Draft Non-Domestic Rating (Levy and Safety Net) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
(1 day, 14 hours ago)
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The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Non-Domestic Rating (Levy and Safety Net) (Amendment) Regulations 2025.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. The Government are working to fix the broken foundations that have left councils of all political stripes in crisis and as a result will put them on a more secure financial footing. In particular, we have already set out the objectives and principles on which we will reform the local government finance system, and held an open consultation on them. However, as we work to rebuild local government, we must keep delivering now, to ensure that councils have the certainty that they need to set budgets and carry on providing essential services.
The business rates retention system is a well established part of the local government finance system. It allows councils in England to keep a fixed proportion of the business rates that they raise locally, and hence to benefit from increases in business rates income in their local areas. The system is underpinned by straightforward principles, yet it operates via a series of necessarily complex administrative arrangements between councils themselves and between local and central Government. Those arrangements are governed by secondary legislation, which must be updated regularly for the system to carry on running in the way it was intended to do and so that councils receive what they are entitled to.
The amendment regulations before the Committee make the updates that are necessary this year. Although the changes are technical, the reasons for them are simple. Seven principal sets of regulations govern the business rates retention system, and these amendment regulations make changes to one of them—the Non-Domestic Rating (Levy and Safety Net) Regulations 2013. Those regulations describe how councils are protected from significant falls in their business rates income via a safety net and how, in part, that is paid for via a levy on the growth in their business rates income. Three changes are needed in the regulations this year. All affect the calculation of the measure of income—known as retained rates income—against which we calculate eligibility for the safety net or requirement to pay levy.
First, we adjust this measure of income to continue taking into account authorities that have a higher level of retention. We do that each year. Under the rates retention system, there are a number of councils that in 2025-26, as in previous years, will retain more than 50% of the growth in their business rates income. In other words, they benefit from enhanced rates retention arrangements. It is important, in performing the levy and safety net calculation, that the calculation is made at the normal—50%—rates retention level for all councils. That ensures that where there are additional safety net arrangements for those councils with enhanced retention arrangements, that does not disadvantage councils that run at the 50% level. These regulations do that by adjusting a figure set out in the local government finance report for each council with enhanced retention arrangements to what it would have been had the council been operating at 50% rates retention.
Secondly, each year we amend regulations to mitigate the impact that changes in the underlying tax have on the rates retention system. This year we need to adjust authorities’ income for two reliefs: supporting small business relief and the retail, hospitality and leisure relief. These regulations will make sure that major precepting authorities—generally county councils and fire authorities —are not doubly compensated, through the levy and safety net, for a reduction in business rates income resulting from awarding those funded business rates reliefs.
Major precepting authorities will be compensated via grant for that loss. However, the grant is not automatically accounted for in their retained rates income. That income would therefore appear lower than the amount they have in year, which would affect the accuracy of levy and safety net calculations. These amendment regulations add back the value of compensation for the new business rates reliefs to major precepting authorities’ retained rates income. That ensures that the compensation is taken into account and therefore a more accurate measure of each council’s income is used to calculate levy and safety net payments.
Finally, these regulations correct a figure used to calculate the amount of small business rates relief compensation to add back to North Northamptonshire’s retained rates income, for the purpose of levy and safety net calculations. An error was made in the Non-Domestic Rating (Levy and Safety Net) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 following the set-up of the council in 2021. A figure of 67.4% was included, rather than the correct figure of 67.8%. This error was recently discovered and we are taking the first opportunity to rectify it.
Several aspects of the rates retention system rely on councils submitting their certified or audited data, which we use to make calculations, including the levy and safety net calculations. Where such data is outstanding, we make interim calculations to ensure that no council loses out, or is required to provide for future payments of levy, because it is waiting for its accounts to be audited. That is the case for North Northamptonshire, whose interim calculations were based on the intended 67.8% figure.
Now that we have discovered the error, we must correct it. The rectification of the error will not affect the council’s requirement to pay levy or its eligibility for the safety net for 2021-22 or 2022-23. That is because North Northamptonshire is not required to pay any levy, nor is it eligible for any safety net for those years, a situation that the rectified figure will not change. However, the council will pay a levy from 2023-24, due to the impact of the 2023 revaluation of business rates, so changing the figure will have an impact the amount of levy paid going forward. The amendment ensures that that levy will be calculated on the correct basis, and my officials have notified the council of the change.
