Oral Answers to Questions
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
The hon. Gentleman has raised this issue on a number of occasions. He will be aware that we are not introducing a Scottish visa scheme or devolving control of immigration policy, and this has been made clear to the Scottish Government. Instead, we must together address the underlying causes of skills shortages and overseas recruitment in different parts of the UK, which this Government are doing.
Pete Wishart
I thank the Minister for her tiresome and repetitive response. She will know that Scotland has a whole range of demographic and population difficulties that need to be urgently addressed, with every sector from social care to hospitality, including business leaders, calling out for drastic action. Even her Scottish Labour colleagues are beginning to understand the enormity of this task. Today we find that Labour’s grotesque two-child benefit cap is now having an impact on Scotland’s birth rate. Instead of slapping down her Scottish colleagues and rejecting this idea out of hand, why does she not work with us just to see if it might actually work?
Seema Malhotra
The hon. Gentleman knows that net migration must come down. It trebled under the last Government, largely driven by overseas recruitment. Immigration is a reserved matter, working in the interests of the whole UK. Previous schemes along the lines that he has suggested have succeeded only in restricting movement and rights and creating internal UK borders. Adding different rules for different locations would also increase complexity and create frictions when workers move locations.
Chris Murray (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab)
Scotland is a diverse place. Some areas are seeing depopulation, but areas such as East Lothian, which I represent, are seeing unprecedented population growth. Will the Minister commit to working constructively with the Scottish Government on their woeful population strategy, which in 17 years has comprehensively failed to address Scotland’s demographic challenges?
Seema Malhotra
We are committed to working with the Scottish Government on this and all issues. Indeed, many of the levers to address depopulation in Scotland are in powers that the Scottish Government already have at their disposal. The reasons for local workers leaving particular areas must be addressed through investment in jobs, in infrastructure and in public services, and many of these are issues that we must tackle together.
Phil Brickell (Bolton West) (Lab)
Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
The Government are committed to bringing down legal migration. We will do so by making sure that British workers are upskilled in key sectors, with new requirements for employers to address skills shortages, and by introducing new training and workforce plans so that overseas recruitment does not remain the default for filling skills shortages in the UK.
Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)
Clive Lewis (Norwich South) (Lab)
I put on record my gratitude to the Home Secretary and her team for releasing the Home Office commissioned report, “The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal”, which concluded that 30 years of racist immigration legislation caused the Windrush scandal. Those now on the Opposition Benches spent three years trying to suppress that report. Will the Home Secretary meet me, other MPs and civil society representatives to discuss its recommendations?
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue. It was a shocking report, and one that the previous Government refused to publish. I would be very happy to meet him and other hon. Members to discuss it.
Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)
Does the Home Secretary share my deep concerns about two-tier justice, given that some people who say some bad, stupid things on social media can be arrested, charged and jailed within a matter of weeks, but some people who brutally and violently assault police officers have not even been charged many months later?
Draft Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) (Amendment) Order 2024
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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The Chair
As a number of Members here have not been on a Statutory Instrument Committee before, I will say that the procedure is very similar to that of the Chamber. If you want to catch my eye, stand up. It is straightforward. There is one minor difficulty: my notes tell me that the Liberal Democrat Helen Maguire is a member of the Committee, and Ben Maguire has turned up. I will clarify whether that was a mistake or whether my notes are accurate.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) (Amendment) Order 2024.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. The order amends the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) Order 2003, or the 2003 order for short, to support the Government’s preferred model for the French delivery of the EU entry-exit system, or EES, in Dover. EES is the EU’s new border entry system, which is due to be implemented on 10 November. It is driven primarily by a desire for greater border security and a more secure Europe. The UK Government are supportive of the aims of the EES, which complement our shared objectives on migration and secure borders. We have been working at pace and closely with our French and EU partners, as well as with industry and across the UK Government, to ensure readiness. I am grateful to parties for their constructive and collaborative approach. It is our goal to do everything possible to maintain border fluidity with the European Union when the EES is introduced.
EES requires that non-EU citizens who wish to enter the Schengen area, excluding EU residents, visa holders and those protected by the withdrawal agreement, provide their fingerprints and a facial scan to EU border officials and answer questions about their stay. This will increase the time taken to complete the Schengen entry process.
As immigration controls in Dover are juxtaposed, non-EU citizens, which include most British nationals, will provide these details to officers of the French Police aux Frontières. PAF officers conduct Schengen entry checks in a control zone at the eastern docks in the Port of Dover, which is a confined space with large volumes of freight and passenger traffic, particularly at peak times. If that continues once EES is implemented, there is likely to be severe congestion and disruption at the port. The Government have therefore engaged constructively with France and the EU to explore mitigations.
France has agreed for PAF officers to complete EES checks for coaches in an additional control zone at the western docks. That approach will ensure there is sufficient capacity to conduct EES checks on coaches, which is not available at the eastern docks. France has requested two changes to ensure that PAF officers can operate the controls effectively: first, that PAF officers can travel between control zones with their service weapons; and, secondly, that PAF officers must be able to escort detained persons whom they have arrested following immigration examination in the new control zone at the western docks to the control zone at the eastern docks, where they currently carry out their immigration controls in full.
