Immigration: Rwanda, £4 billion asylum system, and dwindling workforce looms over Starmer

ITV News Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker explains how Labour will overhaul immigration policy

Immigration was one of the issues that dogged former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his predecessors - that pledge to "stop the boats" was never fulfilled.

This is the scale of the challenge that Sir Keir Starmer now faces.

Net Migration

Sir Keir has pledged to bring down net migration; the number of people coming to UK from overseas, minus the number of people leaving.

It hit a record high in 2022 at 745,000, before falling around 10 per cent last year.

However, net migration is still huge by historical standards at 685,000.

Labour hasn't set a target for how much it wants to bring down that number and critics warn that could make it difficult for the government to adequately plan for public services.

The idea is to train up more UK workers, instead of being so reliant of on foreign labour in sectors with skills shortages such construction, social care and health.

However experts caution that approach won’t work in the care sector where high vacancy rates are driven by low pay caused in turn by limited government funding.

Mike Padgham, Chairman of the Independent Care Group told ITV News: “For three decades social care has been underfunded by all governments of all colours in the past. That’s never been addressed.

"We are over reliant on overseas staff but there’s nowhere else to go, if we don’t have overseas staff we can’t care for people in this country.”

"We are over reliant on overseas staff but there’s nowhere else to go," says Mike Padgham

Mr Padgham explained why focusing on a British workforce won’t solve the long standing problems in his sector, where there are already around 150,000 vacancies.

“We tried to recruit from this country, but sadly there aren’t enough people from this country who want to do this type of work. It’s low paid, but highly skilled, so we are having to recruit from overseas,” he said.

Work and student visas

Labour will retain some of the measures already in place including the ban on most students and care workers bringing their families to the UK.

Early indications are that the UK has become less attractive to work and study, especially international students as a result. Universities are in a cash crisis - forecasts suggest 40% could end the year in the red.

Why? Foreign students pay up to £38,000 a year, compared with home students paying just over £9000.

Evans Sarbeng is originally from Ghana and works as a nurse at St Cecelia’s Care Home in Scarborough. One of the attractions of working in the UK was that he could bring his wife with him on his work visa. The ban on bringing family was introduced earlier this year.

'I’ve come in to add value to the community,' says student Evans Sarbeng

“If this rule was in place when I was applying to come to the UK, I wouldn’t have come here. I would have gone to the US instead,” Mr Sarbeng said.

The heated political debate around immigration levels has had an impact on Mr Sarbeng.

“I come in with my knowledge, my experience and my skill set, I’ve not just come in to put pressure on public services. I’ve come in to add value to the community.”“You begin to ask yourself, did I make the right decision coming here, it feels like I’m not wanted,” he told ITV News.

Illegal migration

Let’s move on to illegal migration. Labour will scrap the controversial Rwanda scheme that would have sent asylum seekers to the East African country.

Instead the money saved will be spent on a new 'border security command’, hundreds of new investigators with 'counter-terror type powers' as Sir Keir wants to 'smash the gangs.'

They also want a returns deal with the EU, though that will be hard to negotiate.

Since 2018, nearly 120,000 people have come to the UK by small boats across the channel, many journeys arrange by people smugglers.

Asylum backlog

The UK’s asylum system costs £4 billion a year, has a backlog of unprocessed claims and at one point £8 million pounds a day was being spent on hotel accommodation.

A large backlog of unprocessed claims built up between 2018 and 2022, although it started to fall in 2023 (a drop of 28 per cent after 12 years of growth.)

An extra 1,000 staff will be recruited to process claims and temporary courts set up to hear legal challenges quickly.

Many questions remain unanswered. For example, it’s unclear what the plan is for illegal migrants whose claims are rejected as they can’t be sent home to countries like Iran or Afghanistan.

Shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has not ruled out processing asylum seekers in other countries.

Immigration remains a divisive issue. In opposition it’s easy to promise change, but in government it’s much harder to deliver.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...