Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Rosser (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 10 May 2016.

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Immigration: Public Services

Question

Today, we have had the opportunity to hear from the authentic voice of the Conservative Party—from behind the Minister.

The previous Labour Government put in place a migration impacts fund. Local authorities and health trusts, for example, could then apply for a share of the funding to support efforts to reduce the impact of migration on public services. It was certainly not a panacea to solve all problems, but it did help to raise new funding to support infrastructure. However, the fund was scrapped by the coalition Government within a few months, and little was then done to ensure that support was still given where it was needed.

We have also said that EU funding should be made available to areas impacted by rapid migration to help with public services such as schools and GP services. Are the Government supporting, or will they support, that step?

Answer

This Government had to wrestle with the inheritance of 2010 on migration. We found ourselves with more than 900 bogus colleges arranging for the admission into this country of fake students in the hundreds of thousands. Some 920 of those fake colleges have been closed since 2010. That itself has relieved pressure on our services.

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Secondary information

Type

Oral question

Reference

771 c1645 

Session

2015-16

Oral question type

Supplementary

Chamber / Committee

House of Lords chamber

Subjects

Immigration controls Migrants Public sector

Link

View this Oral question on hansard.parliament.uk