Government officials have also consulted all the relevant stakeholders, including Kent police, on France’s requirements. Senior officials are satisfied that the risks are minimal and can be managed through appropriate safeguards and standard operating procedures. The PAF has agreed to those, and the Government have agreed to France’s requests. The order, therefore, creates a circulation area, which will be a section of the A20 public road approximately 1.5 miles long, linking the new French control zone at the western docks with the existing control zone in Dover. It will also enable PAF officers to travel between control zones via the circulation area, and it will extend certain powers and provisions in the 2003 order, which are currently only applicable in a control zone, to the circulation area. Therefore, PAF officers will be permitted to travel with their service weapons, in the circulation area only, between control zones. PAF officers will also be able to escort detained persons between control zones. They will not be able to arrest or detain anyone in the circulation area who has not already been detained by them in the exercise of their functions within a control zone.
When PAF officers escort a detained person in the circulation area, certain provisions will apply, just as they do when officers exercise the power to detain in a control zone. Specifically, PAF officers will be protected against acts or omissions committed against them that constitute offences under an immigration control enactment—for example, assault or obstruction—in the same way that British immigration officers are protected against those. They also cannot be prosecuted for any offence committed when they are exercising their lawful powers under the 2003 order in the circulation area. Additionally, the procedure concerning the arrest of a PAF officer for acts performed in a control zone will also apply to PAF officers exercising the power to escort detained persons in the circulation area.
Finally, any claim for compensation alleged against, or by, PAF officers for loss or injury when they exercise their powers in the circulation area will be subject to the law of the French Republic. This matches the provisions that currently operate in the control zone.
Government officials will separately delimit an additional control zone at the western docks by way of administrative arrangement. In that control zone, PAF officers can exercise their full range of immigration frontier control powers in the same way as they do in the control zone at the eastern docks. They can also carry and store their service weapons, subject to strict safeguards, as they do in the existing control zone. The circulation area in which PAF officers can travel between control zones will also be delimited by way of a clear map of the relevant area. Additionally, the conditions under which PAF officers may carry their service weapons on any journey through the circulation area will be set out in a service weapons agreement.
This order is therefore a key enabler of the western docks operation. It facilitates a relatively minor change to long-established French practice at the juxtaposed controls in Dover so that PAF officers can operate in an additional control zone. This will make a material difference once the EU entry-exit system is implemented. It is in both the UK’s and France’s interests that any disruption in Dover caused by EES is minimised, and the Government consider this order to be a reasonable and proportionate way of helping to achieve that aim. I commend the order to the Committee.
The Chair
Before I call the Opposition spokesperson, we have had a message and Ben Maguire is a member of the Committee, so that has been clarified.
Seema Malhotra
I am grateful to the Opposition spokespeople for their comments. I gently say to the shadow Minister that the Government now have a much clearer plan for how we tackle irregular migration. I am proud that we have set up the border security command, with work going on internationally to try and tackle the criminal gangs that, as he knows, are exploiting thousands of people and putting their lives at risk. It is vital that immigration is controlled and managed, and I am sure he will want to work with the Government on the measures we are putting in place.
The shadow Minister asked a set of questions about the impact of the provisions. It would be sensible to come back to him in writing, because that would enable us to share the response with colleagues who are concerned and minded to ask about similar matters. On the matter of partnership, that is an important way in which we continue to work with our French counterparts, not least because we also operate our Border Force in juxtaposed ports in the EU. It is vital that we work together on securing our borders and maintaining their fluidity throughout the implementation of EES, because that is in all our interests.
Question put and agreed to.
Rural Depopulation
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Torcuil Crichton) on his successful securing of this debate. I am extremely grateful to him and to right hon. and hon. Members for taking part in the debate. I will mention those who have made substantial contributions: my hon. Friends the Members for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Lizzi Collinge) and for Hexham (Joe Morris), the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) and the hon. Members for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart), for Strangford (Jim Shannon), for Dumfries and Galloway (John Cooper), for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (Mr MacDonald), for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) and for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone). I acknowledge the contributions from the Opposition leads as well, including the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers).
I want to address many of the issues raised in today’s debate, which has focused on a range of key points and has brought together the challenges and consequences of depopulation in an important and effective way. I am heartened by my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar also saying that he recognises this is an issue that goes way beyond the Home Office and that he plans to raise a number of the challenges with other Departments. I encourage him to do so.
The Government recognise the importance of this debate, and the challenges faced by rural and island communities in Scotland, as well as in Northern Ireland and more widely across the United Kingdom in Wales and England. Those challenges are now coming to workforces, and are about supporting local and national economies, as well as encouraging young people to feel that they have opportunity in the areas where they grew up. A range of issues was raised and important points were extremely well made, including on some of the generational shifts that are having impacts on families, as well as community cohesion, wider integration and the continued success of local services, the challenges in recruitment across primary local sectors and public services, and the running of our local communities.
One of the points raised was in relation to the fishing and fish-processing industries, which is of concern to many colleagues in Scotland. We recognise the contribution of those industries to the lifeblood of our nation, including to coastal and rural communities. Those industries generate almost £2 billion in exports. We recognise the challenges of recruiting domestically. Those and other valuable jobs are often done in difficult circumstances. As has been discussed, there has been a reliance on migration over recent years.
Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)
Under the last Conservative Government, too often we saw rampant exploitation of migrant workers in the seasonal workers scheme. Does the Minister share my concerns about such labour exploitation, and will she work with me on novel ideas to tackle it?
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for making that serious point, one that I will draw on in my remarks. I will continue to work with him and others on how we tackle that serious issue.
