---

Integration Loans for Refugees and Others Regulations 2007

My Lords, I welcome the intentions behind the regulations, in particular the implementation of Section 45 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, which, as the Minister has said, extend these provisions to humanitarian cases in addition to refugee cases. We on these Benches are also pleased to note that the current scheme should be self-funding, although the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, has asked about the cost of this scheme. I take on board her objections to the ill thought-out nature of this scheme, which is slightly condescending and of no real value. I also thank my noble friend Lord James for the very real concerns that he has voiced about what one might colloquially call the loan sharks industry and the vulnerabilityof this class of immigrant, to which both my noble friend and the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, have drawn attention. I look forward to receiving the Minister’s replies on these matters.