Internal documents show the Home Office has quietly dropped the date for announcing its promised changes to indefinite leave to remain
Shabana Mahmood has been heavily criticised after the Home Office admitted that it has no timeline for announcing its proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). The admission follows an investigation by The Critic into the proposed ILR changes which Mahmood first announced in November 2025. What we can now reveal is that the Home Office’s own internal documents no longer list an announcement or implementation date for the changes, and that the Home Office is still ‘considering responses’ to its consultation which closed on 12th February.
The department maintains an Immigration Change Landscape Document (ICLD) which, until earlier this month, stated that the ILR changes would be announced via a statement of changes in Parliament on 14th October with implementation to follow immediately. That date was removed from the document, and no new announcement or implementation date has been announced.
We understand that the ICLD also states that the policy is “subject to discussions between Policy and Ministers around any potential transitional measures which may affect the implementation date” — with the implication that whatever changes are eventually announced may not be implemented until well into next year (if ever).
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When the Critic put these claims to the Home Office, they said “we are currently considering responses to our consultation on elements of these reforms”. This means that despite the consultation having concluded over nine months ago, the Home Office is yet to finalise a policy. Indeed, The Critic understands that the Home Office is, in fact, still reviewing the over 200,000 responses to the consultation, meaning that a final policy must still be a distant proposition.
Commenting on this, Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary said: “it is ludicrous that the Government claim they are still considering the responses to the consultation which closed eight months ago. The country cannot afford any more delay from the Labour Government — they must urgently implement their changes to indefinite leave to remain. Hundreds of low-skilled migrants are being granted ILR every day Shabana Mahmood dithers. The Home Secretary herself admitted it will cost British taxpayers around £10 billion to support low wage or no wage migrants if they get ILR – it is not fair that the British public will have to foot the bill to subsidise this cohort.”
Migration research groups were similarly critical, with Alp Mehmet of Migration Watch describing the Home Secretary’s behaviour as “shameful”, noting that in November 2025, Mahmood “promised action”, but “now she’s backtracking, claiming February’s consultation feedback is “still being reviewed”. The public aren’t fools Ms Mahmood. You seem to be preparing a massive cave-in after a hostile reaction from your own left wing backbenchers.”
Meanwhile, Rob Bates of the Centre for Migration control said that the government “has no intention of introducing the changes”, before adding “it now seems that the government’s position is to prioritise the interests of foreign nationals and temporary migrants over the British people.”
When asked for comment the Home Office said that “this Government has announced reforms that mean settlement must be earned and not automatic”, and pointed the Critic to a written Parliamentary question answered on the 23rd of February, and a policy announcement from the 20th November last year.