Migration has been an important part of the history of our nation, as was raised by the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire. He will know, as I do, that for generations people have travelled here from all over the world, contributing to our economy, studying in our universities, working in our public services and being part of our communities and the way we have built our nation together. All of us here are alive to the demographic challenges that remote communities particularly are facing. We are also committed to ensuring that the immigration system works in the interests of the whole of the UK.
We have seen net migration treble in five years, driven largely by a big increase in overseas recruitment. We are clear that net migration must come down, and that the immigration system needs to be properly controlled and managed. I make that point because it is for that reason we are setting out a new approach, which is integral to tackling some of the challenges outlined today. We will link migration policy and visa controls to skills and labour market policy so that immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems in the UK.
Seema Malhotra
I have to make my remarks, and the right hon. Member has spoken. I will come back if I have time.
On the vision of developing more sustainable alternatives to labour market issues, I am sure that we are all keen to work together. There is no other way. That is why I have asked my officials to work closely with Seafish, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and across Government to address the issues facing the sector and our rural communities, and to make sure we are building together a more sustainable workforce and community.
Jim Shannon
I welcome the Minister to her position. I apologise for not doing so earlier; I wish her well in her job. The right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) and I have pursued the issue of visas for fishermen across the sea—in Northern Ireland, my villages of Portavogie, Kilkeel and Ardglass are examples —as has the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart). Along the line, we have always had verbal commitments, but we have never seen action to make visas more acceptable for skilled workers so that small fishing villages such as Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel can survive. The Minister might wish to continue pursuing that, if it is agreeable.
Seema Malhotra
I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, who is a long-standing campaigner on these issues. I make the point that it is important that we work closely across Westminster and with our devolved Administrations. This is part of an important reset, and it is important that we look at how we tackle these challenges together. Many of the issues that have been raised are matters for the Scottish Government and for local authorities in Scotland, but it is important that we look at how we work together across Westminster and with the Scottish Government to ensure that we have shared projects that are a success.
Mr Carmichael
I have said often enough that the medium to long-term structural problems in the catching sector for deckhands have to be solved by a better training programme, to make sure that we recruit from our own fishing and coastal communities. In the meantime, working together with the Scottish Government, where the responsibility lies, to bridge the gap with the availability of visas for incoming crew seems to me the perfect way in which the Governments here and in Edinburgh can work together to provide the industry with what it needs.
Seema Malhotra
I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention. I shall be coming on to some of these issues in my remarks, but let me first talk briefly about the regional visa schemes that have been alluded to. I am aware that the devolved Government in Scotland retain a key interest in this, and in 2022 the Migration Advisory Committee suggested that the Government could explore the issue further. It is important to say that the MAC must hear the voices of our devolved Administrations across the country.
Proposals have included measures to restrict migrants to certain areas, but there is currently no legal basis to do so, even if we wanted to. Fundamentally, overseas recruits are likely to be affected by the same factors as anyone else when making decisions about whether to move into or remain in remote parts of the country. That means that jobs must be available that offer sustainable salaries and attractive working conditions, but we must also ensure affordable housing, transport links, suitable local infrastructure such as broadband, and childcare. So many of those issues affect where people choose to settle and to make communities their home.
Addressing such concerns, and thereby making challenging careers more attractive, has to be the focus of the work to tackle depopulation. Otherwise, even migrants drawn to the UK to perform these roles can leave their jobs and the area as soon as a more favourable opportunity becomes available. In some of the analysis of the Fresh Talent experience, that has been part of the story. It is important to learn lessons—
Seema Malhotra
The hon. Gentleman can come back to me later, but I need to continue my remarks, because I want to make the point that it is important for us to learn what has and has not worked in the UK, as well as learning from abroad.
The arguments in favour of legislating to enable rural communities to recruit and retain international recruits more easily are well intentioned, but could risk placing international recruits in a particularly vulnerable position, especially at a time when, as has been mentioned, we are looking to protect workers against exploitive practices in the care and fishing sectors and elsewhere in the economy. Previously suggested schemes for devolved migration controls would restrict their movement and rights. However, immigration is a national system, not a local one, and although we have routes and flexibilities in our immigration system, a range of issues have contributed to depopulation—a point that has been raised in this very effective debate—so we need a much more integrated strategy across Government and with the devolved Administrations. That is why it is important that it is taken further.
On housing, the Government have set out an overhaul of the planning system, and we have introduced new mandatory housing targets. We are looking at prioritising brownfield sites, and it is a key mission of ours to build 1.5 million affordable homes across the country. That is essential for the reasons that we have talked about, including stability for families and for our local economies.
I mentioned the need for a coherent link between our labour market and migration. Since the new Government came in, we have been working to establish a framework in which the Migration Advisory Committee, Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council and the Department for Work and Pensions will work together to address the issues facing the UK labour market, including skills gaps—
Seema Malhotra
I will come back to the hon. Gentleman, but I may answer his question with my next point.
Those bodies will also look at pay and conditions, economic activity and the role that migration can play in supporting that. In order to deliver on the Government’s missions, we need to tackle these challenges in all parts of the United Kingdom. The bodies must work closely with our devolved Governments, our combined authorities and local government to address these matters.
Ben Lake
The Minister has gone halfway to addressing the point that I wanted to raise. Australia, which has a federal system, operates a single immigration system, but the territories and states can nominate key critical shortage occupations to encourage and boost them. In her discussions with the devolved Administrations, will she bear in mind the experience of Australia and see whether its approach can be brought into the UK system?
