What could make people choose to stay in Britain?
Britain could make staying more attractive by improving opportunities, family life and confidence in the future. Other countries offer ideas to examine, but a policy's existence does not prove it changes migration.
Last updated: . Sources checked on the same date.
This is the start of a series about making Britain a place people choose freely. Staying, returning and attracting newcomers are different aims. The examples below describe policies, not proven reasons for individual moves. They are questions for Britain, not claims that a policy should be copied unchanged.
Making it easier to build a life here
Finland: support research and development
Business Finland's 2026 research, development and piloting funding offers grants or loans to eligible companies registered in Finland. For research projects, small and medium-sized enterprises can normally receive a grant for up to 50% of eligible costs. An industrial research project may qualify for more. Companies must fund the rest and meet the scheme's conditions.
Our proposal: Review existing UK research and growth funding, then offer longer application windows and clearer decisions for small businesses. Publish who receives support and test whether it helps create lasting jobs. The UK already offers government-backed innovation funding, and extra funding has a cost. A grant alone does not show that people stay.
The Netherlands: make time for family
The Dutch government describes parental leave of 26 weeks per eligible employee per child. Nine weeks are paid at 70% of a capped daily wage if taken in the child's first year. The statutory minimum leaves the remaining weeks unpaid, though an employer may offer more. Eligibility and arrangements matter.
In the UK, eligible employees can take unpaid parental leave. Other maternity, paternity and shared parental leave and pay are separate. Our proposal: Review parental leave pay and flexibility, with an option to increase paid leave for parents who cannot afford unpaid time. Compare how families use it and how it affects work. Any change has costs for the public purse, employers or both. This example does not establish an effect on departures.
Helping people return
Portugal: a point of contact for return
Portugal's Regressar programme offers support with employment and practical questions about returning. Its separate return grant ended on 31 March 2026.
The UK already publishes return guidance on matters including schools, tax and healthcare. Our proposal: Build on it with a single return service that adds direct help with job information, school admissions and practical paperwork, with links to the authorities that make decisions. Pilot it and publish its cost and use before expanding it. This is a return measure, not evidence that it kept citizens from leaving or caused people to return.
Attracting people from abroad
Ireland: work rights for partners
In May 2024, Irish immigration guidance announced that eligible spouses and partners of General Employment Permit and intra-company transfer permit holders could work without a separate employment permit. Current guidance sets immigration conditions and says this permission does not allow self-employment.
Our proposal: Review whether partners of people recruited from abroad can work in practice, including eligibility, fees and delays. Publish the gaps and consider removing barriers where the benefits outweigh the costs. For example, an eligible Skilled Worker dependant can work, with exceptions. Public service pressures matter too. Ireland's announcement does not establish how many people it attracted or retained.
How could Britain test these ideas?
Start with the people affected and the choices they say matter. Compare the cost, who benefits and who is left out. Test changes where possible, then compare outcomes with a suitable group over time. Count actual stays, returns and arrivals separately. A grant application, an intention to move or a single departure cannot by itself show that a policy worked.
There are wider choices too: pay, housing, services and trust in stable rules. See the UK social contract in numbers for the pressures on public finances and how frozen tax thresholds affect pay. The departure figures explain what official estimates can and cannot tell us. For people considering a return, see the guide to returning to the UK.
What else should Britain examine? Send Flight Risk Capital a suggestion.