The Home Office has rowed back on plans to increase the salary threshold for family members of migrants in the UK following a backlash.

Home Secretary James Cleverly told the Commons earlier this month that the threshold for a family visa would rise from £18,600 to £38,700 by “next spring” in a bid to reduce the number of people coming to the UK.

But documents released by the Home Office suggest that the threshold will now only increase to an initially lower figure of £29,000, while no timeline is set out for when the higher threshold of £38,700 will be introduced.

Mr Cleverly unveiled the salary change as part of a five-point plan to reduce legal migration after net migration hit 745,000 last year.

Other measures announced in the plan included a ban on care workers bringing over their families and raising the minimum salary for a skilled worker visa from £26,200 to £38,700.

The backtrack was confirmed by Lord Sharpe of Epsom in an answer to a written parliamentary question.

Lord Sharpe highlighted how 75% of the UK population currently meets the minimum income requirement level of £18,600, but that only 30% would meet the proposed salary threshold of £38,700 based on earnings alone.

He said the minimum income requirement would be increased in “incremental stages to give predictability”.

“In spring 2024, we will raise the threshold to £29,000, that is the 25th percentile of earnings for jobs which are eligible for skilled worker visas, moving to the 40th percentile [currently £34,500] and finally the 50th percentile [currently £38,700 and the level at which the general skilled worker threshold is set] in the final stage of implementation,” he wrote.

No date for when the threshold would rise beyond £29,000 was given in Lord Sharpe’s answer.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said in response: “You have to wonder who is in charge at the Home Office, or if anyone is.

“It was clear to everyone else that the raising of the earnings threshold was unworkable.

“This was yet another half thought through idea to placate the hardliners on their own back benches.

“James Cleverly needs to put down the spade and stop digging. Decisions like this should be made by experts and politicians working together.

“He should also publish the advice from the Treasury and OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] about the impact that his package of changes will have on the economy.”

Sky News has contacted the Home Office for comment.

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