Seema Malhotra
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. I was pleased to visit Australia very briefly in May to talk about the work that is being done on skills there. I think it would help him to know that we have announced a new council of the nations and regions, and we are starting the process of establishing local growth plans and encouraging local authorities to take on more devolved power. He may want to contribute to some of those discussions.
I do not wish to test your patience, Ms Vaz, so I will conclude.
Seema Malhotra
I need to conclude in a couple of minutes.
A point was raised about the English language. The English language requirement is fundamental to successful integration into British society, as it helps visa holders to access services, participate in community life and work. Workers who do not have a good command of English are likely to be more vulnerable to exploitation and less able to understand their rights. The level that we have set is B1 on the common European framework of reference for languages: lower intermediate English, which is more of a functional understanding. But there are gaps and we have more to do, beyond what we inherited.
On the broader point about depopulation, there are many ways in which the previous Government’s levelling-up agenda did not integrate and did not have a strategy for tackling all these issues together. That is why the work that we are doing across the country on devolution is an important part of how we move forward.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar again for securing this debate. I have heard and am grateful for the points that he and other Members have made. As I have made clear, the Government will work to continue to understand the issues that Members face in greater detail and will consider how best to work collectively to address them. We must and will remain open to international skills and talent, but I suggest that immigration is not the solution to depopulation, nor must it be used as an alternative to the important job of tackling skills and labour market failures here in the UK, around which we have set out a new approach.
Immigration Rules: Statement of Changes
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is today laying before the House a statement of changes in immigration rules.
Introduction of a visa requirement on Jordan
We are today introducing a visa requirement on all visitors from Jordan. Nationals of Jordan will also be required to obtain a direct airside transit visa if they intend to transit via the UK having booked travel to another country. The visa requirement comes into force at 15:00 BST today.
Consequential to this, nationals of Jordan will no longer be eligible to travel to the UK with an electronic travel authorisation.
There will be a four-week, visa-free transition period for those who already hold an ETA and confirmed bookings to the UK obtained on or before 15:00 BST on 10 September 2024 where arrival in the UK is no later than 15:00 BST on 8 October 2024.
Arrangements are in place so that Jordanian nationals can apply for visas. We are publicising the changes so travellers are aware and can plan accordingly.
We are taking this action due to an increase in the number of Jordanian nationals travelling to the UK for purposes other than what is permitted under visitor rules since the visa requirement was lifted in February 2024. This has included a significant and sustained increase in asylum claims, and high rates of refusals at the border due to people travelling without the intention of visiting for a permitted purpose. This increase in asylum claims and refusals has added significantly to operational pressures at the border, resulting in frontline resource being diverted from other operational priorities.
The decision to introduce a visa requirement has been taken solely for migration and border security reasons. Our relationship with Jordan remains a strong and friendly one. Any decision to change a visa status is not taken lightly and we keep the border and immigration system under regular review to ensure it continues to work in the UK national interest.
Implementation of the UK electronic travel authorisation scheme
On 25 October 2023, the UK electronic travel authorisation scheme was launched to secure our borders and make the UK safer, by enhancing our ability to screen travellers upstream. The scheme applies to those passengers visiting or transiting the UK, who do not currently need a visa for short stays and do not have a valid UK immigration status prior to travelling.
Currently, the ETA scheme applies to nationals of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The Government will complete the implementation of the scheme, in a phased manner, to all remaining non-visa nationalities. In November 2024, the ETA scheme will open to all nationals travelling to the UK who do not currently need a visa, except Europeans, and it will be a travel requirement from 8 January 2025. In March 2025, the scheme will then be extended to European nationals and will be a requirement for travel from 2 April 2025, completing the roll-out of the ETA scheme. The complete list of ETA nationalities is detailed in the accompanying statement of changes at “Appendix ETA National List” at ETANL 1.1.
Once fully rolled out, the ETA scheme will close the current gap in advance permissions and mean that for the first time, we will have a comprehensive understanding of those travelling to the UK.
End diplomatic visa waivers and introduce a “diplomatic visa arrangement” visitor visa
The UK’s border is being transformed to include digital pre-travel checks. As part of this, diplomatic visa waivers are being phased out. “Diplomatic visa arrangement” visitor visas are being introduced to replace DVWs. DVAs will ensure diplomatic passport holders from countries that have benefited from DVW, who are nominated by their Governments through a note verbale, will continue to benefit from smooth and efficient access to the UK. DVAs will provide a bespoke visitor visa for eligible diplomatic passport holders. Applications will be made through a light-touch application form, but application fees and the requirement to submit fingerprints will be waived. The route aims to support and better facilitate diplomatic travel to the UK and will also enable DVA visitors to undertake a range of standard visitor activities. These changes will not impact accredited diplomats who are free, or “exempt” from immigration control.
Introduction of the VIP delegate visa
We are launching the VIP delegate visa, a bespoke visa product targeted at delegations accompanying foreign Heads of State and serving Government Ministers on official visits to the UK. This product is a global offer, balancing the UK’s bilateral considerations and aligning more closely with the approach of international partners. This product will be capped at an upper limit of 20 issues for Government official delegates accompanying Heads of State, and 10 for Government official delegates accompanying serving Government Ministers. Those applying for this product will have their application assessed under the immigration rules, supported by a note verbale process, but application fees and the requirement to submit fingerprints will be waived.
