More than £7.5bn is being spend on universal credit as over one million foreign nationals are claiming benefits, Government figures have shown.
Figures from the Department of Work and Pensions have shown that households with at least one foreign national claimant received over £7.5billion in benefits in 2023.
Once foreign nationals are granted indefinite leave to remain, and have settled or have refugee status, they become entitled for benefits on the same terms as British citizens.
They are also eligible to receive a state pension.
In addition to the cost of foreign benefit claims, a further £5.4bn goes towards accommodating and supporting a backlog of over 100,000 migrants
PA
Analysis by the Centre for Migration Control (CMC) has found that Congolese, Iraqi and Afghan people are claiming benefits at four times the rate of British people.
Overall, 40 nationalities are claiming more benifits than British citizens.
The disclosure of the foreign welfare bill comes before Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce up to £6bn in benefit cuts.
He has called the system “unsustainable, indefensible and unfair” .
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In addition to the cost of foreign benefit claims, a further £5.4bn goes towards accommodating and supporting a backlog of over 100,000 migrants.
This cost quintupled under the previous Government.
The bill is expected to rise as around 800,000 foreign nationals are set to be given indefinite leave to remain in the UK over the next decade following.
This is due to record levels of net migration of around 906,000 a year, according to analysis by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS).
Conservatives have argued that low-paid and jobless asylum seekers should be banned from remaining indefinitely in the country.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded the benefits bill for foreign nationals “unacceptable” and “astonishing”.
He said: “It is immoral that British taxpayers are subsidising nationals of other countries on an industrial scale. No wonder our taxes are so high.
“Research shows low-wage migrants actually cost other taxpayers money. This is why the era of mass migration has to end.
“I have tabled amendments to the Borders Bill to create a legally binding annual cap on immigration numbers and an increase in the visa salary threshold to £38,000 across the board.”
The findings are based on DWP data from 2019, showing that 990,000 foreigners were claiming working-age benefits, an increase of nine per cent from 2018.
Meanwhile, 6.1 million Britons were claiming benefits – an increase of only four per cent from the year before.
Although the numbers have not been updated since the pandemic, the CMC have estimated another 168,000 claimants would have been added if the rate continued.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded the benefits bill for foreign nationals “unacceptable” and “astonishing”
PA
Poland accounted for the largest number of claimants at 89,040, followed by Pakistan (85,881), Bangladesh (54,589), Romania (45,727), India (33,561), Portugal (32,063), Nigeria (23,627) and Ireland (17,933).
Research director at CPS, Karl Williams, said: “We need to move towards a much more selective immigration system that prioritises migrants likely to be substantial net contributors.”
Rob Bates of the CMC added: “It is an unsustainable state of affairs and one that reveals the real folly behind our current indefinite leave to remain laws, meaning someone who has been here for just five years has access to the welfare state that British nationals have paid into for generations.”
A DWP spokesman said: “We have a duty to pay benefits to all those entitled to receive them, however the figures highlighted refer to 2019, and can’t be used to provide an indication of the current nationality of claimants.”
“Universal Credit is designed to incentivise moving people into employment and progression at work and has a thorough application process. Illegal migrants with no immigration status cannot receive Universal Credit and refugees and non-UK or Irish citizens can only receive payments once they have had their status granted by the Home Office and satisfy the Habitual Residence Test.”