Immigration Bill

John Bercow Excerpts

Tuesday 1st December 2015 Commons Chamber

Brought up, and read the First time.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the spokesperson for the Scottish National party. Mr Kerr?

[Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)]

Stuart McDonald, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

Indeed. I am grateful. I had not received intelligence as to who was going to speak for the SNP, but the hon. Gentleman is here and he will be heard.

[Stuart C. McDonald]

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

[Mr Speaker]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 17—Residential Tenancies: repeal of provisions of the Immigration Act 2014—

‘(1) The Immigration Act 2014 is amended as follows.

(2) Omit sections 20-37, 74 (2)(a) and Schedule 3.”

Repeals the provisions of the Immigration Act 2014 in relation to the right to rent.

Amendment 18, in clause 1,  page 1, line 9, at end insert—

‘(3A) The matters to which the Director must have regard in pursuance of his or her functions include the provision of assistance and support to victims of non-compliance in the labour market, as defined under subsection (3)(1).’

To ensure that the functions of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement are exercised for the purpose of protecting the victims of labour market exploitation and to make this explicit on the face of the Bill, mirroring section 41 of the Modern Slavery Act in respect of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner established by that Act.

Amendment 19, page 5, line 2, leave out clause 8.

To omit the clause on the new illegal working offence and maintain the status quo.

Amendment 20, in clause 8,  page 5, line 9, after “if” insert “without reasonable cause”.

To provide for a defence against the offence of illegal working.

Amendment 33, in clause 9,  page 7, line 11, leave out subsection (1) and insert—

“(1) In section 21 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (offence of knowingly employing illegal worker), leave out subsection (1) and substitute—

(1) A person commits an offence if he knowingly or recklessly employs an adult subject to immigration control, where—

(a) this adult has not been granted leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, or

(b) this adult’s leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom—

(i) is invalid,

(ii) has ceased to have effect (whether by reason of curtailment, revocation, cancellation, passage of time or otherwise), or

(iii) is subject to a condition preventing him from accepting the employment.”

To restrict the criminal offence of “employing illegal worker” to where this has been done “knowingly or recklessly”.

Amendment 47, page 7, line 36, in clause 10, leave out “Scotland or”.

Removes the power for the Secretary of State to make regulations relating to illegal working extending to Scotland.

Amendment 48, page 7, leave out line 41.

Prevents the Secretary of State making regulations that confer functions on Scottish Ministers in relation to illegal working.

Amendment 49, page 8, line 5, leave out “an Act of the Scottish Parliament or”.

Definitional change for purposes of amendments 47 and 48.

Amendment 50, page 8, line 6, leave out “under such an Act or”.

Definitional change for the purposes of amendment 49.

Amendment 51, in clause 11, page 8, line 13, leave out “Scotland or”.

Removes the power for the Secretary of State to make regulations relating to illegal working in relation to private hire vehicles extend to Scotland.

Amendment 52, page 8, leave out line 18.

Prevents the Secretary of State making regulations that confer functions on Scottish Ministers in relation to illegal working relating to private hire vehicles.

Amendment 53, page 8, line 25, leave out paragraph (b).

Definitional change for purposes of amendments 51 and 52.

Amendment 35, page 9, line 4, leave out clauses 13 to 16.

Removes the extension of the right to rent legislation in the Bill.

Amendment 46, in clause 13, page 9, line 31, at end insert—

‘(5A) A landlord will not commit an offence under subsection (1) if—

(a) the landlord enters a residential tenancy agreement with an organisation or person who is supporting an adult mentioned in in subsection (2);

(b) the rental payment received by the landlord as a result of this tenancy does not significantly exceed the costs that are incurred by the landlord for having the adult occupy the premises.”.

Ensures that a landlord who has agreed by working with an organisation/charity to provide accommodation to support failed asylum seekers are exempt from committing an offence.

Amendment 22, page 10, line 4, at end insert—

‘(8A) A landlord does not commit an offence under this section during the period of 28 days specified in section 33D (4).”

To protect a landlord/landlady from prosecution for renting to a person without a right to rent during the period for which they are prohibited from evicting the tenant under section 33D(4).

Amendment 23, in clause 14,  page 12, line 1, leave out subsection (2).

To remove the provisions providing for summary eviction.

Amendment 24, page 13, line 18, leave out “Sections 33D and” and substitute “Section”.

See explanatory note for amendment 23.

Amendment 25, page 13, leave out line 24.

See explanatory note for amendment 23.

Amendment 26, page 13, line 26, leave out subsections (5) to (7).

See explanatory note for amendment 23.

Amendment 54, in clause 16, page 17, line 7, leave out “, Scotland”.

Removes the power for the Secretary of State to make regulations in relation to the right to rent scheme extending to Scotland.