These technical regulations make several important updates to the administration of the business rates retention system and, if passed, will mean that councils receive the business rates income they are expecting and thus have budgeted for. I commend them to the Committee.
David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd, to discuss a matter that members of the Committee clearly find riveting.
The Minister referred to fixing foundations, so it is important for the Committee to note that the decision that we are asked to take this evening reflects the work and policy of the previous Government, introduced in 2013-14, which set a direction of travel on business rates whereby a greater proportion of the growth created at local authority level would be retained locally. It is a principle on which there has been a high degree of cross-party agreement for many years that those places that put the work in and see the local impact of growth should also benefit from that financially. Although I think we would all accept that it was a work in progress at the time of the last general election, I am pleased that the Government are at least continuing to operate the same system. I hope the Minister will consider how the principles that underlie this decision making can be rolled out further in the future.
Essentially, business rates retention is about saying to local authorities that, rather than acting purely as collections authorities for central Government, they main retain locally a proportion of the money that they collect through the non-domestic rates process. It is part of an infrastructure that includes the pooling arrangements introduced under the previous Government, which were designed to ensure that that benefit was not seen solely by an individual local authority but, because significant business growth often has a wider regional impact, was able to be shared across groups of local authorities. In London, for example, there are a number of pooling arrangements whereby local authorities share some of the proceeds across a wider area.
The Minister set out the impact and purpose of the arrangements for top-up and tariff authorities, but I have two questions for him to consider. First, although the change to the figure is very small, the regulations amend a previous set of measures that were introduced in a round of local government reorganisation that, following the abolition of Northamptonshire county council and its constituent districts, introduced the new North Northamptonshire and South Northamptonshire local authorities. It would be helpful to know that, although the impact in this case is small, the Government will give a good deal of consideration to ensuring that, as the process of local government reorganisation that has been outlined by the Minister and his colleagues takes effect, all the possible calculations and impacts have been fully considered. We know from previous rounds of local government organisation—not just the one that is relevant here—that such changes can have a significant impact on the administration of a local authority subsequent to elections.
The second question I would like the Minister briefly to address is this. We understand from the explanatory memorandum that the impact of these changes on the budgets of individual local authorities is negligible. However, it is noteworthy that most local authorities will have completed their budget-setting process in the past few weeks. Having, like the Minister, served many years in local government, I would be remiss if I did not flag that although the regulations will take effect immediately once they are passed—in effect, they come into effect tomorrow—it is good practice to ensure that local authorities have all the information before them when they make a decision.
Business rates variations can have a significant impact on local authorities, especially if there are changes to pooling, or if a local authority finds itself switched from a top-up to a tariff authority or the other way round. All those things would normally be taken into account in the budget-setting process, of which the non-domestic rates are, by statute, a part. It would therefore be helpful if the Minister could assure the Committee that the Department will work to ensure that, where instruments will have an impact, as these regulations do, decisions are taken so that they can legally form part of the council’s budget fixing, rather than being passed by Parliament—although it is legal for it to do so—after the budgetary decisions on which they have a bearing have already been taken.
Jim McMahon
I thank the Opposition spokesperson for his typically constructive response. On the matter of structural reform, there is agreement that it is far better that local government has long-term security and stability, and that, as much as possible, we tie down tax that is raised at a local level with the local accountability that comes with it. That is as important for council tax payers as it is for the local business community.
We also recognise that the groundwork that was done on devolution has the business rates retention scheme hardwired into it. The financial construct of many devolution agreements was based in large part on the business rates retention scheme being able to better reflect that, when areas come together and organise for growth, they ought to benefit from the proceeds of that growth. The business rates retention system has been built up over a period of time, and I would say it has maintained cross-party support on that basis.
As I said, these are generally very technical measures, but I completely take the point that local authorities need notice to be able to prepare. Most local authorities will be preparing on the basis of the information that has come in, and the measures will not be a surprise to them. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that officials have been in regular contact with North Northamptonshire council to let the local authority know that the adjustment is coming, so that it can prepare the ground. I hope that that gives him comfort.