Changes to “Appendix Bereaved Partner” and “Appendix Gurkha and Hong Kong military unit veteran discharged before 1 July 1997”
Currently, a bereaved partner who has no other route to stay must leave the UK if they cannot afford the fee for settlement. So, we are changing the relevant rules to allow bereaved partners and their dependants to benefit from a fee waiver if they are destitute. Equivalent changes are being made to the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2018, which are also being laid in Parliament today. The provision of a fee waiver to those who are destitute will allow them to settle in the UK at the time they are most vulnerable.
Changes to the EU settlement scheme
We are making some changes to the immigration rules in “Appendix EU” for the EUSS, which, in accordance with the citizens’ rights agreements, enables EU, other European economic area and Swiss citizens living in the UK before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, and their family members, to obtain the UK immigration status they need to continue living in the UK. The changes include referring to the scope to automatically convert pre-settled status under the EUSS to settled status where the person qualifies for this and without the need for them to make a further valid application, and to require a joining family member to apply to the EUSS within three months of their first (not latest) arrival in the UK since the end of the transition period (or later where there are reasonable grounds for their delay).
These changes to the immigration rules are being laid on 10 September 2024. For the changes regarding Jordan, due to safeguarding the operation of the UK’s immigration system, those changes will come into effect at 15:00 BST on 10 September 2024. The changes regarding “Appendix Bereaved Partner” and “Appendix Gurkha and Hong Kong military unit veteran discharged before 1 July 1997” will come into effect on 9 October 2024, changes regarding the VIP delegate visa will come into effect on 10 October 2024, changes to introduce a “diplomatic visa arrangement” visitor visa will come into effect on 18 February 2025 and associated changes to end diplomatic visa waivers will come into effect on 11 March 2025.
All other changes will come into effect on 8 October 2024.
[HCWS81]
Afghan Resettlement
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
In August 2021, following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the UK undertook a military evacuation from Kabul. This evacuation is known as Operation Pitting.
During Operation Pitting, the UK Government “called forward” a number of people for evacuation. These people were identified as being particularly at risk. They included female politicians, members of the LGBT+ community, women’s rights activists and judges.
Due to the speed and the circumstances surrounding the evacuation, a number of families became separated, and some individuals were evacuated to the UK without all of their immediate family. The Government pledged at the time that there would be a route for separated families to reunite under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme.
This Government are implementing that commitment and providing a means for families who were separated by the military evacuation from Kabul in August 2021 to be reunited in the UK.
Afghan citizens resettlement scheme pathway 1 stage 2: separated families will open today, Tuesday 30 July. The window to submit an expression of interest will remain open for 3 months until 30 October 2024.
Those who have been resettled in the UK under Afghan citizens resettlement scheme pathway 1 and were evacuated during Operation Pitting without their immediate family members can submit an expression of interest under this pathway. Operation Pitting refers to the military evacuation to the UK from Afghanistan between 13 August and 28 August 2021.
Eligible individuals can submit an expression of interest for:
A spouse or unmarried partner
Their dependent children aged under 18 at the time of the evacuation.
In addition, any children who were evacuated without their parents will be able to submit an expression of interest for their parents and siblings aged under 18 at the time of the evacuation. Additional family members may be considered in exceptional circumstances.
Further information on who is eligible and how to submit an expression of interest will be made available on gov.uk shortly.
[HCWS45]
Oral Answers to Questions
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Jack Abbott (Ipswich) (Lab/Co-op)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
Levels of violence and abuse towards retail workers are unacceptably high, with a shoplifting epidemic plaguing our high streets across the country. That is why this Government will bring in a new offence of assaulting a retail worker, and end the effective immunity for shoplifting of goods below £200. Unlike the Conservative party, we want to send a message that all shoplifting is illegal and that offenders will not escape punishment.
Jack Abbott
Record rates of retail crime and shoplifting are blighting our high streets, including in Ipswich, where too often such instances act as a flashpoint for completely unacceptable levels of violence, threats and abuse directed towards retail workers. I very much welcome the Government’s commitment to ending the £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, and the introduction of a stand-alone offence that will give shoplifters the protection they need. Will the Minister join me in Ipswich to meet local retail staff, so that she can hear about their experiences and the vital difference that these steps will make?
Seema Malhotra
I commend my hon. Friend for raising this issue. It is true that the steps we are taking owe much to the work of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, the Co-op, the British Retail Consortium and the Association of Convenience Stores. Everyone has a right to feel safe at work, but the March statistics show a 30% increase in shoplifting offences, many of which are violent, over 12 months. We welcome the operational commitments made by the police in the retail crime action plan. I know that the Minister of State, Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham (Dame Diana Johnson) has heard my hon. Friend’s request and that she will be happy to visit Ipswich with him.
Matt Vickers (Stockton West) (Con)
As a Back Bencher and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on retail, I campaigned alongside retailers and the likes of USDAW to up the ante on protecting retail workers. I know that retail workers welcomed my party’s action on the retail crime action plan, particularly the use of tagging and facial recognition technology. Can the Minister assure us that there will be no let-up in the use of facial recognition and tagging to clamp down on this and other crimes?
Seema Malhotra
I thank the shadow Minister for his question, and I can confirm that we are continuing to look at this issue. We welcome the operational commitments that have been made by the police in the October 2023 retail crime action plan and, indeed, the commitment from police across England and Wales to prioritise attendance where violence has been used towards shop staff.
Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)
The seasonal agricultural workers scheme remains absolutely vital for farmers, largely due to the piecemeal nature of its running by the last Government, which means that farmers have not been able to make the investment decisions that they want to. Will the Home Secretary commit now to a scheme for the whole of this Parliament to provide certainty to farmers and workers?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
The hon. Member will know that the Migration Advisory Committee recently produced a report on the seasonal workers scheme. The report is being kept under review and we will update the House in due course.
Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)
I had the pleasure of visiting the Metropolitan police special operations unit in my constituency with the new Policing Minister on Saturday. We discussed a range of issues with the officers, from counter-terrorism to dealing with violent crime, protests and antisocial behaviour. Does the Home Secretary agree that we need additional resources for our police officers and urgent action to work with the Met to keep our streets safe in London?
European Entry/Exit System
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
I want to update the House on the work by the UK Government to maintain border fluidity with the European Union throughout the implementation of the new Entry/Exit System, ensuring UK nationals and residents can continue to access European destinations effectively and efficiently.
The European Union is implementing a new border security system, the European Entry/Exit System (EES). EU member states are responsible for implementation of the system at Schengen area border crossings, with oversight from the European Commission.
EES will remove the requirement to manually stamp passports at the EU’s external border—so called “wet-ink stamps”—and improve physical security by creating a digital file that links a travel document to a person’s identity using biometrics. It will require non-EU citizens, excluding EU residents, long stay visa holders, and those protected by the withdrawal agreement, arriving in a Schengen destination to register their fingerprints, provide a facial scan and answer questions about their stay. On departure, travellers’ details will be checked against the EES database to confirm compliance with existing rules on time limits, maximum 90 day stay in a 180-day period, and register departure.
While the UK Government are supportive of the aims of EES, which complement our shared objectives on migration and secure borders, we are not content with the level of preparations put in place by the previous Administration. The system will increase processing times at Schengen area border crossing points, and insufficient progress has been made on ensuring that these impacts, as well as other potential impacts, are minimised, with disruption likely when the scheme is introduced.
This is particularly true for journeys involving travel through the UK’s three ports with juxtaposed frontier controls: London St Pancras, Eurotunnel in Folkestone, and the Port of Dover, where EES registration will be required on departure from the UK.
On those routes, work has been required to accommodate new equipment and infrastructure in ports and terminals in the UK ahead of the launch date, as well as minimising any disruption caused by queues at the border as much as possible.
As the European Commission plans to implement the new system in late autumn this year, I wanted to update the House on the immediate steps that we are now taking to improve preparations and levels of readiness. These include:
Close working with the French Government, Port of Dover, Eurotunnel, Eurostar and High Speed 1 on implementation plans at Dover, Folkestone and St Pancras, where France conducts frontier controls prior to departure from the UK.
Preparing communications to raise awareness amongst the travelling public, especially UK nationals and third country nationals resident in the UK, who will be required to undertake EES registration when travelling to the EU. It is critical British citizens are aware of the new requirements and prepared for the additional time these will take with sufficient time to plan ahead.
Engaging with the European Commission and member states to lobby for a more pragmatic approach to the application of precautionary measures—these are reactive measures proposed by the EU for the first six months of EES implementation to be used as a safeguard in the case of excessive waiting times e.g. collecting the biometric data of a reduced number of travellers. We believe that extending these beyond six months would improve throughput at the EU’s external border if queues form during peak periods in early 2025 due to the additional processing time required for EES.
The introduction of an amendment to UK legislation to ensure that an additional French control zone within the Port of Dover’s Western Docks can be operationalised by French border officers in the same way as they currently work in the Eastern Docks and create additional capacity. This has been laid before the House today and there will be an opportunity for further discussion on its contents separately.
Securing access to European Commission trial and testing programs for EES implementation to help inform the work and planning UK juxtaposed port operators are doing to prepare for EES.
It is in both the UK’s and European Union’s interest to work together on our shared objectives to ensure we maintain secure borders, while also minimising any disruption caused by EES.
[HCWS29]
Net Migration Figures
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(11 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Robert Jenrick
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend and agree with everything he says. It is absolutely critical that we get a handle on this issue. The points he makes about social care are entirely valid. It is not sensible that our social care sector is reliant on importing foreign labour from overseas, including their dependants who then have to be housed, have access to public services and be supported on the NHS. We need to take a more sensible, sustainable attitude to how we pay and look after people in such an important career.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
The increase in net migration has been fuelled by an increase in health and care visas last year of around 150%. I want to bring the Minister back to the central question. I am sure he shares Labour’s ambition to upskill the workforce here, but the central question is why the funding for the new social care workforce pathway was halved earlier this year. He will know that the shortage of social care workers is contributing to bed-blocking in our NHS. That is the last thing we need ahead of another potential winter crisis.
Robert Jenrick
As I said in answer to an earlier question, we have set out a social care plan. The Chancellor and the Health Secretary set out a long-term plan for the NHS workforce more generally. It is absolutely right that we train more people in this country to be nurses and doctors than we have in the recent past. That is why, for example, the Health Secretary set out a plan for further medical schools in a number of parts of the country, including in places where there have been shortages. That is the way forward. It is not a sustainable future for the NHS or social care to recruit in other parts of the world. Even those places are now encountering shortages. There is a highly competitive international market for doctors and nurses, so the future of our NHS has to be by persuading more of our own young people to go into those sectors and train people properly here.
