Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their response to the judgment of the High Court of Northern Ireland which ordered the disapplication of provisions of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Government is considering the judgment carefully before deciding on next steps.
The Government has consistently made clear that the provisions in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement referred to in the Windsor Framework were developed specifically against the background of Northern Ireland's unique circumstances. They do not concern and should not be brought into the complex legal debate concerning illegal migration. The Government will take all steps to defend that position, including through appeal.
Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure effective border control and management of illegal immigration, in particular addressing any gaps in enforcement or security protocols.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Due to the steps we have taken, small boat arrivals fell by 36% in 2023 compared to the previous year; Albanian arrivals were down by over 90%. This reflects our continuing work with the French Government to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings from taking place.
Immigration Enforcement is taking robust action to tackle illegal migration through:
In terms of security protocols, the government does not routinely comment on individual cases or operational matters.
Our highest priority is protecting the safety and security of this country, which is why the UK has world-class police, security and intelligence agencies and a robust counter-terrorism framework in place.
As you would expect, security checks are already undertaken for all those identified arriving through illegal migration routes and law enforcement have the powers to deal with them appropriately.
Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the level of immigration to the UK for the past year; and how many individuals were granted visas for (1) work, (2) study, (3) family reunification, and (4) asylum.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on work and study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02, of the ‘Entry clearance detailed dataset’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on family reunification visas granted are published in table Fam_D01 and data on the number of people applying for and being granted asylum are published in table Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables#asylum-and-resettlement]. Information on how to use these datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to 2023 Q4.
Not everyone granted a visa will become an ‘immigrant’ as per the United Nations definition of a long-term migrant. Information regarding immigration and emigration is a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ [https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance].
Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of immigration on (1) public services, (2) housing, and (3) infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Government has been clear that net migration is too high and is determined to bring it down to sustainable levels to help protect public services and housing against unsustainable pressure.
In May 2023, the Government announced measures to restrict the number of overseas students able to bring dependants. On 4 December 2023, the Home Secretary announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration further. These include limitations on family dependants being brought in by care workers and senior care workers; increasing the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route; commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to review the Shortage Occupation List; and raising the minimum income requirement for Family visas progressively over the next few years. These measures are now being implemented and were the subject of a WMS by the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border on January 30th.
Taken together with the measures the Government announced in May 2023, this means that around 300,000 people who were eligible to come to the UK last year would not be able to do so in future.
We keep all our immigration policies under review and work closely with key government departments to ensure that the immigration system best serves the UK, reflects the public’s priorities and protects public services against undue pressure.
A full analysis of the impact of the package will be published in a regulatory impact assessment in due course.