Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Section 75 —Designation of Public Authority) Order 2020

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord for his detailed exposition of the statutory instrument that we are debating. I join other noble Lords in applauding the application of Section 75 duties in Northern Ireland in the IMA. I also wish to join the noble Lord, Lord Bruce, in commending the noble Lord, Lord Hain, on his long-term pursuit of justice for innocent victims and people who have suffered attacks and long-term and lifelong injuries. I look forward to the Minister’s response, particularly to the recent action of the Government in terms of judicial review. I also support the questions from the noble Lord, Lord Wood, on continuing concerns about the independence of the IMA.

I will focus chiefly on the fact that it is now less than six months before this will have to be in full operation. We will see the first problems, crises and people left trapped and unsure. This is the first time your Lordships’ House has debated this since it was made clear that the transition period would definitely be at the end of this year. Will the Minister give the House any information about the resources that the IMA will have? Will they be sufficient? We can have all the independence and brilliant people at the top of the organisation, but with 3.2 million EU citizens in the UK and perhaps quite a few UK citizens looking to move back before the end of the transition period with non-EU spouses, partners and children, who are then going to be forced to move after the transition period ends, lots of people will risk being trapped in real crisis situations, particularly given the situation with Covid-19.

Will the Minister point us to information about what estimates have been made of the demand that is going to be put on the IMA and of the chief issues that are likely to arise that will cause people to use it? We know that the settled status scheme is proving difficult for lots of people, particularly older EU and EFTA/EEA citizens and some very young citizens, including children who are not in a position to act for themselves because they may be in care. Settled status is proving difficult for them, and Covid-19 cannot have helped that situation.

Hanging over all this is the tragedy and great suffering of Windrush and the concern about the hostile environment. Will the Minister say something about the continuing thorn of the question of deportations and whether EU and other relevant citizens might potentially face deportation after 31 December?

As other noble Lords have said, we are talking about people who are very often our doctors, nurses, neighbours, friends, spouses, partners and children. We have a long and intermixed history and we are trying to untangle some very complicated threads. So we need to make sure that the IMA is adequately resourced and ready to work from day one.