Crime and Antisocial Behaviour: West London
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to lead this debate on crime and antisocial behaviour in west London. I am pleased that this debate comes so soon after my most recent crime survey for residents. We had more than 300 responses this time, and the results were sadly more shocking, more worrying and more concerning than those from our last survey in 2019.
While the title of the debate covers west London, I know that the experiences and challenges we face in my constituency are felt across London and the whole of England. I want to discuss four central themes today: my constituents’ own experience with crime, based mainly on my recent constituent crime survey; the responses of the Metropolitan police; the response of the Government; and, finally, what we can and should do to tackle crime and keep people safe.
I could have started this debate by reeling off a long list of figures and statistics about crime and policing, but I will not. Debates about crime are not abstract. It is not a line on a bar chart, but so much more. It is often a life shattered, confidence taken away and a hole left behind. Take one constituent who contacted me after a string of car thefts outside their home. They told me:
“We are scared to walk outside alone, we are scared to wear a watch, we are scared for the safety of our children.”
That is what crime does.
Crime has an acidic and poisonous impact on communities, whether that is cars being violently stolen outside of houses, homes being broken into, schoolchildren being mugged at knifepoint or young people afraid of getting involved and being sucked into gang activity.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. Does she agree that it is a wake-up call when children tell their mums they are afraid to walk home through the high street after school? That is taking away their childhoods.
Ruth Cadbury
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Children are afraid of being the victims of crime. They are also afraid of the gangs. Too many parents and young children are being targeted and, once sucked in, if they do not have the money to pay the gangs back, it is difficult to get out. I will come to that later.
The fear that crime puts into victims lasts so much longer than the time taken to experience and report the crime itself. Something wider has also emerged in recent years: a sense of broken Britain. People tell me of seeing drugs being dealt openly in plain sight, bike theft and phone theft becoming virtually legal due to the lack of policing response, and fraud and cyber-crime becoming more and more widespread. There is a sense that this is a country where certain forms of crime simply happen without any consequence. Recently, even calling 999 was a futile gesture that led nowhere.
I will touch briefly on the responses I received to my recent constituency crime survey. Of those who responded, 35% had been victims of crime in the last 12 months. The most common thefts were vehicle theft and catalytic converter theft. West London is at particular risk because of the A4 and M4 passing through, which allows for a quick getaway. For years, I have been raising the issue of catalytic converter theft with the Home Office. As we know, they are stolen to order and passed on for the valuable materials they contain. One of the many policing Ministers told me that the Government would consider a review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 if necessary. Will the Minister tell me whether the Home Office is doing that review? If so, when will we hear of any likely action? His script might mention the national vehicle crime working group, which apparently meets regularly, but will he tell the House how it measures its outcomes?
In my survey, the top three areas of priority for constituents were burglaries, violent and sexual crimes, and drug-related crimes. Antisocial behaviour was also frequently bought up, and it is also raised when I meet constituents, although the phrase rather obscures just what that crime is. Whether it is constant fly-tipping on estates, long-running harassment campaigns against neighbours or illegally modified bikes speeding through parks, it feeds into the sense of hopeless and powerless and the sense that our justice system is simply not working as it should.
Seema Malhotra
My hon. Friend is being generous in giving way. Does she agree that when residents contact us, contact the police and contact others for help, they have the feeling that the answers are there but those who should be helping them—local authorities and the police in particular—are not responding and not joining up to ensure swift action and cutting this off so that residents and communities can live in safety?
Ruth Cadbury
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The problem with antisocial behaviour is that it is often dealt with as “no crime”. It is true that there are more serious crimes that need to be dealt with, but, for so many, antisocial behaviour feels like the thin end of the wedge.
There is a thread connecting these crimes that impact on all of our constituents, and ASB in particular: the sense that they are allowed to happen in plain sight. There is an assumption that the police are at the core of the solution. In some ways, they are.
Ruth Cadbury
I agree. We remember the time in the noughties when we had five officers for every ward, but they have been cut to less than half that.
Let me talk about the role of the Metropolitan police. I am grateful for my regular meetings with Chief Superintendent Wilson and other inspectors in Hounslow, and for the fact that Commissioner Mark Rowley has met London MPs frequently, including last week. In Hounslow, I have been on a walkabout both in Osterley and in Isleworth, and in a response car all around my constituency. I have had the chance to see just how well local officers know our community and how hard they work.
However, there is a huge gap between those positive experiences and the wider services provided by the Met, as we know from both the Casey report and the experiences of our constituents. I am well aware of the work that Metropolitan Commissioner Mark Rowley is doing to try to turn around the appalling prejudices of a number of police officers and the generic responses that all victims of crime get, so that people have some confidence in the core service. We look forward to seeing significant progress on that before too long.
Many residents, constituents and businesses have told me that when they have reported crimes, they receive either not a proper response or no response at all. They get a crime reference number—that is it. A crime reference number is not justice served. That is Commissioner Mark Rowley’s task. The lack of response feeds into the sense of powerless and unfairness. People want the police to investigate, catch the criminals and stop crime from reoccurring. Mark Rowley has promised to turn around the ship and restore trust in the Met. That trust needs to be rebuilt urgently.
I want to focus on the Conservative Government, who have overseen the last 13 years of broken promises on policing across England. First, there was the decision to cut 20,000 experienced police officers. In London, more than 2,000 were cut, and in Hounslow borough, 80 experienced officers were cut. They knew their communities and knew the appropriate response to ensure that information was gathered and conflict situations were not escalated. Those experienced officers have, too often, gone.