On the hon. Gentleman’s points about local government reorganisation, we are now at a point where the statutory invitations have been sent out to the remaining 21 counties. Interest has been high, and we expect all—or perhaps the vast majority—to submit some kind of proposal about that process. We fully accept that that will require a significant amount of resourcing, from both the Department and local government itself, and we also recognise that in bringing together a range of different funding streams for councils at different layers of government and different geographies around the country, we will have to work to ensure that the alignment of assets, liabilities, revenue and so on is taken into account. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that officials are working on that.
It would be naive of me to say that I can absolutely guarantee that there will never be an error—the fact that we are here to reconcile an error shows that errors sometimes happen in very complex calculations—but I can say that we are doing all we can to ensure that we work that through that system. If the hon. Gentleman would find it useful, I would be happy to arrange a technical briefing with officials about how we are gearing up for that.
David Simmonds
I am grateful for the Minister’s offer—I am sure we will take him up on that—but can he give the Committee an assurance that such technical programmes are encompassing all of those Departments that have a direct stake in local government? For example, previous reorganisations have sometimes resulted in special educational needs and disability school facilities being entirely within one of the resultant local authorities, with another having a significant general fund revenue cost—which would be visible in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government—in transporting children across the border to access those schools that have, in fact, always been the traditional schools enabling that county. That can have a significant financial impact, and it would be good to know that those kinds of measures are being considered fully across Government.
Jim McMahon
I share the shadow Minister’s observation about the complexity of the system; it only takes a small part of it to throw quite wild numbers out in different parts of the country, because there is a lot of commonality in local government but different types of councils are affected very differently by different elements of public service pressures. County councils, in particular, are affected far more on home-to-school transport, for instance, than those in more urban areas. I completely understand that point.
I will say that we are eyes wide open as to the amount of change that is going through the system. Just on business rates, we have the business rates reset, the business rates relief work being done in terms of retail, hospitality and leisure, and the revaluation that is taking place at the same time. We then have a number of devolution agreements coming, and I am sure that retention will form part of those discussions and negotiations. On top of that, we have the more fundamental review of local government finance, where the funding formula is being looked at again.
There is quite a lot of change in the system, and I am very alive to the need to ensure both that the data is accurate and up to date and that we take local government expenditure in the round, to make sure that, in the end, every council has the resources needed, on a fair basis, to deliver decent public services. We are on with the political work, in terms of the outcome, but also the technical work, in terms of the process, to make sure that it is robust.
In conclusion, these technical amendment regulations are required to make sure that the business rates retention system operates as it should. I hope that the Committee will join me in supporting them.
Question put and agreed to.
Draft Immigration (Biometric Information etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
Draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2025
(1 day, 14 hours ago)
General CommitteesRead Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Immigration (Biometric Information etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2025.
The Chair
With this it will be convenient to discuss the draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2025.
Seema Malhotra
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. The legislation we are debating concerns two elements of our immigration system: the fees for immigration and nationality applications, and the use of biometric information. I will take each instrument in turn.
The draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order sets out immigration and nationality functions for which a fee is to be charged, and the maximum amount, or maxima, that can be charged in relation to each of those functions. I am sure Members will agree that it is prudent to keep maximas under review to ensure that the order continues to support our fees and funding objectives. The order will make several changes to the maximum fee payable, including for the electronic travel authorisation, sponsorship on work routes, naturalisation as a British citizen or a British overseas territories citizen, and certain nationality services.
The electronic travel authorisation maxima will increase from £15 to £16. The fee maxima that applies to sponsor a worker and for certificates of sponsorship will increase from £300 to £525. The fee maxima that applies to adult applications made to naturalise as a British citizen or a British overseas territories citizen will increase from £1,500 to £1,605. We are also making a number of changes to maximas for nationality-related products and services. The fees order will also remove the fee provision related to the electronic visa waiver and make a consequential amendment to the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2018 to remove the fee.
The changes we propose, which are accompanied by an economic impact assessment, will facilitate subsequent increases to relevant fees to the new maxima level, as outlined in the explanatory memorandum, which are necessary to ensure the sustainability of the migration and borders system.
