Migrant UC claims hit record £12bn

Households containing foreign nationals claimed a record £11.9 billion in universal credit during 2025, according to Department for Work and Pensions data reported by GB News. The figures reveal a 25 per cent surge in payments compared to the previous year.

Newly released government data, obtained via freedom of information requests by the Centre for Migration Control, has exposed a steep escalation in welfare expenditure directed towards households with at least one foreign national. Payments jumped from £9.5 billion in 2024 up to £11.9 billion in 2025, following a figure of £7.5 billion the previous year.

Unemployed Claimants Take Majority

According to the official statistics, approximately 65 per cent of the total payout—amounting to £7.7 billion—was distributed to households classed as jobless. Campaigners and critics have seized upon the figures to highlight the growing financial burden of post-Brexit immigration policies on the British taxpayer.

Over one million migrants are claiming benefits in Britain. An unsustainable situation which lays bare the very real consequences that mass migration has inflicted on the British public.

— Rob Bates, Centre for Migration Control, GB News

Under current regulations, foreign nationals become eligible to apply for universal credit and other state benefits once they are granted refugee status, EU settled status, or indefinite leave to remain.

• Total universal credit paid to migrant households reached £11.9 billion in 2025.
• Represents a 25 per cent increase from the £9.5 billion recorded in 2024.
• Some £7.7 billion of the total went to unemployed claimants.
• Data obtained via Freedom of Information laws by the Centre for Migration Control.

The disclosures are expected to intensify political pressure on ministers regarding immigration control, public spending oversight, and potential reforms to permanent settlement rules.

Original source: Read the full report at GB News