Seema Malhotra
Does my hon. Friend agree that the way in which the cuts took place and police were taken from our communities has had an impact on the relationship between the police and our residents? The loss of knowledge of people, their lives and communities, and those in our schools, has had an impact on that trust and familiarity, which go such a long way to preventing crime and giving reassurance.
Ruth Cadbury
My hon. Friend explains so clearly the points that we made back then when the cuts were being made. When I was deputy leader of Hounslow council, we said that the cuts would have consequences, and my hon. Friend just described them perfectly. So, what has happened? The Government have realised that they made a mistake, and are providing funding to re-recruit those vacancies. However, recruiting is difficult. The experience has gone out the door. Getting new people in involves cost and training, and it takes years for knowledge to be built up. There are not the number of keen, competent and experienced recruits the Metropolitan police so badly needs, particularly from within London.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) said, ward teams were cut from five or six police officers and police community support officers, down to one or two per ward. The police have told me that they still do not have the numbers to carry out regular, high-profile foot patrols in at-risk areas. That is what people desperately want to see, but Conservative cuts have made it impossible. In parallel to the cuts were the swingeing cuts to local government and other key frontline services: Sure Start centres, play areas, parks, public health, social workers, schools and colleges—all areas that form the soft safety net.
Local groups have had to fill the gap. One group I have worked with is Action Isleworth Mothers. It is just one of many community groups across west London working tirelessly to support families, in particular young people at risk of being exploited by gangs. For three years Astrid Edwards, who founded AIM, has been working unpaid with mothers and their sons to support them in keeping away, or getting away, from gangs. She cannot do that alone. She has worked hard, using a progressive public health approach, to ensure key agencies in the borough—schools, the police, social services, housing, mental health and youth offender services—get out of their silos and work together. After three years of doing that unfunded, AIM now has funding from Hounslow Council and the Mayor of London’s violence reduction unit to be the lead facilitator for the Hounslow parent-carer champion network to provide peer support to parents whose children are, or may be, at risk of serious youth violence, criminal exploitation and/or getting involved in the criminal justice system.
Meanwhile, the Government have been bystanders on the issue of crime and the causes of crime. On their watch, the number of arrests has halved, prosecutions have almost halved and the number of crimes solved has halved. More crimes are being reported, but fewer crimes are being solved. Criminals are getting away with it. Don’t worry, the Home Secretary is working hard—but only to prepare her leadership bid. She is often missing in action and seems to talk about crime only when she thinks she can get a cheap hit and headline out of it.
I hope to finish on a slightly more positive note by saying that we have seen some signs of improvement locally in recent months. We have a new dedicated policing team in Hounslow town centre, made up of over 20 officers, focused on the high street which has been a hotspot for crime. Businesses and shoppers say that it has made a positive difference.
Seema Malhotra
Does my hon. Friend agree that the way our police and local authorities work with other organisations, such as No Shame in Running, run by Garvin Snell, and Project Turnover, working with children on the very edge of crime, is really important, and that our institutions must have the capacity to support those who do such frontline work in our communities?
Ruth Cadbury
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Some of the most effective work is being done by people of, and from, the community—people like Garvin Snell and organisations such as AIM. They know the young people and they know the parents, but they cannot do it alone. They must work in partnership with statutory agencies. I am glad to say that in the borough of Hounslow there is better working together and less silo working between key public services. Only then, when we see the child as a whole and work around the child as a whole, can we support them in keeping away from crime and gang activity.
One other success, following my intervention, was the installation of CCTV cameras behind a local estate and extra police patrols after residents contacted me about crime gangs using the alleyway for a quick getaway.
To feel safe, all communities need a visible police presence, proactive community work and engagement with the local council. That is why my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) the shadow Home Secretary has called for the Government to bring back neighbourhood policing and to recruit over 10,000 neighbourhood officers and PCSOs. These are people who know their streets, know their community and know how to tackle crime. That is what we desperately need: a Government focused on tackling crime rather than chasing cheap headlines. After 13 long years of Conservative rule, people locally desperately want change.
Oral Answers to Questions
Seema Malhotra Excerpts(1 year, 6 months ago)
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Tom Tugendhat
I can absolutely give that commitment. These scams, which to some people appear victimless, are sadly anything but. The connection to serious mental health issues that follow is sadly all too clear, and many of us in our constituency work have come across individuals for whom these events have resulted in extreme suffering and sometimes even worse.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
It is staggering that fraud now accounts for almost half of crime, yet barely any of those crimes are investigated, and less than 0.1% of them make it to court. Hardly anything seems to be being done to upgrade police technology and practice to help deal with that. Seriously, what are the Government doing that will make any sort of difference?
Tom Tugendhat
The hon. Lady will have heard only a few weeks ago that we launched our new fraud strategy, which includes 400 officers in the national fraud squad and increased resources of some £400 million to help police forces across the country. A lot of that work has already started, and a lot of it still has to be done. We are making sure that that focus is there because, as she correctly says, 40% of crime is fraud. The UK, sadly, has received too many attempts to defraud our people, for several reasons. One reason is the way our banking system works and the speed of banking in the UK, and another is the English language, which I am afraid makes it significantly easier for fraudsters overseas to act against our people. It is true that a significant amount of that crime is not here in the UK but abroad, so working with partners around the world is important.