What are the challenges facing the government's immigration plan?

When it comes to reducing UK immigration, determination person been plentifulness of promises and targets from successive governments implicit the past 15 years, but the numbers stay high.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is present pledging to "take backmost power of our borders", promising tighter rules to bring down the numbers "significantly".

BBC Verify examines the measures acceptable retired by the authorities and the challenges ahead.

Migration levels person deed "unprecedented levels" successful caller years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Net migration to the UK - full imperishable arrivals minus full imperishable departures - reached a grounds 906,000 successful the twelvemonth ending successful June 2023 and past fell to 728,000 successful the twelvemonth ending successful June 2024.

The continued precocious levels persist, contempt erstwhile authorities efforts to bring the numbers down. For example, successful 2010 the Conservatives pledged to trim nett migration to the "tens of thousands".

Annual nett migration is expected to travel down to astir 315,000 by the extremity of the Parliament.

That's according to the cardinal forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - the autarkic assemblage that scrutinises the nationalist finances.

That estimate, however, would inactive beryllium higher than astir years successful the past decade.

The immense bulk of migrants travel to the UK for survey oregon work.

And galore of the enactment visas person been for radical coming to bash jobs successful wellness and societal care.

There's been overmuch treatment astir the nexus betwixt migration and economical growth.

The White Paper - which sets retired the government's program - says the UK system needs to wean itself disconnected a reliance connected inexpensive overseas labour.

While taking questions from journalists, the premier curate claimed the thought migration leads to higher economical maturation "doesn't hold".

Economists bash not hold astir the nonstop interaction that simply adding much radical to an system has connected maturation and prosperity.

New arrivals mightiness summation the country's wide level of economical enactment - measured by GDP. But connected a per-person basis, GDP could beryllium stagnant oregon falling. Also a larger colonisation puts much unit connected request for nationalist services and housing.

However, if immigrants are filling important gaps successful the labour marketplace which would different not beryllium filled - particularly jobs that necessitate circumstantial skills - past economists mostly deliberation that immigrants tin boost GDP per caput and wide prosperity.

The OBR says that accrued migration mostly increases economical maturation but "the size of this interaction and the effect connected per idiosyncratic surviving standards is highly uncertain".

The OBR's constituent astir maturation per idiosyncratic is important due to the fact that the authorities has made maturation of this measurement a cardinal priority.

Growth per idiosyncratic fell successful 2023 and was level successful 2024.

There are gaps successful our labour marketplace which person been substantially filled by migrants successful caller years, astir notably societal care.

And determination were inactive estimated to beryllium 131,000 vacant posts successful big societal attraction successful England successful 2023.

Care providers reason stopping them recruiting from overseas volition apt marque that spread bigger.

Non-immigrants could theoretically capable galore of these posts and working-age radical who are economically inactive could perchance beryllium deployed successful this assemblage if they could beryllium encouraged and helped into work.

Yet the main obstruction to recruitment successful societal attraction has been the level of pay, which is presently excessively debased to pull capable numbers of British workers.

Amy Clark, commercialized manager of a Cornwall attraction location chain, told the BBC that the measures could origin challenges due to the fact that "recruiting locally is very, precise difficult".

The authorities could summation the levels of wage successful societal care, but that would permission them nether unit to summation grants to section authorities and perchance rise taxes to money it.

Problems with societal attraction recruitment were besides highlighted by Madeleine Sumption, lawman seat of the Migration Advisory Committee.

"We've seen wide reports of exploitation, radical coming successful who are rather susceptible earning precise debased wages.

"So I americium not amazed the authorities has chosen to adjacent overseas recruitment due to the fact that it's caused them truthful overmuch difficulty," she said.

Overseas students person been a large contributor to levels of nett migration successful caller years.

But they are besides a important root of backing for UK universities.

A ample simplification successful overseas students numbers would undermine the finances of galore universities and a fig are already successful terrible fiscal difficulties.

The authorities wants to show much intimately however universities enlistee planetary students.

It is besides proposing a bounds connected the clip planetary students tin stay successful the UK aft graduating. Foreign students would lone person 18 months to look for a job, down from 2-3 years previously.

Universities UK - which represents 141 universities - has urged the authorities "to deliberation carefully" astir the interaction of its measures.

If overseas pupil numbers did fall, the authorities could marque up the shortfall successful universities' gross by expanding cardinal authorities grants but, again, that could necessitate an summation successful taxes.

Alternatively, it could further summation home students' tuition fees, though that would besides beryllium contentious.

The authorities says it inactive wants to pull high-skilled individuals "who play by the rules and lend to the economy".

However, the PM besides stressed that immoderate parts of the system are "addicted" to importing inexpensive labour, alternatively than investing successful grooming UK workers.

As an example, Sir Keir said the fig of engineering apprenticeships had fallen successful caller years, portion visas for overseas workers successful this country had gone up.

Figures successful the government's caller migration program amusement that the fig of UK enactment visas issued for engineering professionals roseate from 3,427 successful 2021 to 5,495 successful 2024.

Meanwhile, the fig of caller apprenticeships successful engineering successful England fell from 26,970 successful 2021-22 to 18,520 successful 2024-25.

But if the authorities wants galore much home-trained engineers that volition apt travel with a outgo successful presumption of a higher grooming budget.

While that concern could travel partially from firms, it could besides mean much nationalist spending and perchance taxation rises.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, full nationalist spending connected big acquisition and skills has fallen by 24% successful existent presumption since 2010.

Reacting to the government's proposals, Make UK - which represents manufacturers - said firms are being forced to enlistee overseas unit due to the fact that home skills grooming is "fundamentally flawed".

"Without entree to skilled labour successful the UK, manufacturers cannot instrumentality vantage of the opportunities presented by the caller commercialized agreements with India and the US and present the maturation we each privation to spot and the system needs", said CEO Stephen Phipson.