Amendment 55, page 17, line 10, leave out “, Scotland”.

See explanatory statement for amendment 54.

Amendment 56, page 17, leave out line 17.

Prevents the Secretary of State making regulations that confer functions on Scottish Ministers in relation to the right to rent scheme.

Amendment 57, page 17, line 27, leave out paragraph (c).

Definitional change for the purposes of amendments 55 and 56.

Amendment 41, in clause 57, page 50, line 4, at end insert—

“(7) Regulations made under—

(a) section 10;

(b) section 11; or

(c) section 16

of this Act shall not come into force in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.”

Ensures regulations made under the relevant sections cannot extend to Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.

Amendment 21, in clause 58, page 50, line 9, at end insert—

‘(2A) Section 13 shall come into force subject to the conditions set out subsection (2B).

(2B) The Secretary of State must prepare and publish an evaluation of the national implementation of provisions contained in sections 20 to 37 and Schedule 3 to the Immigration Act 2014, and must lay a copy of the report before Parliament.

(2C) The report in subsection (2B) must include an assessment of the impact of those provisions on—

(a) individuals who have a protected characteristic as defined in Part 2, Chapter 1 of the Equality Act 2010, and

(b) British citizens who do not hold a passport or UK driving licence.”

This amendment would require the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament an evaluation of the national roll out of the 2014 Right to Rent Scheme before the new offences in clause 13 come into force.

New clause 8—Detention of persons—exempted persons—

In paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971, after subsection (4) insert—

“(5) A person may not be detained under this paragraph if they are—

(a) a woman who—

(i) states that she is pregnant, where this is confirmed to be the case or,

(ii) is reasonably suspected to be pregnant by an immigration officer;

(b) a person whose initial claim for asylum to the United Kingdom was based on being a victim of one of the following:

(i) human trafficking;

(ii) torture;

(iii) sexual violence;

(c) a member of any other group as may be prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of State.”

This amendment would provide that pregnant women, people who claimed asylum as victims of trafficking, torture or sexual violence, and any other group prescribed by the Secretary of State, may not be detained pending an examination or decision by an immigration officer.

New clause 9—Time limit on detention—

In paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 after subsection (4) insert—

“(5) Subject to subsection (6), no person shall be detained under this paragraph for more than 28 days.

(6) Subsection (5) shall not apply where the person detained under this paragraph has a criminal conviction with a sentence of imprisonment for three months or more.”

This amendment provides that people shall not be detained pending an examination/a decision by an immigration officer for more than 28 days, unless they have a criminal conviction.

New clause 13—Review of Immigration Detention—

“(1) Before the end of the period of three months beginning on the day on which subsection (1) of section 32 comes into force, the Secretary of State must commission a report on detention under paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 that addresses the following matters—

(a) the process for, and detail of, introducing a statutory maximum limit of 28 days on the length of time an individual can be detained under that paragraph;

(b) how to reduce the number of people detained under that paragraph;

(c) how to minimise the length of time an individual is detained under that paragraph;

(d) the effectiveness of detention in meeting the Secretary of State’s objectives; and

(e) the effectiveness of procedures to review decisions to detain and to continue to detain.

(2) The Report must be published by a panel appointed by the Secretary of State.

(3) The panel appointed under subsection (2) must be independently chaired.

(4) On completion of the report, the Chair of the panel must send it to the Secretary of State.

(5) The Secretary of State must lay before parliament a copy of the report received under subsection (4).”

Reflecting the unanimous agreement of the House of Commons to the recommendations of the joint APPG on Refugees and APPG on Migration inquiry into immigration detention, the new clause requires the Secretary of State to appoint an independently-chaired panel to consider the issues raised therein and report to Parliament within three months of Schedule 7 to the Bill coming into force.

Amendment 32, in schedule 7, page 97, line 22, at end insert—

“(2A) The Secretary of State must grant a person bail if a person is detained under a provision mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) after no later than the 28 day following that on which the person was detained.”

To introduce a 28 day time limit on the amount of time a person can be kept in immigration detention.

--- Later in debate ---

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

Week after week at my constituency surgeries, I am left speechless as I try to explain to people coming from the most difficult of circumstances and wanting to seek a fresh home, make a fresh start and contribute to our society and economy, why this Government refuse to let them in. Does my hon. Friend agree that the net migration target is completely ideological and has nothing to do with what is actually good for the country?

[Mr Speaker]

I could never imagine the adjective “speechless” being applied to the hon. Gentleman.

[Stuart C. McDonald]

I agree with my hon. Friend.

