Draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2021 Draft Immigration (Collection, use and retention of Biometric information and related Amendments) Regulations 2021

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Wednesday 9th June 2021 General Committees

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I begin by associating myself with the Minister’s remarks about the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Torbay. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at this difficult time.

As the Minister has explained, the draft fees regulations propose a phased approach to online platforms for evidence of immigration status by amending the definition of the “transfer of conditions” to ensure it covers digital as well as physical documents. It increases the charge of £19.20 to enrol applicants’ biometric information for each application for a period of leave to remain, to a one-off charge of no more than £30 for the reuse of biometrics. It redefines and expands the term “premium services” to cover optional immigration and nationality services generally, not just applications—for example, for Border Force officers checking passports on carriers at sea, which some carriers choose to pay for. The draft order makes amendments to make clear that the expression “premium services” has the same meaning as in the 2018 Regulations and the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Order 2016, and amendments to the definition of “transfer of conditions”.

The Opposition have previously stated our serious concerns about the overall high cost of immigration and nationality application fees. The one-off £30 fee may seem reasonable to us, but considering the financial circumstances of applicants, it may be burdensome on some applicants. Has an impact assessment been done on the effect of the increase on people who may have a very low income, if any at all, when seeking to make the application? We also have concerns about the lack of physical proof for immigration status and have made that point on previous occasions.

The draft regulations on biometric information allow the retention of a vast amount of information, to be stored for a period increasing from 10 to 15 years. It also grants the Secretary of State huge powers. We have serious concerns about the draft regulations, but it is difficult to assess the impact, because there is a lack of transparency on what the new digital orders will look like in the future, what legal safeguards will be in place to protect people’s privacy and their data, and how the process will interact with the digital hostile environment that previously existed. We also have questions about the use that contractors in removal centres will have of biometric information and the safeguards around the contractors’ processes in managing that data.

The Secretary of State’s powers will be draconian. For example, the draft regulations allow the Secretary of State to order someone to whom the regulation applies to attend a place to have their photograph taken.

We have further concerns about the deletion of data. We have heard previously detail from the Windrush scandal of people having their boarding passes destroyed. We have concerns about how long the data will be held and the Home Secretary’s power to turn off the tap and people losing all their data at the switch of a button.

The Opposition not only have concerns about safeguards, but about people’s immigration status. Currently, people have physical documents to prove their status, but what happens under a solely biometric system if someone is unable to produce a physical document? Does that mean they will lose out on various benefits, the right to rent a property and the right to work, even? Those data changes may be made without their notice. If any changes are made to someone’s immigration status, what safeguards will be in place to notify them? Will they receive a letter or an email? How will that work?

The Opposition will not oppose the statutory instruments, but we would like our reservations to be noted. I would be grateful if the Minister could respond in writing, not necessarily right now, to our valid concerns. We will not push the matter to a vote but want our concerns to be noted.