Immigration Act 2014 (Commencement No. 6) Order 2016

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Wednesday 24th February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, during the passage of the Immigration Act 2014 through both your Lordships’ House and the other place, considerable disquiet was expressed about the right-to-rent clause.

The Liberal Democrats in the coalition Government were particularly unhappy about its ramifications. Eventually, a compromise was reached whereby a rigorous pilot scheme would take place in the West Midlands and only on its conclusion and satisfactory evaluation would a scheme be rolled out nationally. All previous speakers referred to this, but it is so important to reiterate and is the underlying reason behind my noble friend Lady Hamwee’s Motion.

Let me quote the Prime Minister’s speech on immigration in May 2015:

“The Liberal Democrats only wanted us to run a pilot … But now we’ve got a majority, we will roll it out nationwide”.

This statement contradicted assurances given to Parliament that any decision on a further rollout would take place only after a transparent and public evaluation that would allow Parliament sufficient time to debate, scrutinise and ultimately decide on any further stages of the scheme. This patently did not transpire. Thus, I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Hamwee for giving us the opportunity to put on record our thoughts on the inadequacy of the evaluation.

I start by examining the title of the proposal: “right to rent”. What does this mean, and what does it mean if the right to rent is not open to you? People who wish to rent a private home or a room in a house are looking for a roof over their heads. That is all. Let us put to one side for the moment the rights and wrongs of those without the necessary documentation being able to rent a home and think of them as people, rather than illegal immigrants. Are we saying that anybody—including British citizens, usually vulnerable ones—who fails to produce the paperwork set out by the Government will legitimately be put out on the streets, destitute, and that if you or I take pity on that individual, we, too, will suffer the consequences? That is morally repugnant. Will the Minister please tell me what will happen to people who cannot evidence their right to a roof over their heads?

Now let us think of them as illegal immigrants—as though they somehow cease to be human. Let us go along with it for a bit, because the Government’s argument is that these measures are acceptable because the prize at the end is worth it. I believe that the Government’s view is that creating a hostile environment that will make it difficult for illegal immigrants to have a settled life will, in time, be a deterrent, and that rogue landlords will be put out of business in the process. The Government may be right about that, but this then throws up a number of questions. Does the end then justify the means? More importantly, does the evaluation of the pilot scheme show us that there is evidence to support that the ends have indeed been met?

What are the means? They are, first, to deny a roof over the heads of those unable to produce the right papers; secondly, to get landlords to police it by forcing them to take on duties of immigration officers; and thirdly, to make sure that landlords do what is required of them by putting in place more and more draconian penalties if they get it wrong. However, I believe that the Government are playing with fire here, because creating that hostile environment to act as a deterrent risks enflaming community tensions, as people with foreign-sounding names and foreign accents without the necessary documentation, whether they are here legally or not, will be put to the back of the queue. It will be not only those with foreign characteristics but those vulnerable British people whose circumstances are such that they are unable immediately to produce the paperwork required. This includes the homeless, victims of domestic violence, victims of modern-day slavery and those caught in the mangles of the Home Office’s systems—something of which I have some knowledge, having handled immigration casework.

So far I have addressed only one half of the equation—the impact on tenants. What about the impact on landlords? Some 78% of rental properties belong to landlords who let only one or two properties. Buy-to-let landlords had not bargained on becoming an arm of the UK’s border agency. They, quite rightly in my opinion, do not feel qualified to pass judgment on the validity of documents arrayed before them. Indeed, the recent court case involving Ryanair, cited by my noble friend Lady Hamwee, illustrates perfectly the weakness of the Government’s policy of fining airlines for flying illegal immigrants into Britain. If airline staff are deemed ill equipped to scrutinise and identify forged documents, how on earth are ordinary citizens supposed to do so? The answer is: they will not. They will opt for the path of least resistance and let only to tenants who represent the least risk of them falling foul of the law.

Organisations such as Crisis, Shelter, St Mungo’s Broadway and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants have all documented their concerns on these issues eloquently. Indeed, the JCWI went to the trouble of commissioning its own evaluation of the West Midlands pilot. I wonder whether the Minister has had a look at it. It is rather a good piece of work and ought to be given serious consideration.

The Home Office’s own evaluation of this pilot is flawed on a number of counts. Noble Lords have already cited some examples, but I shall give a few as a flavour of the lack of rigour displayed. The report states that sample sizes are small—some online surveys were completed by as few as five respondents; only four voluntary and charity sector organisations and five housing associations were interviewed for research, and the majority of tenants had not moved properties since the start of the pilot and would not, therefore, have any experience of the scheme. The list goes on. Nor does the pilot definitively conclude that it has met the aims set out by the Government.

I shall finish by reading from the website of the Equality and Human Rights Commission:

“The importance of housing is recognised in the United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which includes ‘the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate ... housing’. The United Kingdom is legally bound by this treaty. Protecting people’s human rights in housing is therefore important in its own right”.

I hope that the Government will take that statement on board and I am very sorry that Labour will not join us in voting down this order, especially since it did so in the other place.