Immigration Bill

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May)]

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

[Mr Speaker]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Government new clause 12—Power to charge fees for attendance services in particular cases.

Government new clause 18—Deprivation of citizenship: conduct seriously prejudicial to vital interests of the UK—

‘(1) In section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981 (deprivation of citizenship), after subsection (4) insert—

“(4A) But that does not prevent the Secretary of State from making an order under subsection (2) to deprive a person of a citizenship status if—

(a) the citizenship status results from the person’s naturalisation, and

(b) the Secretary of State is satisfied that the deprivation is conducive to the public good because the person, while having that citizenship status, has conducted him or herself in a manner which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the United Kingdom, any of the Islands, or any British overseas territory.”

(2) In deciding whether to make an order under subsection (2) of section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981 in a case which falls within subsection (4A) of that Act, the Secretary of State may take account of the manner in which a person conducted him or herself before this section came into force.’

Manuscript amendment (a) to Government new clause 18, after proposed new subsection (4A)(b) in subsection (1), insert

‘and

(c) the court gives the Secretary of State permission under subsection (4B).

(4B) (1) This sub-section applies if the Secretary of State:

(a) makes the relevant decisions in relation to an individual in a case which falls within subsection (4A)

(b) makes an application to the court for permission to make an order.

(2) The application must set out how the deprivation is conducive to the public good and how the person, while having that citizenship status, has conducted himself or herself in a manner which is seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the United Kingdom, and of the islands, or any British overseas territory.

(3) The function of the court on the application is:

(a) to determine whether the relevant decision of the Secretary of State is

obviously flawed, and

(b) to determine whether to give permission to deprive a person of citizenship in a case which falls within subsection (4A)

(4) In determining the application, the court must apply the principles applicable on an application for judicial review.

(5) In a case where the court determines that a decision of the Secretary of State in relation to the conditions set out in subsection (4A)(b) is obviously flawed, the court may not give permission under this section.

(6) In any other case, the court may give permission under this section.’.



Manuscript amendment (b) to Government new clause 18, after subsection (2), insert—

‘(3) The court is the appropriate tribunal for the purposes of section 7 of the Human Rights Act 1998.’.

New clause 13—Right of appeal: Impact assessment—

‘Before the Secretary of State makes an order under section 65 (commencement) to bring into force section 11 (Right of appeal to First-tier Tribunal) he must—

(a) undertake an impact assessment of—

(i) the number of appeals effected by the provisions of section 11; and

(ii) the costs attributable to appeals to First-tier Tribunals; and

(b) lay a copy of a report on that impact assessment before Parliament.’.

New clause 15—Exceptions to automatic deportation—

‘(1) The UK Borders Act 2007 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 33 (Exceptions), in subsection (2)(a), for “Convention rights”, substitute “rights under Articles 2 or 3 of the Convention”.

(3) In section 33, after subsection (6A), insert—

“(6B) Exception 7 is where the Secretary of State thinks, taking into account all the circumstances of the case including the seriousness of the offence, that removal of the foreign criminal from the United Kingdom in pursuance of a deportation order would cause such manifest and overwhelming harm to his children that it overrides the public interest in removal.”.

(4) In section 38 (Interpretation)—

(a) after subsection (3), insert—

“(3A) In section 32, “Convention rights” has the same meaning as in the Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42).”;

(b) omit paragraph (4)(b);

(c) after subsection (4) insert—

“(4A) In section 33, “rights under Articles 2 or 3 of the Convention” means Articles 2 or 3 of “the Convention” as defined in the Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42).”.’.

Amendment 74, in clause 1, page 2, line 34, at end add—

‘(7) The Secretary of State shall by order—

(a) ensure that children are not detained for immigration purposes, except in the following circumstances—

(i) where the Home Secretary reasonably believes they are a threat to national security;

(ii) in port or border cases where departure is the following day and no application for a visa or asylum has been made; or

(iii) to provide pre-departure accommodation under subsection (7)(b); and

(b) ensure that if a child requires accommodation prior to departure it is—

(i) dedicated pre-departure accommodation which is subject to inspection by HMIP;

(ii) for a maximum period of 72 hours;

(iii) following a recommendation made by the Independent Family Returns Panel, and

(iv) with their family.

(8) Where subsection (7)(a)(ii) and (iii) applies, the officer responsible must ensure that children are only separated from their parents and carers for the purposes of child protection.’.

Amendment 79, page 2, line 38 leave out clause 3.

Amendment 56, in clause 3, page 2, line 41, at end insert—

‘(1A) In paragraph 16 (detention of persons liable to examination or removal) after paragraph (4) insert—

(5) A person detained under this paragraph must be released on bail in accordance with paragraph 22 after no later than the twenty-eighth day following that on which the person was detained.”.’.

Amendment 57, page 3, line 10, leave out subsection (3) and insert—

‘(3) In paragraph 22 (bail) at end insert—

(4) The following provisions apply if a person is detained under any provision of this Act—

(a) The Secretary of State must arrange a reference to the First-tier Tribunal for it to determine whether the detained person should be released on bail;

(b) The Secretary of State must secure that a first reference to the First-tier Tribunal is made no later than the eighth day following that on which the detained person was detained;

(c) If the detained person remains in detention, the Secretary of State must secure that a second reference to the First-tier Tribunal or Commission is made no later than the thirty-sixth day following that on which the detained person was detained;

(d) The First-tier Tribunal hearing a case referred to it under this section must proceed as if the detained person had made an application to it for bail; and

(e) The First-tier Tribunal must determine the matter—

(i) on a first reference, before the tenth day following that on which the person concerned was detained; and

(ii) on a second reference, before the thirty-eighth day following that on which he was detained.

