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Immigration: Statement of Changes in Rules

My Lords, when we were considering the UK Borders Bill, the measures to introduce the new points-based system must have been considered reasonably uncontroversial as they were left to be introduced on a negative procedure, which would have happened today had the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, not drawn attention to this matter. He has lighted upon a number of issues, which will be germane not only to the statement we are discussing, but possibly to others which will follow as the other tiers are introduced. I understand that this statement is primarily about tier 1, which deals with highly skilled migrants who wish to work or become self-employed in the United Kingdom, but those that follow on will take us through the whole gamut of those who wish to come into this country or to stay here, having already arrived. Of course, what will change is the number of points that will have to be achieved, the documentation required and the level of financial support among other requirements. In this process, there will be endless room for error in providing what is required. As the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, has pointed out, it also appears that any fault in the documentation, whether intentional or not, will simply mean failure at once, with little room for appeal or rectification. When we discussed this during the passage of the UK Borders Bill, the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, said: "““The Government believe that the points-based system will provide an adequate remedy for migrants who have made mistakes in their application””.—[Official Report, 23/10/07; col. 996.]" I repeat the words, "““will provide an adequate remedy””." I believe that that was a different quote from that given by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, so we can make sure that we throw it back where it came from. Where in the statement on tier 1 is mentioned the possibility of appeal and any guidance about it? The question of errors in documentation is particularly serious in terms of applications which involve children, since they cannot be accountable themselves and must rely entirely on their parents or other adults to submit them on their behalf. Like other noble Lords I have received a briefing from the Refugee Children’s Consortium, which is concerned that there is a mandatory refusal of a child's application—as indeed there is with an adult’s—if any false document or statement has been submitted or made. Effects flowing from that will effectively ban a child’s re-entry to the UK, which could even apply later when he or she is an adult. What consultation was undertaken on these changes, particularly with the Refugee Children’s Consortium, and, as the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, has mentioned, other interested bodies? How long was the consultation and when did it finish? No one is going to condone or suggest condoning the intentional falsification of documents or false information being provided. The concern lies where the matter is unintentional; there could be a minor administrative error—a tip of the keyboard, perhaps—which may be discovered very shortly after the application has been submitted. Will there be any leeway for genuine changes to be made or will any application be automatically turned down, with a consequent refusal of entry in the future? The statement is clear throughout that at the request of the Department of Health application for entry as a doctor in training will not be agreed. Here I declare an interest as a non-executive member of a teaching hospital. This means that no putative non-EU doctor can aspire to train in this country unless he is here already under previous admission criteria. I suppose that is at least a small step forward, considering that at one stage it looked as though non-EU doctors would be heaved out immediately. Is it anticipated that this will be a permanent prohibition or just one to help us over the extraordinary mess that has been made of doctors’ training, with a bulge that will have to be ironed out over the next two or three years? There is a certain irony that for many years we were only too happy for overseas doctors to come here to train and to gain experience either to return to their own countries, which benefited from that training, or to remain in this country to work for our health service. Does the bald prohibition in these changes hide consultation with countries such as India and other Commonwealth nations on this matter? The points system is now under way. It is therefore important that not only is it clear, but that the explanations are also a model of clarity so that every avenue in the statement is covered. Appeal against refusal, and the process and timescale for it, does not seem to appear. I suggest to the Minister that it should do so on each version of these rules as the tiers are covered. Perhaps he will consider that for future such statements.