The impact assessment for the fees order considered a range of economic costs and benefits of the proposed changes, of which the indirect impact on the Exchequer was one. However, this was considered alongside the estimated benefits, including the estimated revenue generated from the changes. The overall impact of the changes, if made in subsequent regulations, is uncertain, and a range of impacts has been presented. However, in the central case, the impact assessment estimates a positive overall economic impact of £203.5 million over the five-year period.
The central scenario in the impact assessment represents the best estimation of the potential policy impact if fees were to be raised to the relevant maxima. In this scenario, the direct benefits have been assessed as outweighing the more uncertain indirect costs. Further potential revenue of between £105 million and £120 million per year accruing to the Home Office from increases to the certificate of sponsorship fee are captured separately in the document as a transfer between business and the Government.
I want to make it clear that no fee levels will be changed through this order. Fee levels are amended through the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2018 and will be subject to approval by Parliament and accompanied by a full economic impact assessment. However, in laying this order before the House, we have sought to provide clarity to Parliament and to the public on our intention to increase certain fees when parliamentary time allows.
Let me turn to the Immigration (Biometric Information etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. The use of biometric information, in the form of facial images and fingerprints, continues to play a crucial role in our immigration system by enabling us to check and confirm the identities and immigration status of foreign nationals coming to and living in the UK. The regulations form part of the Government’s commitment to harness the power of technology to deliver several significant improvements to our immigration and border system and support our transition to a digital passenger journey from application to arrival.
The regulations provide measures to support the transition away from physical biometric immigration documents towards digital immigration status in the form of an e-visa for everyone who applies for a visa to come to the UK, including visitors; the ability to retain biometric information from people who abscond from immigration bail and become uncontactable; changes to prevent abuse of the stateless person route; and a power to enrol biometrics from all people arriving at the border and retain that information for everyone who is not a British citizen.
The roll-out of e-visas started in 2018 as part of the EU settlement scheme and has been incrementally widened to other foreign nationals coming to and staying in the UK. As of 27 February 2025, over 4 million people have successfully created a UK Visas and Immigration account to access their e-visa up to the end of January, with many more creating an account every day. In November 2024, the Home Office stopped issuing biometric residence permits and intends to stop issuing passport vignettes, or stickers, later this year. Instead, people granted permission to come and stay in the UK need to create a UKVI account to access their e-visa, which they can use to prove their status and identity in the UK.
To ensure the integrity of the e-visa system, the regulations will also require e-visa holders to maintain accurate information about themselves, including by updating their facial image. That will ensure that employers and other organisations conduct accurate checks when establishing a person’s status and identity, which helps to prevent illegal working and identity-enabled criminality. That is because, while e-visas issued to people who are settled in the UK do not expire, we still need the person to periodically update their facial image, as with UK passports and photo driving licences, which are valid for up to 10 years. The person will need to be reminded to update their facial image ahead of needing to do so. For adults, the period of time will be similar to that for passports or UK driving licences.
We need to ensure that foreign nationals who are staying in our country comply with our rules. Therefore, to reflect the new digital status, we are introducing a new, but proportionate, sanction that may be imposed on a person who refuses to adhere to any requirements in the regulations to encourage compliance. If an e-visa holder fails to update their photo in the required time, the regulations allow us to prevent them from sharing their status for third-party checks until they comply with the regulations. That will reduce the need to impose more stringent existing sanctions, such as civil penalties or curtailing or varying their immigration permission. I stress that these sanctions will apply only to those who will not comply with our requirements, not to those who cannot.
We have taken lessons from the experiences of the Windrush generation and are committed to avoiding undue burdens being placed on elderly people. We will not require people aged over 70 to update their facial image or to create an account where they hold an expired biometric residence permit but will encourage them to do so for their convenience. The proposed regulations also enable us to extend the standard fingerprint retention period beyond 15 years for those who abscond from immigration bail and seek to avoid contact with the Home Office or the police.
Statelessness presents significant challenges, which we have managed through legal frameworks and international co-operation. The previous instrument enabled some people to avoid providing their biometrics for the purposes of the biometric immigration document without any consequences. This instrument closes that gap and ensures that anyone who applies to stay in the UK because they are stateless needs to enrol their biometric information as required, or face having their application disregarded or refused.
