To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his timetable is for a decision on whether to change the work permit settlement criteria from four to five years for (a) those people who are already in the country and (b) others; and if he will make a statement. (92696)

The change to the settlement criteria, which brings us in line with other European countries, came into effect on 3 April 2006 and means that all those who wish to apply for settlement on the basis of their employment in the UK will now have to have been here and to have supported themselves for five years instead of four.