Such an honest debate must include discussion of how we assist communities that face challenges because of significant levels of migration. It must be about how we incentivise migrants to live in the parts of the United Kingdom that most need them and can most easily accommodate them. It should be about whether and how we can properly count those coming in and out, and how we can enforce the rules we already have, rather than create endless new rules. The debate must no longer proceed on the basis of the vicious climate of hostility policy that the Government pursue, and which affects all of us. We need a better approach to migration than the ludicrous one-size-fits-all target, which actually incentivises—my hon. Friend alluded to this—the exclusion of husbands and wives, the persecuted and the bright young students who will be the leaders of tomorrow.

We should reject this flawed Bill, which is designed to pursue a flawed target. Indeed, saying that it seeks to pursue that flawed target is in itself almost certainly being too kind, because it has zero chance of getting us anywhere near the target. This is not pursuit, but pretence. The Bill has been well described as “immigration theatre”. That is the fundamental flaw at the heart of the Bill, but there are so many problems with its pernicious clauses that it is not possible to do them all justice in the time available.

The Government may feel compelled to be seen to do something about net migration, but in reality the Bill will do nothing to resolve the challenges of migration, nor to maximise its benefits, and it will not certainly achieve the bogus target. However we look at it—from the perspective of the rule of law, human rights, the best interests of children, or just simple common decency—the Bill is pretty desperate stuff. I encourage Members to vote against it on Third Reading.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

I will speak only very briefly. Unfortunately, the Home Affairs Committee sitting has prevented me and other members of it from being in the Chamber, though the hon. Gentleman for Cumbernauld and the rest of the places he represents—

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Member for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East (Stuart C. McDonald).

[Keith Vaz]

I knew you would remember, Mr Speaker. The hon. Gentleman did tell me that he would be in the House to speak on behalf of his party, which of course he does so very eloquently.

I join the shadow Home Secretary and the Home Secretary in welcoming all the good work done by Members on both sides of the House in scrutinising the Bill, particularly the new shadow Minister for Immigration. The shadow Home Secretary has stolen him from the Home Affairs Committee. He says he is the star striker—he is not yet the Jamie Vardy of the team, but he is going that way. Sorry, I could not think of an Arsenal player; otherwise I would have mentioned him.

I think that I have served longer than any other Member in the Chamber at the moment, with the exception of the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), who had a short gap to be the First Minister of Scotland. In the 28 years I have been in the House, we have had about 20 immigration Bills. Every time we have one, the Home Secretary in successive Governments has got up at the Dispatch Box and said that, as a result of passing the Bill, immigration will be kept under control, the system will be much better, illegal migration will be reduced and that is the end of the show as far as such matters are concerned. Unfortunately, it never ends up like that: we pass legislation, and I am afraid that at the end of the day we have to come back again to pass another Bill.

I hope that that will not be the case with this Immigration Bill, because during the next four years until the next election I do not want the Home Secretary—either the right hon. Lady or her successor, although I am sure she will be in office for a long while—to have to come back and tell the House, “Well, it didn’t quite work, so we’re going to try something new.” My concern is not with passing legislation, although that is of course what the House is for, but with the way in which we administer the legislation. As reflected in the reports of the Home Affairs Committee, my concern has always been with the administration of the Home Office.

The Home Secretary has taken great strides. She has abolished the UK Border Agency and replaced it with a much more effective organisation. Sarah Rapson and her team are doing a much better job than their predecessors. However, there are always examples of situations in which illegal migration is not under control. Only yesterday, as a result of work done by the BBC in the south-west, undercover reporters posing as illegal migrants went to various places in Kent and Sussex and offered themselves as employees—[Interruption.] I can send the Home Secretary the video. They offered themselves as employees to work illegally in those two counties, and they were offered jobs at £2.80 an hour. They were also given advice by the employers on how to evade enforcement officers.

So no matter what legislation we pass here, at the end of the day we need an administration that is fit for purpose. I hope that, as a result of passing this legislation, we will get more focus on how we enforce the law, to ensure that those who wish to come to this country legally—students and others who genuinely want to study and work here—can do so, and that those who want to come here illegally will not be allowed to do so and will not be allowed to offer themselves for employment and to be put at risk by unscrupulous employers. There is a huge job of work to be done on the way in which we deal with enforcement, and if we can get the enforcement section of UK Visas and Immigration up to the same standard as the other parts of the organisation, it will make a huge difference. I hope that the Home Secretary will take that message with her as she continues her long journey running the Home Office.

The Select Committee heard today from the head of the UK Border Force, Sir Charles Montgomery, that he had not yet been told what his allocation was to be following the cuts—or should I say the austerity measures —at the Home Office. The Home Secretary fought a good fight with the Chancellor to protect the budget for counter-terrorism and policing, but she obviously did not win the fight in respect of the Home Office’s other functions. I hope that Sir Charles will be given that information as soon as possible, because protecting our borders, especially in the current climate, is one of the key concerns of the House and, I know, of the Government.