Moving to our plan to transform the UK border, we are looking to harness innovative technologies to improve how people move through the UK’s border. Biometric information is an effective way of establishing and verifying a person’s identity. We want to build upon existing identity verification capabilities to ensure that we are building a border that can withstand future pressures efficiently, while maintaining our border security. To achieve that, we need legislation that will enable us to enrol and retain the biometric information captured at the UK border. By retaining this data, we will have a record of up-to-date facial images to support a smoother passage through the border each time the person arrives in the UK.
The instrument ensures that robust action can be taken by Border Force officers against those non-British or non-Irish citizens who wish to consciously circumvent requirements to provide biometric information at the border, by allowing Border Force to refuse or cancel permission to enter the UK. We know that some of our Five Eyes partners, such as the USA and Australia, are developing automated border systems based on biometric information to improve passenger flow and maintain security. This instrument will allow us to keep pace.
The enhanced facial comparison capability provided through these regulations will also allow us to develop further new identity verification technologies. That includes trialling contactless travel at the UK border, which would enable a person to enter the UK without routinely producing their passport—something you might enjoy doing, Sir Roger—at the border, but without compromising our security. We aim to do that by using the information we have from our universal permission to travel, e-visa and electronic travel authorisation, coupled with advance passenger information, which will allow us to know more about who is travelling to the UK prior to their departure. That will enable us to conduct more checks prior to their arrival at the border. We will be able to match the facial image of a person arriving at the UK border with the biometric information we already hold from either their passport or immigration application. To reassure the Committee, these regulations do not change the requirement for all arrivals to the UK to travel on a valid passport.
Our future vision for the UK border is rightly ambitious. Equally, it is important that we proceed cautiously with any new technology introduced at the border. We must make sure that we get this right. That is why our first step will be to test contactless travel on British citizens only later this year. We will only move to further implementation if that is a success. I can also reassure the Committee that this instrument does not commit the Government to introduce any new technology; instead, it bolsters our ability to enrol and retain biometric information at the border and paves the way for trialling of contactless travel.
I realise that these are both somewhat technical areas. I thank Members for their consideration of our fees order, which will ensure that our migration and borders system is sustainably funded, and our biometrics regulations, which will help to facilitate our ambitious journey towards a biometrically enabled digital immigration system. I commend the order and the regulations to the Committee.
Matt Vickers (Stockton West) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger.
These two very different instruments underline the importance of funding and creating a secure border. The Border Force states in its 2025 strategy that it wants the UK border to be
“the most effective in the world.”
We all agree on that goal, but a significant amount of work is needed to make it a reality.
On biometrics, we fully support the Government in updating the regulations to introduce measures that allow the retention of photographs and elements such as fingerprints within our border system. It is a necessary step in the modern world to secure that information. The question is whether these regulations go far enough to create the border of the future. Does the Minister believe that the retention of information will be sufficient to progress towards a contactless border, which the Government state is an aim in the explanatory notes?
Additionally, how will the system help with enforcement? The current gap between inbound and outbound movements is a problem. Ultimately, it would be beneficial to have a system capable of identifying those who arrive and flagging overstayers. Although that would require a range of work, we know that biometrics can play an important role. Ultimately, we support this step by the Government, but we would appreciate further clarity about how that information will be used. We should all want the UK to make progress towards a system that effectively utilises biometric information, making our country safer in the process. I know that the Minister will have given some thought to that, so I would appreciate hearing how the Government intend to effectively use that information.
On fees, we recognise the importance of securing funds to pay for our border and immigration system. It is right that the system generates funds and ensures that those who benefit most from immigration contribute to its costs. I recognise that this order is based on the principle of increasing the maxima and that further regulations will be required to implement these changes. It would be helpful if the Government outlined when they intend to bring forward consultations and assessments on this matter. Additionally, do they believe there are sufficiently robust systems in place to measure the impact of these changes and determine the extent to which they have affected the system?
Furthermore, given the Government’s failure to stem illegal migration so far, do they anticipate that they will need to extend the maxima in the future? For example, given that more than 28% more people are in hotels, is the Minister concerned that costs to the Home Office will remain high? I know that falls under the responsibility of another member of the Home Office team, but does the Minister acknowledge that the measures proposed so far might not be sufficient?
