Case Study: Your Voice on Immigration

What is this initiative?

The UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee, in 2026, held a series of deliberative events with the public where people with different views discussed how to balance the government’s goal of reducing net migration with the need for businesses and public services to have the workers they need. The Committee worked with Demos and King’s College London to deliver this work.

How does it work?

Locations were selected to reflect the make-up of various parts of the country and diverse types of population, with three events taking place in Leicester, North Tyneside, and Renfrewshire. These locations were chosen to reflect different demographics, experiences of immigration and attitudes towards immigration. Moreover, these locations were not intended to give a definitive description of what the country or these individual areas think about immigration, but to explore the range of different views and find areas of agreement, after discussion of the facts, on a complex issue.

Around 35 people were recruited for each event to be reflective of the local population in terms of demographics, including age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, immigration experience, and views on immigration. Participants were paid for their time and listened to balanced evidence (overseen by an advisory board) from a range of speakers who explained key issues that influence public policy decision-making on immigration.

Participants deliberated in small groups on the policy trade-offs involved in different policy options with the aim of agreeing governing principles and weighing up options for reducing net migration. Each event addressed the same questions, focussing on immigration and work.

In the context of UK Government efforts to reduce net migration, participants considered the trade-offs involved in reducing different forms of legal migration and the implications this could have for wider policy objectives, including addressing skills shortages.

Impact

The Home Affairs Select Committee will publish a report summarising the findings from these deliberative events, due in September 2026. They will use the input of the public on this high-profile policy issue to hold government policy to account, with this process providing an opportunity for elected members to hear directly from the public on the issue of immigration.

The process created opportunities for people with different views to engage constructively with a contentious policy issue and provide informed input to parliamentary scrutiny. The process also showed how deliberative approaches can help institutions engage with contentious issues in ways that are transparent, informed, and inclusive.

Where to find out more?

• Home affairs select committee to hold “citizen-assembly style” events on immigration – Committees – UK Parliament
• Your Voice on Immigration FAQs