Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, it is a great privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths, with his vast experience in this area. It is an education to hear of his practical work with people in the immigration system. It leads me to ask the Minister whether he can comment on morale within the immigration service and whether he considers that enough support is given to immigration officers working with such complex and difficult cases as we have heard about today. I shall comment briefly on the Bill. I think that my noble friend Lady Howe of Idlicote made most of the points that I wished to make. Unfortunately, I was not present when she spoke, which I much regret, so I shall perhaps look to her for prompts to move on. I welcome particularly Clause 51, with the additional protection that it provides for children. Will the Government go still further in safeguarding children within the immigration system? It is encouraging to learn that the Bill will be followed shortly by a simplifying Bill. Having been a Member of your Lordships' House for the past 10 years, I am as much aware as anyone of the number of Bills that we have had in this area, so that is welcome. Since the advent of the Children Act 2004, there has been long-standing concern that children in the immigration system enjoy less protection than all other children in this country. The Act created no duty similar to that for all other children—that is, for agencies to work together to protect and promote the well-being of unaccompanied, asylum-seeking children and children in asylum-seeking families. The Government’s strap-line was ““every child matters””, yet some children appeared to matter more than others. I take this opportunity to praise the Government for their huge investment in the welfare of children during the past 10 years, in particular the support that they have given to the teaching profession. The difference that that has made in terms of the pay and raised status of teachers is well recognised. While many members of the public may be critical of some of the things that the Government have done, they recognise that the teaching profession is in a far better state. The opposition Front Benches took a vigorous line in supporting inclusion of all children in the Children Act 2004. The noble Earl, Lord Howe, divided the House on the matter; the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, raised her concerns; and the noble Baronesses, Lady Morris of Bolton and Lady Walmsley, eventually won your Lordships’ agreement to a change in legislation. The Government were always prepared to listen to concerns about these children. I remember that the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, appointed a senior civil servant with a strong track record of success, Mr Jeremy Oppenheim, who also had experience as a director of social services, to be the children’s champion within the immigration department. The Government have subsequently produced a helpful code for the protection of children. Following their defeat in the Children Act that I have just described, the Government are responding to the wishes of your Lordships' House with Clause 51. I welcome their intention to discharge this commitment and look forward to scrutinising the clause in Committee to make sure that it brings those children up to a level of protection similar to that of the rest of our children in this country. However, children in the immigration system will still be at risk. Governments will face a tension between delivering an effective and rigorous immigration service, in which the public have confidence, and always acting to promote the welfare of children. In her previous report on the immigration removal centre at Yarl’s Wood, the Chief Inspector of Prisons highlighted that the length of stay of children had increased and that stays were sometimes incorrectly reported. My noble friend Lady Howe indicates that she has not quoted from that inspection report, so perhaps I may briefly do so. The chief inspector wrote: "““We were concerned about ineffective and inaccurate monitoring of length of detention in this extremely important area. Any period of detention can be detrimental to children and their families, but the impact of lengthy detention is particularly extreme””." She continued: "““A number of children had experienced longer cumulative periods of detention, which was worrying given the adverse effects that extended detention almost inevitably has on children and their families. However, the monitoring figures that were provided to the team to show length of cumulative detention were found to be wholly inaccurate. For example, children who we were confidentially told had been in detention for 275 days were later said to have been in detention for 14 and 17 days””." I have twice visited Yarl’s Wood. That is the detention centre for families. I spoke to a 16 year-old girl on the second occasion. She had spent at least five months in that institution. She introduced me to her eight year-old sister who had been confined for a similar period. Confinement of children for such enormous lengths of time cannot be condoned or considered acceptable, especially when they have committed no offence and put no one else at risk. The pain it caused this 16 year-old could easily be judged by her distrust of adults and her conviction that the visiting Members of your Lordships’ House could not and would not do anything about her position. Perhaps I might ask your Lordships to reflect for one moment on the experience of that 16 year-old confined in this way for five months. I was also introduced to a three year-old, who was serving her second stint in detention. I have already mentioned problems with the figures on the lengths of stay. Yarl’s Wood has greatly improved since it opened, and I pay tribute to the Government, the management and the staff of the centre for their parts in that. Every effort should be made to avoid confining children wherever possible. Where unavoidable, it should be for the shortest time possible. I think that we all agree on that. What progress has been made in reducing lengths of stay? Will the Minister examine what improvements might be made to the keeping of statistics about lengths of stay to ensure that maximum transparency is maintained? What progress has been made in improving immigration officers’ case management, including end-to-end style case management? Good relationships between families and case officers may be helpful in ensuring more voluntary returns. Does the Minister find that that is the case? Are strong enough incentives for voluntary return being deployed? Are they proving effective? I have not notified the Minister of these questions. Therefore, I would welcome a written response if an oral response is not possible this evening. I share the concern of many about the continuing power of the immigration service to make families destitute. The results of the pilot were truly distressing and disturbing, with two children being taken into care and a number of families simply disappearing from any social network. I would welcome the Minister’s thoughts on the need and safety of it continuing to have this power. If your Lordships express interest, perhaps we might meet Jeremy Oppenheim, the children’s champion within the immigration service, to hear what progress he has made in the past two or three years since he became their champion. No one can deny that this is a most challenging area for any Government. Governments are never likely to win any bouquets for success, but they can be confident of brickbats for failure. I welcome the opportunity to work on the Bill. I hope that the Minister can offer reassurance on these matters relating to children. I am grateful, as always, for the pains the Government take to consider the welfare needs of children.