In her Sky News interview, Fahnbulleh said: "We have got to reform our immigration system."
Settlement is the term for indefinite leave to remain, which the Home Office describes as a person's right to live in the UK permanently without any immigration restrictions. Under the current system, it is granted almost automatically after five years' residence, according to a government speech on the subject. In November 2025, the government set out proposals that would raise the default qualifying period to 10 years, with exceptions for certain groups, in a public consultation, a formal period in which people and organisations can comment before decisions are made.
The current proposal for foreign workers would extend the wait to 15 years and would be backdated to 2021. Dozens of Labour MPs oppose the changes, according to the Guardian. In September, the BBC reported that Mahmood had signalled she was willing to rethink plans to make it harder for foreign workers to claim permanent residence.
A government spokesperson said the government had announced reforms under which settlement must be earned and not automatic. The spokesperson said the government was considering responses to its consultation on elements of the reforms.
