UK Borders Bill

I will just enjoy the disputation that has been laid before us and let noble Lords on the Lib Dem Benches deal with that as they wish. I think I probably agree with the noble Baroness, but there we go. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, for tabling the amendment. It is certainly made with a good heart and spirit but it has to be resisted for very good reasons, practicality and cost being two of them. It has provided the opportunity for a debate on A8 migration. The noble Baroness and noble Lords said that there is clearly a positive benefit to the United Kingdom economy from the fact that we have workers coming to the United Kingdom from the A8 group—and, more recently, Bulgaria and Romania—to restricted areas of work. They support public services and they make a very important contribution to the economy, whether through plumbing or polemics; they work very hard. I think that we even come across them in the Palace of Westminster—right here in the heart of government. As with all persons arriving from overseas, it is important to ensure that those arriving from the A8 start a life in the UK understanding their rights and responsibilities. We provide information on our websites in English and all the A8 languages. I have copies of leaflets that the Home Office produced for Poles, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Slovenians, Slovakians, Hungarians and Czechs. This document, which is called Living and Working in the UK, sets out rights and responsibilities of nationals from the new member states from 1 May 2004. That is on the website in all A8 languages. It runs through the range of issues that the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, referred to. That information is available in countries that were A8 accession countries. We produced for 1 January this year another document called Living and Working in the UK: Rights and Responsibilities of Nationals from Bulgaria and Romania from 1 January 2007. It has lots of information in it; it is very useful—it takes the reader through a ““Q&A”” approach. It is also available on the website in the appropriate language. We have undertaken a lot of work in that regard. We also work overseas through the Foreign Office and with our EU partners to provide extensive guidance to prospective migrants. In addition, the Commission provides information on rights of movement to EU nationals and the EURES network provides details of job opportunities throughout the EU. We send to all persons obtaining a worker registration certificate—in excess of 600,000 persons since May 2004—an information pack providing them with advice on many of the issues presented in the clause. We do not believe that it is appropriate to legislate in such a prescriptive manner for many of the reasons that the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, adduced, when this information is provided already not just to migrants from the A8 states but also to those from Bulgaria and Romania, who are subject to a different transitional regime, and any other migrant coming to the UK to work or study or on the basis of family reunification. They will all be the recipients of valuable information. It is in all our interests to ensure that those living here understand not just their rights but their obligations. However, the amendment does not provide that; it merely imposes what one might best describe as a bureaucratic burden. It is right that we have a degree of diversity in provisional advice and it is good that the NGOs and the voluntary sector play a part in that. In some instances, advice may well come easier from the independent sector than from the state. People may well find it easier to accept independent advice. The noble Lord, Lord Avebury, discussed grants to local authorities. I am sure that we make other funding available to authorities that are affected directly in the way in which Westminster clearly is because of Victoria coach station. It is likely that because of the location of the coach station and the fact that it provides a cheap route for travel to the UK, Westminster receives a disproportionate number of A8 nationals. I am happy to try to provide for the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, who I know likes information, more background detail if I can on the support that is generally given to local authorities in this area. I apologise for going on at some length on this. It is important that the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, and others understand our commitment in this field and that we are already working very hard in that regard. The noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, made some interesting points about planned migration and he mentioned Australia. Australia and the United States wanted very much over a long period to attract migrant workers; that was a declared instrument of public policy. We have done that from time to time in the UK. It may be the case that we have not always been perfect in every regard but our processes and procedures are in balance now; we make every effort, particularly working in partnership across Europe, to ensure that people have a greater understanding not just of the language in the UK but also of their rights and responsibilities. We should all pay careful attention to that.