Burnham’s Emerging Immigration Policy
Andy Burnham’s historic record places him within Labour’s more liberal tradition on immigration and asylum, but his first decisions as Prime Minister suggest broad continuity with the Government’s existing emphasis on border control, reducing net migration and stronger enforcement. Retaining Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary, continuing work to end the use of asylum hotels and supporting the Immigration and Asylum Bill at Second Reading all support this.
Howvever, his decision to abandon the proposed national digital ID scheme nevertheless shows that individual policies remain open to review, even where the wider objectives of immigration control remain unchanged.
Public Confidence & Control
Burnham’s decision to retain Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary gives the clearest indication that the Government intends to continue its existing programme on asylum, enforcement and settlement. Downing Street has also confirmed that work to end the use of asylum hotels will continue, including the objective of doing so by the end of the Parliament.
Mahmood has led the development of the Government’s current immigration reforms, including the Immigration and Asylum Bill. The Bill proposes changes to Article 8 claims, the immigration appeals system, refugee sponsorship routes and measures directed at irregular migration. It has passed Second Reading but remains subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and amendment.
The early emphasis is therefore on continuity of policy objectives, particularly stronger border control, faster decision-making and reducing net migration, rather than any immediate change in direction.
Digital ID & Right to Work Checks
Burnham’s decision to scrap the proposed national digital ID scheme was the first clear departure from a policy developed under the Starmer administration. Although the scheme had wider objectives relating to identity verification and access to public services, a central part of the original proposal was its intended use in proving the right to work and preventing illegal working.
The Government has presented the decision as a reprioritisation of public spending and administrative attention, with resources redirected towards cost-of-living measures and other immediate domestic priorities. It does not affect digital immigration status or the existing right to work checking framework.
Employers must continue to carry out the prescribed check applicable to the individual, using the Home Office online service, an eligible identity service provider, original documents or the Employer Checking Service. The cancellation of national digital ID does not remove the statutory excuse regime or reduce exposure to civil penalties for illegal working.
The decision is also separate from the planned expansion of the Right to Work Scheme from 1 October 2026. Those reforms extend the illegal working framework to specified working arrangements beyond conventional employment and do not depend on a national digital identity system.
Legal Migration
Burnham has generally placed greater emphasis on skills, training and workforce participation than on restricting legal migration in isolation. He has argued that employers should invest more in the domestic workforce, but has not advocated closing work visa routes or abandoning the points-based system.
Even so, retaining Mahmood points to continued restraint on legal migration. Government policy remains focused on reducing reliance on overseas recruitment, raising sponsorship thresholds and linking work visas more closely to domestic workforce planning.
Any change in emphasis is more likely to emerge through targeted concessions for particular occupations, sectors or existing visa holders than through a wider reversal of the sponsorship reforms.
Settlement & Long-Term Residence
Settlement is likely to provide the clearest test of how Burnham balances policy continuity with his concerns about retrospective change.
The Government has proposed extending the standard qualifying period for settlement for many migrants, with greater emphasis on contribution, integration and compliance. Mahmood’s reappointment suggests that work on the wider earned settlement programme will continue.
Burnham has, however, raised concerns about changing the position of people who entered the UK under existing routes and planned on the basis of a five-year path to settlement. Any intervention is more likely to affect transitional arrangements, the treatment of existing visa holders or access to an earlier route to settlement than the overall direction of reform.
The settlement proposals are separate from the Immigration and Asylum Bill and remain subject to consultation, detailed Immigration Rules and implementation decisions.
Asylum Policy & Access to Work
Burnham’s support for the Immigration and Asylum Bill and his retention of Mahmood indicate that faster decision-making, stronger enforcement and proposed reform of the appeals system will remain central to asylum policy.
His wider record nevertheless reflects a more sympathetic approach to asylum and integration than that taken by some political opponents. Previous comments have included support for allowing more asylum seekers to work while their claims are pending, but that is not current Government policy and no change has been announced.
Immigration Policy Under the Burnham Government
Burnham has taken office after a period of substantial change to the UK immigration system. His early decisions suggest that Labour’s main policy direction will continue, including reduced reliance on overseas recruitment, stronger sponsor enforcement and reform of asylum and settlement.
The cancellation of national digital ID nevertheless shows that inherited policies may be reviewed where their cost, scope or practical value does not align with the new Government’s priorities.
Reduced Reliance on Overseas Recruitment
Labour’s immigration policy has increasingly linked access to overseas labour with domestic recruitment, training and workforce development.
The Government’s 2025 Immigration White Paper set out a strategy intended to support economic growth while reducing dependence on sponsored workers in sectors with persistent labour shortages. Burnham’s emphasis on regional skills, technical education and workforce participation is broadly consistent with that approach.
Skilled Worker Route Reforms
Recent changes to the Skilled Worker route have narrowed access to sponsorship for a number of lower-skilled roles.
Measures already implemented or under development include:
- Higher skills thresholds for sponsored employment.
- Restrictions on sponsorship for lower-skilled occupations.
- Reduced access to sponsorship in some sectors previously reliant on overseas recruitment.
- Greater scrutiny of recruitment practices and workforce planning.
Sponsorship remains available where employers face qualifying skills shortages, but it is increasingly expected to form part of a wider workforce strategy rather than operate as a permanent substitute for domestic recruitment and training.
Tougher Sponsor Compliance
Labour has also continued the move towards stronger sponsor compliance enforcement. Home Office activity has included closer scrutiny of sponsor licence holders, wider record-keeping expectations and more intensive compliance investigations in sectors considered to present elevated risk.
Current areas of focus include:
- Genuine vacancy assessments.
- Payroll and salary compliance.
- Working hours and utilisation levels.
- Right to work compliance.
- Worker, contractor and platform-based arrangements from 1 October 2026.
- Record-keeping and reporting duties.
- Ongoing monitoring of sponsored workers.
The care sector has faced some of the most visible enforcement activity, although scrutiny now extends across the wider sponsorship system.
The cancellation of national digital ID does not alter these obligations. Employers remain responsible for prescribed right to work checks and should continue preparing for the planned expansion of the regime from 1 October 2026.
DMS Perspective
Burnham’s early decisions as PM align (including Retaining Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary) with a continuation of Labour’s immigration policy, but not necessarily on an automatic basis. We seem to be seeing a selective assessment of how control should be exercised, which measures justify their cost and where fairness requires protection for people already living lawfully in the UK.
The principal area of deviation from the inheritance is most likely to be settlement. Burnham’s concern about retrospective change may affect transitional arrangements, but there is no evidence at present that the Government intends to abandon its wider programme of earned settlement reform.
For employers, the immediate compliance position remains demanding; sponsorship duties, right to work checks and Home Office enforcement activity continue, while the expanded Right to Work Scheme remains due to take effect on 1 October 2026. Employers should certainly not interpret the cancellation of digital ID as a relaxation of illegal working controls.
This analysis reflects announcements and Government policy as at 28 July 2026. Further detail may emerge as the new administration develops its legislative and immigration programme.
