UK Borders Bill

moved Amendment No. 70A: 70A: Before Clause 56, insert the following new Clause— ““Provision of information to immigrants from A8 countries (1) Information shall be made available to all persons entering the United Kingdom from A8 countries. (2) The information provided under subsection (1) shall be determined by the Secretary of State but shall include information on— (a) finding employment; (b) employment law, including rights and responsibilities and the worker registration scheme; (c) obtaining a national insurance number; (d) the provision of language training; (e) finding accommodation; (f) access to health care and education; (g) sources of further advice and support. (3) The information provided under subsection (1) shall be provided in a form determined by the Secretary of State. (4) In this section the ““A8 countries”” are Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia.”” The noble Lord said: Throughout our debates, the Minister has not accepted a single amendment proposed by either the Liberal Democrats or the Conservatives, or indeed the Cross Benches. So I propose this amendment fully optimistic that it will be acceptable to the Government at hardly at any cost. I know that it is a wee bit off the main line, but it is now before us. The Minister is smiling, so my optimistic heart is renewed. The amendment seeks to help in any way possible those coming to the UK from the eight accession countries: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia. In a response from the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, received only today, I am told that: "““Workers from the accession-countries who are registered under the Home Office Worker Registration Scheme have a right to reside and are entitled to in-work benefits such as Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. If they are in part-time work, working 15 hours or less a week, they can also qualify for income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance. If they lose their job they lose their worker status, but will be able to remain in the UK to look for work. However, they will not have access to the benefit system. After 12 months of uninterrupted registered work they can have access to the full range of benefits””." The problem is that many people will come here thinking that London will be as Dick Whittington envisaged it when he was Lord Mayor of London: that the streets were the streets of opportunity and paved with gold. When they arrive, they find that that is not the case. But the contribution being made by workers from the A8 countries is great. Over a period of 12 months to 31 March 2007, some 2,500 of these folk became bus, lorry or coach drivers; 5,700 became care workers; and 1,000 worked in the medical field as general practitioners and nurses. Very few applied for benefits, so it is safe to say that for the majority, there is no problem. A further interesting fact is that 83 per cent of the 630,000 registered workers who have come here are under 34 years of age. They are young people who are no drain at all on our benefits system. They contribute far more to our economy than they take from it. However, there is a problem. I shall quote from a letter I received on 21 June from the director of housing for Westminster Council’s Children and Community Services: "““our main concern is for central government to ensure that provision is made for the most pressing need of most economic migrants who end up on the streets, especially those from the new Accession State countries—namely the provision of assistance to access the employment opportunities they have come to seek””," Those who fall by the wayside should at least know before they come here, hopefully in the country of origin and definitely when they arrive at a port of entry—especially Victoria coach station, where in some weeks thousands arrive—that they will be given some information about the conditions they will find. They need to know how to look for employment, what our employment laws state, how to obtain a national insurance number, how to learn to speak English—I have some difficulties in that regard now and again—how to find accommodation, how to access healthcare and education, and social services for advice and support. Is such simple information made available, and in how many languages? The County of Cornwall has published information for migrant workers which is a model for the rest of the United Kingdom. It is printed in four languages for those people from Poland and Russia—I cannot quite make out the other languages—who come here. Do the Government have anything like this available, printed in all the languages used by the accession countries? People should have it in their own language so that when they come here they will know that there is a lifeline—that there is some kind of hope—before they become destitute. I beg to move.