Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 4 of page 1 of her Department's publication, Changes to Family Migration Rules Impact Assessment, published on 12 June 2012, if she will ensure that the Government's review of family migration rules planned for April 2015 takes into account the recommendations of the APPG on Migration's inquiry into family migration.

New Family Migration Rules were implemented on 9 July 2012 to prevent burdens on the taxpayer, promote integration and tackle abuse. We have kept those rules under regular review and have made a number of adjustments to them in light of feedback on their operation and impact, including from Parliamentarians, the public, legal representatives and Home Office staff.

We studied the report of the APPG on Migration’s inquiry into family migration when this was published in June 2013. This ongoing review process will continue in April 2015 and will also take into account the findings of the courts on the new policies. This includes the July 2014 judgment of the Court of Appeal in MM and Others, which upheld the lawfulness of the minimum income threshold under the new Family Migration Rules and found that it strikes a fair balance between the interests of those affected and the community in general.