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
It really is a pleasure to serve on this Committee with you in the Chair, Sir Roger.
I have three hopefully constructive questions for the Minister. I am very grateful to her for laying out her thinking on these two instruments. On the Immigration (Biometric Information etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, the Liberal Democrats have long campaigned to ensure that migrants have physical proof of their legal right to stay in the UK. We absolutely understand the importance of modernising systems to improve efficiency, but that should not come at the expense of people’s ability to easily prove their status or navigate the system. I was grateful to the Minister for detailing that over-70s will not be asked to update their photographs, but will she lay out the steps that the Government have taken to ensure that vulnerable people who might not be digitally literate—including older people and those with disabilities—are not disproportionately impacted by the move to e-visas?
The draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2025 will enable the cost of electronic travel authorisation, which tourists need to enter the UK, to be increased by 60% from its current rate. I would be grateful if the Minister could lay out any assessment that the Government have made of the impact that this might have on Britain’s tourism industry. What steps have they taken to consult businesses in the tourism and hospitality sectors about this change?
Care England’s chief executive has called the planned rise in certificate of sponsorship fees
“yet another blow to social care providers, compounding what is already a devastating situation for the sector.”
It is estimated that the increase will leave independent adult social care providers facing an extra bill of £10.3 million. Of course, that is on top of the impact of the Government’s hike to national insurance charges. I would be grateful if the Minister could lay out the steps that her Government are taking to ensure that the social care sector can still recruit the workers it needs.
Seema Malhotra
I thank the shadow Ministers for their contributions, as well their overall support for the measures in these statutory instruments. They ensure the robustness, efficiency and security of our systems, while future-proofing them and keeping us in line with our competitors. I had an experience last year in Australia where I ended up walking straight through immigration without anyone checking my passport, and I had no idea what had happened. Having gone through, I was out the other side hunting for someone to give my documents to, but I then realised that I had come through an automated system, so my face must have passed the test.
That was an example of how we can both improve the customer experience and maintain our border security. Given the increasing number of visitors to our country that we expect in future from some of our forecasts, we want to ensure that people are not coming to our border and being held unnecessarily. We also want to ensure that we update both our technology and our systems, while being welcoming to those coming to Britain.
I want to respond to a few of the points that were raised. I recognise the point made by the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Stockton West, about ensuring that we reduce abuse of our routes. He quoted from the Border Force’s 2025 strategy; that was written five years ago, so it will obviously need updating to be in line with future provisions. Some of its programmes began, but others were not quite seen through over the last five years for various reasons.
I think the broad direction of travel, as well as the importance of investment in the border, is recognised in all parts of the House. We want to ensure that we have advanced passenger information, which gives information on who may be coming ahead their arrival at the UK border. ETAs are all about trying to ensure that we stop those who might pose a risk from actually travelling to the UK in the first place. The shadow Minister is right to raise that issue, and we want to ensure that we are looking at a border transformation that continues to keep our country as safe as we can.
In my remarks, I outlined the four main areas involved in that: the transition away from physical documents; the retention of biometrics; the prevention of abuse; and the powers to enrol biometrics at the border. The transition away from physical documents was raised by the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Hazel Grove, and I want to respond to her point about supporting those who are vulnerable in that transition. When working on the e-visa process, we looked very closely at reducing any risks to those who are more vulnerable in the transition. It was also important to recognise the need for people to have something physical to show to demonstrate status, which is why we have allowed for the printing of an individual’s e-visa account. It does not mean that that is their e-visa account, but it means that they have something physical to refer to in subsequent discussions with the Home Office. It can be used as evidence of having an e-visa account. This is one of the challenges that came out of the Windrush scandal—how someone can prove what their status is and what their records are with the Government. It is important that people are able to prove their status and records.
That print-out can be kept, travelled with and used in discussions with the Home Office. It could be used as a supporting document if someone were to have issues coming back from travelling. If the carrier they were travelling was not calling the carrier hub or there were an issue with their electronic status, there would be a document they could have in their hand. I want to make sure that the message is out there that people will be able to use the document for that.