(5) For the purposes of this paragraph, “First-tier Tribunal” means—

(a) if the detained person has brought an appeal under the Immigration Acts, the chamber of the First-tier Tribunal dealing with his appeal; and

(b) in any other case, such chamber of the First-tier Tribunal as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(6) In case of a detained person to whom section 3(2) of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997 applies (jurisdiction in relation to bail for persons detained on grounds of national security) a reference under sub-paragraph (3)(a) above, shall be to the Commission and not to the First-tier Tribunal.

(7) Rules made by the Lord Chancellor under section 5 of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997 may include provision made for the purposes of this paragraph.”.’.

Amendment 73, page 4, line 23, leave out clause 5.

Amendment 1, page 8, line 19, leave out clause 11.

Government amendment 6.

Amendment 80, in clause 12, page 10, leave out lines 18 to 33.

Government amendment 7.

Amendment 81, page 11, line 32, leave out clause 13.

Amendment 2, in clause 14, page 12, line 22, at end insert—

‘(za) first, to the best interests of any child affected by a decision as specified in section 117A(1).’.

Amendment 3, page 13, line 11, leave out ‘qualifying’.

Amendment 4, page 13, line 12, leave out ‘reasonable to expect’ and insert

‘in the best interests of’.

Amendment 62, page 13, leave out lines 14 to 39 and insert—

117C Cases involving Foreign Criminals

(1) No decision of the Secretary of State under section 33(6B) (Exceptions) of the UK Borders Act 2007 may be questioned except on appeal to the High Court.

(2) For the purposes of determining whether to give permission to appeal and determining any such appeal under subsection (1) the High Court must apply the procedures and principles which would be applied by it on an application for judicial review.’.

Amendment 58, page 13, leave out lines 19 to 39 and insert—

‘(3) The promotion of the best interests of children is in the public interest.’.

Amendment 5, page 13, line 44, leave out from beginning to end of line 3 on page 14.

Government amendments 23 to 26, 45 to 53 and 27.

Amendment 61, in clause 65, page 50, line 27, at end insert—

‘( ) Section 1 and Part II of this Act shall come into force on a day to be appointed, being no earlier than the day on which an order made by the Lord Chancellor under section 9(2)(a) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2013 in respect of civil legal services in connection with removal under section 1 and appeals under Part II comes into effect.’.

Government new schedule 1—Sham marriage and civil partnership: administrative regulations.

Amendment 60, in schedule 1, page 54, line 13, leave out paragraph (5).

Government amendments 28 to 44, 8 to 16, and 54.

Government motion to transfer paragraph 44 of schedule 8.

[Mrs May]

It might be helpful, before I comment on new clause 11, to set the context in which the amendments and new clauses are being moved.

This is an important Bill. It has, I think, widespread support outside this House, and will ensure that the Government have greater ability to make it harder for people to live in the United Kingdom illegally. It will make it easier for us to be able to remove people who are here illegally and will streamline the process for appeals, reducing the number of appeals from 17 to four. It will also, crucially, enable us, in certain circumstances, to deport individuals before they have their appeals, so that their right of appeal is outside of this country. It also introduces a variety of measures, one of which I will be coming on to speak to, because it relates to some of the technical amendments ensuring that people who come to this country for a temporary period contribute to our public services, as I think every hard-working family would expect them to do. It is this Government who are putting that through in the Bill.

The Bill is important because it will enhance our ability to deal with a number of immigration matters, although that is against the background of our success in reducing net migration into this country and particularly in dealing with the abuse of certain immigration routes, notably student visas. That is the context of these amendments. I take the point made by the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) about the number of amendments, but many of them are very technical and minor amendments.

Government new clause 11 is intended to ensure that the marriage and civil partnership provisions work as effectively as possible. Importantly, part 4 of the Bill will establish a new referral and investigation scheme to prevent sham marriages and civil partnerships from gaining an immigration advantage. Increasingly, sham marriages are being used as a back-door route around immigration rules. The ability to do that has been extended by the Metock case in the European Court, which has enabled people from outside the EU married to someone within the EU to gain free movement rights. There is concern about sham marriages not only in the UK, but in other parts of the EU, and the UK is leading work across Europe.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Ellis (Northampton North) (Con)]

I strongly support the Home Secretary on the extension of the time period so as to make it more difficult for those who wish to engage in sham marriages and illegal enterprises of that sort, but will there be a provision to shorten the period in exceptional circumstances? For example, what about someone serving in Her Majesty’s armed forces who is about to be deployed overseas, or someone suffering from a terminal illness? I am concerned about this. Will the Home Secretary expand on the response she gave a few minutes ago? I have heard of several examples—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am extraordinarily grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I think that what might be called by a lawyer the gravamen of his point has been heard. I do not think that a judge in one of the courts in which the hon. Gentleman has served would have allowed him to bang on for the length of time I have allowed him.

[Mrs May]

To clarify, the Bill increases the marriage and civil partnership notice period from 15 to 28 days in England and Wales for all couples, and allows it to be extended to 70 days where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a sham. But we will be retaining the ability in emergency cases such as those set out by my hon. Friend to require the notice period to be shorter than is being provided for.