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Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules

My Lords, a number of points have been made in this debate, which inevitably I suppose has evolved into a discussion on the operation of policy. I am not in a position to answer all the questions that were raised, some of which were quite detailed, but I shall do my best, and I promise to write to noble Lords on other points if I am not able to cover them. The issue at hand is whether the Government should have published a more comprehensive analysis of the outcomes of the consultation. The Merits Committee, to which the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, referred, felt that the evidence published with the report was not adequate, and the Government take serious note of what the committee has said. However, I should like to begin my reply by putting the matter into context. I confess to being a little surprised that the noble Lord has brought forward this Motion, given the Opposition’s record in this area. Perhaps I may give an example or two. In March 2010, the previous Government made significant changes to tier 4—they said they were significant—concerning the student route. Despite taking the views of key partners, they did not publish any formal explanation of the findings. In March 2009, they also made stringent changes to tier 1 concerning the general and post-study categories, and tightened the resident labour market test. On that occasion, the Government did not undertake any consultation and consequently could not set out any employers’ views because no views were sought, so I do not think that that is much evidence of policy-based evidence, which we have been told this evening is so important. In March 2006, following consultation, the previous Government published their policy for a points-based system, which we are following, branding it as, "““the most significant change to managed migration in the last 40 years””." Again, the noble Lord has just said how important it is to base this policy on evidence and to make that evidence available. However, I think that the House will note that the previous Government did not publish the 517 consultation responses that they received at the time. I am not going to continue in this vein but it would be remiss of me not to expose double standards. Frankly, I think that it is a bit of a case of pots and kettles. What have this Government done? We have gone to some lengths to set out our findings. The process began on 28 June last year, when the consultation paper was published. As has been said, we received more than 3,000 replies, and officials also spoke to 1,500 employers during the consultation period. That is a considerable volume of paper and consultation, and it was studied very carefully. My colleague, the Minister for Immigration, launched the Home Office research report entitled The Migrant Journey. This report, drawing on all the consultation, provides for the first time a great deal of useful evidence about migrants’ behaviour and their pathways to settlement. As the Minister said at the launch, the information showed that we needed to look harder at who can qualify in both the work and study categories to make sure that we attract the right people. I think that this country should be about attracting the brightest and best people. In November last year, the Home Secretary made a speech to business leaders setting out the Government’s broad objectives and strategy. She referred to the evidence that we received and how we would be acting on it. In November, she made a full Statement to the House setting out the details and giving figures on the basis of which the decision had been informed. I set all this out because it is not right to imply, as has been implied, that this policy is lacking in evidence. On the contrary, the evidence taken has been extensive. In March, we made the changes to the Immigration Rules and the Minister for Immigration made a Statement to the House on the day on which the statement of policy was published. It contained the reasons behind the policy decisions—what we had been told in our consultation—and the UK Border Agency has published a full impact assessment to accompany those changes. It is perfectly fair to say that, like the previous Government, we have not published every single consultation response. We thought that a helpful way of treating the evidence was to put out a summary of the responses and to quantify, as we did, the level of support. We thought that was the honest and straightforward way of indicating what the reaction to our proposals had been. We indicated that to every single question and answer in the consultation document. Having said that, we take on board what the Merits Committee has said. Like noble Lords present, the Government attach great importance to and value the service that that committee provides to Parliament and to the public. Its ability to provide that service to us is dependent on access to information. I wish to reassure the chairman, the noble Lord, Lord Goodlad, and the committee that the Home Office will always be happy to provide the committee with more information where that is possible and reasonable, within the normal limits of government time. I should like to answer some of the points that have been made. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, asked whether we would discuss with the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association the progress of our policy and the answer is yes. Officials speak to the ILPA regularly and they enjoy a very constructive relationship, I am told, on these matters. They are always ready to talk to the association. The noble Lord made the point that the paucity of details, as he described it, suggest that the Government did not receive support for the package. More than one noble Lord appeared to suggest that that is so but it is absolutely not the case. The Government listened to the employers. Perhaps I may quote the director-general of the CBI, who expressed his satisfaction that, "““the Government has listened to the needs of business””." The director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce said: "““Business will be pleased to see that the Government has taken its concerns on board””." It is not as though there was a failure to listen. I do not think it is right to suggest that the reason there is not adequate evidence to satisfy everyone in the Chamber is that the policy does not have support in crucial parts of the economy. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, also asked what the process would be for selecting exceptionally talented migrants. This is a matter of what the competent bodies might be. We are working with a number of bodies, including the Arts Council, to develop an effective process. One of the principles of this policy is that we should work with the relevant sectors of the economy rather than expect immigration officers somehow to know who should be selected. We need to ask those who know who are the sensible immigrants to give work permits to. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, also commented that there was no information about the respondents who were not listed in the summary. That is because the individuals either did not wish to, or at least did not, state their organisation. We did not conceal the information; they did not give it. He also said that the impact assessment did not provide an adequate evidence base for how the Government would address accusations of unfairness. He referred in particular to the Indian subcontinent. The policies have been designed to be fair and to apply to all nationalities equally. We aim to attract the brightest people, irrespective of nationality. In answer to other noble Lords, we are committed to reviewing both the scope and the level of the limit before next April, and we will seek again the advice of the Migration Advisory Committee. I assure noble Lords that we constantly monitor the effect of the policy and will not blindly proceed if it is not appropriate. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, also asked what the process would be for designing a highly trusted sponsor scheme for tier 2. We are working on that and will test ideas with stakeholders over the summer. The noble Lord, Lord Judd, took a slightly different tack. Whereas some noble Lords were concerned to ensure that we would always be able to attract the brightest and best people and would not put impediments in the way, the noble Lord, Lord Judd, was concerned that we might be swiping too much of the talent from parts of the world that could employ it at home. I take the point that the economic impact of an immigration policy goes both ways; one must consider the impact on this country and the impact on the countries from which the migrants come. An immigration policy should be designed to give people experience in this country rather than to provide them with permanent careers. That is the point of the policy, and one would hope that, as a result, the migrants will go back better equipped to their countries of origin. The noble Lord asked me whether, as Security Minister, I was concerned about stability in the countries in what used to be called the third world from which many of these people come. Certainly I am. However, one wants to see people come and go and be able to avail themselves both of training in our universities and of experience in our markets. In the end, this will benefit all sides. Clearly there is a different side to immigration policy that we are not discussing this evening, and with which I am deeply concerned in the Home Office: namely, the security aspects of certain individuals. However, that is a different angle. My noble friend Lord Avebury asked a number of detailed questions. I cannot reply to all of them; some were immensely detailed. It is not quite right to say, as the noble Lord implied, that the statement of changes was laid in inadequate time. It was laid on 16 March and came into force, as it should have done, 21 days later, on 6 April. He also asked about how closing tier 1 general impacted on various sectors. As my noble friends have said, employers have told us that they value tier 2 above tier 1. The reasons for that are fairly obvious. With regard to universities, we have given additional points in tier 2 for researchers and academics to ensure that they have a higher priority. That is a partial response to the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Haskel. With regard to the health sector, we are in continuous discussion with sector bodies, which are supportive of our proposals. My noble friend Lord Avebury also queried which sectors had been affected by closing tier 1 general and excluding NVQ level 3 occupations from tier 2. No sectors offering skilled jobs are affected by closing tier 1 general, because if a migrant has a job offer they can obtain a permit under tier 2. The sectors affected are those offering lower-skilled jobs, primarily catering and care work, which is where we believe that the population in this country is more than able to provide the necessary pool of labour. We do not make apologies for that. Many people are looking for jobs in this country. The noble Lord, Lord Avebury, also asked about providing a route for exceptional talent. I would say that that will depend on the competent bodies and not on the judgment of immigration officers. The noble Lord, Lord Haskel, asked whether BIS and other government departments have been consulted. This is a government policy and I can assure the House that there were many ministerial-level discussions and meetings and, at both ministerial and official level, consultation right across the board—most particularly, I think it would be fair to say, between the Home Office and BIS. The noble Lord, Lord Haskel, was also worried that the UK will be a less attractive place to study when we remove the post-study qualification. We will not stop, as I say, the best students coming to this country, or indeed staying. If they are offered a job within six months of graduating they will be able to stay in tier 2. As I said, I think it is right to pursue a policy that does not simply provide, under the guise of coming for study, a permanent career in this country. The Merits Committee felt that the information supplied to it was inadequate for its purpose. We have taken note of that, and I have talked to my colleague the Immigration Minister, who is quite clear that it is right and proper to provide the Merits Committee with the information that is necessary for it to do its job. I can assure the House that that will be the case. In the light of that, I hope very much that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, will feel able to withdraw his Motion.