In relation to vulnerable persons, we recognise that the transition to e-visas has an impact on those who are more digitally excluded. That is why we continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders. Before Christmas I did an interview with Age UK, which shared the video on its Facebook page about how we meet stakeholders who are raising concerns with us to reassure them and explain the mitigations we have in place.
We provide a free assisted digital service for those who may be digitally excluded. We work collaboratively with a range of third-party stakeholders who are funded to provide support services to vulnerable customers with the most complex needs. Users can also contact UK Visas and Immigration’s resolution centre, which provides telephone and email support to those using the online immigration status services. The centre can assist users experiencing technical difficulties with their online immigration status. Where necessary, the resolution centre will enable an individual’s status to be verified through alternative means as well.
In addition, individuals can nominate a helper and give them limited access to their account. That is extremely important. Where a person is unable to manage their own affairs—due to age or disability, for example—they can appoint a proxy who can be authorised to create and manage the account on their behalf. With a digitalised system, we can send multiple notifications to remind people and their proxies what they are required to do. That is similar to when my sister was able to be a proxy for my mother for medical records; the same email that went to my mother also went to my sister, who could have a conversation with her about what it contained.
The changes in the instrument will ensure that the right legal framework is in place to support the ongoing transition to e-visas. We will not require people over the age of 70 to update their facial image or make them create an account if they hold an expired biometric residence permit, but we will encourage them to update it for their own convenience. We are looking at a range of methodologies to monitor the performance of the e-visa system. That includes reviewing feedback and complaints and having continued engagement with interested groups that represent vulnerable users. In fact, we do this on an ongoing basis. We will also monitor levels of usage.
Finally, on ETAs and tourism, it is important to note the research done on this. There has not been much evidence that fees increases to date have affected volumes on tourism routes. The assessment published alongside the fees order suggests that any increase to the fee within the limit set by the new maximum will be unlikely to have a significant impact on demand, estimating a 0.5% fall in ETA applications in a central cost scenario, and an impact on tourism of £42 million in the next financial year. It is worth saying that in the 11 or so years that the UK has had the electronic system for travel authorisation, there has actually been an increase in the number of visitors to the US.
I will just mention Northern Ireland, because it has been raised with me before in the House. We understand the concerns about the potential impact of ETAs on tourism in Northern Ireland. We have worked closely with the Northern Ireland Executive since the inception of the ETA policy, and we will continue to work with partners to understand the impact of ETAs in Northern Ireland. It is important that we are able to have those who are crossing the land border into Northern Ireland complete an ETA, and that we have a better understanding of all those who are seeking to come to the UK.
I will make a final comment on sponsorship. The hon. Member for Hazel Grove raised the question of health and care visas, and she will also understand, I am sure, that it is important that we provide all the support we can for those already in the UK who may be in between employers, so that they can be employed by services that are still looking to recruit from overseas. That is one reason why the Home Office has been working with the regional hubs and the Department of Health and Social Care on this, with £60 million of funding having gone into it. For those who have come here on health and care visas—for whatever reason, whether a sponsorship licence has been withdrawn, or there have been issues of abuse or poor conditions with their employer—we are more easily able to match them with areas and regions within the UK where there is recruitment happening. It is different in each region, but it is extremely important to make sure that the system works effectively. We continue to work with employers in all sectors to understand where there is demand and need for recruitment from abroad. That is a key area that we continue to keep under review with the Migration Advisory Committee, which is looking at where we have particular dependence on skilled worker recruitment from abroad, and what more we can do through the new systems we are putting in place to better predict demand and to upskill at home.
In conclusion, the changes in the order will ensure that our fees are set at a level that supports our fees and funding objectives. I emphasise again that these changes will not amend specific fees, and any future fee changes will be subject to approval by Parliament. Throughout the lifespan of the fees order, immigration fees will continue to be reviewed and updated where necessary, and all existing Government oversight arrangements will remain in place. The modernised immigration and border system will allow foreign nationals to view their status information in real time on digital platforms in the form of an e-visa, and update their details or documentation more readily. The regulations will simplify the process for gathering biometrics, standardise the way we use them and retain them, and allow us to take a significant step forward in delivering a border and immigration system that is a modern, digital service. As such, I commend the order and the regulations to the Committee.
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Immigration (Biometric Information etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2025.
Draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2025
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2025.—(Seema Malhotra.)