Benefit claims by households with at least one foreign national have doubled to nearly £1 billion in the past three years, it has been reported.
The Daily Telegraph suggests households with one or more foreign claimants received £941m in March this year, up from £461m in March 2022.
The Department for Work and Pensions defines a foreign claimant as a non-Common Travel Area (CTA) national – someone who does not hold British or Irish nationality. Its analysis only included payments to households that are made to “claimants who have a non-CTA nationality and have passed the Habitual Resident Test (HRT).”
The DWP said joint claims that include at least one non-British or Irish national will be classed as foreign, even if other members of the household are British nationals.
The i Paper takes a look at whether the comments were accurate.
Neil O’Brien, a former Tory health minister who uncovered the data, said: “The growth of benefit spending and the rate of migration are both much too fast, and the Government is doing far too little to change either trend.
“Migrants know that if they can make it to the UK, they will be allowed to stay. As long as that is true, we’ll see more and more coming. Our soft-touch welfare state makes this worse.”
The policy was one of the first major announcements of the new Government last year (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA)The article suggests the figures will reinforce calls for restrictions on benefits for migrants.
In response to whether benefits claims from households with foreign nations have doubled, a spokesperson from the DWP said: “We inherited a spiralling benefits system that was out of control.
“Since last July, we have reduced the proportion of benefit payments to nationals outside the British Isles.
“Refugees and non-UK or Irish citizens can only access these payments once their immigration status is formally verified by the Home Office and they satisfy strict tests.”
While the number of foreign nationals on benefits has increased in the past three years, according to the Government it has decreased since Labour took office last July.
Claim: Funding two months of benefits for households with foreign nationals cancels out the £1.4 billion the government saved by axing winter fuel payments
The article reported that government spending on benefits claims would cancel out a large portion of the savings made from cutting winter fuel payments.
The winter fuel payment is a lump sum of £200 a year for households with a pensioner under 80, or £300 for households with a pensioner over 80.
More than 10 million pensioners lost out on the payments, worth up to £300, when the benefit became means-tested last year.
Up to 10.8 million pensioners lost out last year after the government restricted eligibility to those who qualify for pension credit, external and other income-related benefits, to save an estimated £1.3bn. It is thought the saving could rise to £1.5bn in subsequent years.
A government spokesman said: “We inherited a spiralling benefits system that was out of control. Since last July, we have reduced the proportion of benefit payments to nationals outside the British Isles.
“Refugees and non-UK or Irish citizens can only access these payments once their immigration status is formally verified by the Home Office, and they satisfy strict tests.”
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