ASYLUM, MIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP - HOME SECRETARY'S STATEMENT TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS:

Home Office 29 OCTOBER 2001

With permission Mr Speaker, I wish to make a Statement on asylum, migration and nationality.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on refugees. The UK is proud to be a signatory to the convention. We will uphold our fundamental moral obligation to protect those fleeing persecution, whilst protecting our national boundaries and integrity.

The world is a very different place from that of 50 years ago. At the beginning of this year, there were 12 million refugees worldwide.

Such global movements are a challenge to all nations. Alongside our European partners, we must establish an asylum and immigration system which can respond effectively to the pressures we face.

Steps have already been taken, which I intend to extend, to root out the organised criminal gangs who are responsible for the barbaric trade of trafficking in people. The gross exploitation of those in greatest need is unacceptable.

It is crucial that our approach leads to radical change at home, creating trust by the people of our country and a message that is clearly understood in the rest of the world. The message at home and abroad must be crystal clear, but tough; sending a signal to people throughout the world that the United Kingdom is not a soft touch.

Mr Speaker, significant improvements have been made in recent years. Staff in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have worked tirelessly to deal with the backlog of claims. Last financial year, 132,000 decisions were made, surpassing the 79,000 applications received.

The new civil penalties and carriers' liability have already cut back illegal entry into the United Kingdom. The substantial investment in new equipment for surveillance and border controls, which I announced last month, will reinforce this work.

Mr Speaker, I wish to pay warm tribute to my predecessor, my Rt Hon Friend the Foreign Secretary and his former Ministerial team. They inherited a terrible mess and made huge improvements. But there is much still to be done.

That is why today, I do not intend to tinker with the existing system but to bring about radical and fundamental reform.

The reviews of voucher and dispersal policy which I am publishing today, and which are placed in the Vote Office and the Library, have demonstrated that the current system has suffered from real problems.

It is too slow, vulnerable to fraud, and felt to be unfair by both asylum seekers and local communities.

There are many people who are working illegally, whilst claiming support, or sub-letting their accommodation. There is accommodation paid for but unused.

As the House is aware, there have been social tensions in neighbourhoods across the country, and considerable pressure on local education, social and GP services.

We need a seamless asylum service, from initial decision, through to appeal, integration or removal. This must be clear, fast and well administered.

Mr Speaker, it is my intention to publish a White Paper and subsequent legislation, which will provide a comprehensive approach to asylum, nationality and immigration.

At the heart of my asylum proposals is the presumption that from the moment someone presents themselves, they will be tracked as well as supported.

There will be three key elements to the structure. Induction, accommodation and reporting, and fast-track removal or integration.

The application process will be streamlined and integrated. We will develop a small network of induction centres in which people will be accommodated after application, to facilitate screening, health checks and identification procedures.

After induction, asylum seekers, whether receiving support or not, will have to make themselves regularly available at new style reporting centres. We will phase in this process.

Crucially, by the end of next year, a proportion of first-time asylum seekers will be offered a place in new accommodation centres which we are trialling. we will establish 3,000 places, offering full board, education and health facilities. Those in accommodation centres will receive a small cash allowance.

Those refusing to take up such a place would disqualify themselves from support.

Decisions about the long-term mix of facilities will be taken in the light of emerging evidence here and abroad, about what works. Subject to this, our aim is to phase out the current system of support and dispersal.

Mr Speaker, whilst the trial is being evaluated, those receiving support will be subject to a robust new regime.

Instead of the standard acknowledgement letter, which is used for identification, smart cards will be phased in from January, to ensure entitlement. This will guarantee identification and tackle fraud. Using new biometric techniques, including fingerprinting and photographs, we will provide both security and certainty.

Further steps will be taken to improve the current voucher system. The value of voucher support will be uprated as soon as possible in line with the April 2001 income support increases for adults and the increase announced for children, last week. Within the total of support available, the cash allowance will be increased from £10.00 to £14.00.

We recognise that in revising the existing voucher system, we need to establish a long-term robust solution. Induction, accommodation and removal centres clearly remove the need for vouchers for those assigned a place.

Mr Speaker, I can tell the house that once the new Smart Cards are introduced, the voucher system will be superseded. By the early autumn of next year we will have established a more robust but less socially divisive scheme.

I am exploring with colleagues the potential for automated credit transfer and other mechanisms to provide financial support for asylum seekers.

Whilst we are not reversing the principle of dispersal away from London and the South East, we will improve consultation with, and the involvement of, local authorities and others. It is crucial that private providers give proper notice to local authorities when asylum seekers are dispersed in an area. We will develop a stronger regional structure as part of a more devolved and decentralised process, and greater co-ordination with voluntary organisations.

But none of these changes will work effectively unless we drastically speed up the system.

I therefore intend to tackle head on the backlog, including those waiting for appeals. The Lord Chancellor and I therefore intend to substantially improve the throughput of appeals.

Firstly, we will cut out multiple opportunities for delay.

Secondly, we will streamline any further right of appeal, limited to a point of law.

Thirdly, we will increase the capacity of the adjudication service by 50% - from the current 4,000 to 6,000 cases a month. From next month, the capacity will increase to 4,500 and by next November to 6,000.

Where a claim to asylum is granted we will improve the integration procedures.

Where an appeal has failed, my intention is to streamline the process for removal. Those who have no right to stay must leave the country immediately.

We currently have 1,900 detention places. by the spring of next year we will have increased this to 2,800. I intend that we should now expand the capacity by a further 40% to 4,000 places.

These will become secure removal centres.

But, Mr Speaker, asylum seekers will no longer be held in mainstream prison places. I can confirm that from January next year this practice will cease.

Mr Speaker, I announced earlier this month my proposals for sensible, controlled legal migration into this country. This will enable those with skills to enter our country legitimately to work.

In addition, we will explore the establishment with the EU and the UNHCR of agreed gateways to take nominated refugees from outside the country. This has been an anomaly for many years, leading to the scenes at ports and Eurotunnel facilities.

We will also take action to root out illegal working. Those working in our country illegally are being exploited by unscrupulous gangmasters and employers, in conditions that undermine the Minimum Wage, fair conditions, and at the same time defraud the tax and National Insurance system.

The Prime Minister has recently announced a cross-Departmental working group under the chairmanship of My Right Honourable Friend Lord Rooker. He will bring forward proposals for stamping out illegal employment, which will be combined with wider policies to remove the incentive to traffickers, and the pull factor created by the opportunity of employment.

I believe we can also do more to give practical help to those seeking to settle here, in addition to the men and women seeking refugee status. The White paper will address their language needs, together with education for citizenship.

I will also be looking to enhance the importance of naturalisation.

Finally Mr Speaker, I can also announce that a discussion paper on the review of family visitor appeals has been published today. A copy of this paper will also be placed in the Vote Office and the Library.

Mr Speaker this is a substantial package of measures that will fundamentally overhaul our asylum and immigration policy. It is a rational approach to a rapidly changing situation.

I believe that it will send a message to the rest of the world that this country is not open to abuse, but nor is it a fortress Britain. We are not rejecting economic migrants, refugees from persecution, or those seeking to visit our shores.

Implementation of my policies will take time; but in time they will work in the interests of us all.

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