Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

I am moving the amendment to try to find out what the Government mean when they include the activity section in Clause 39. May I at the outset declare my interest as chair of the England Volunteering Development Council, which is part of Volunteering England? I have been briefed by Volunteering England and also by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. There are considerable concerns about the requirement, some of which have been expressed in the House this afternoon. Volunteering England is a member of the design group. We are not going to do anything about the design group this afternoon, but it is apparently drawing up the regulations which will govern this aspect. We do not have the regulations before us and therefore we have no idea how the design group is designing what it means by "activity". I know that Volunteering England has taken a major part in this, but it has also put forward some of its concerns to the meetings. However, the legislation is here and now and we need to deal with some of the anxieties that have been raised, otherwise opportunities to do so will fade away. Volunteering is by definition an undertaking that individuals want to do: they want to do it to help others. It is not usual—in fact, I think it is probably unheard of—for it to be a statutory requirement, or one that affects people's future, but that is what it would be under Clause 39. It is there to expedite the route to citizenship. It is blackmail, to some extent, in that by undertaking a voluntary activity you get citizenship somewhat quicker. However, to do that, individuals will have to undertake either community or voluntary work. It begs a number of questions that might have been answered if the design group had completed its work; but it has not. In 2007, according to Home Office figures, there were 160,980 applications for British citizenship. There were 164,635 grants of British citizenship in that year. If we extrapolate those figures, we can presume that even if the regulations for citizenship are tightened up, there will be about 160,000 people wandering around trying to do voluntary work. There are 190,000 registered charities and probably just as many small unregistered ones which may or may not have to be licensed to undertake or help with this voluntary activity. People coming into this country and wanting citizenship all have a very firm view of why they want to be here. But how many of them will know or understand about voluntary service? How many of them will know or understand what they should be doing? How many of them will know or understand how to go about it? And how will they then find those volunteering opportunities? Aspiring citizens may not have any idea where to look for volunteering opportunities in an area. What will be the mechanism by which they are guided or advised on how to undertake this requirement? How much leeway will be given in the amount of time they have to do this work when they are working to keep themselves in this country? They are actually working. They may have a family to support and manage, and they may well have very limited hours to spend outside their home. Many are already working all the hours God gave them to ensure that they meet other citizenship requirements. What is the time commitment they will have to give to this activity requirement in order to qualify for and justify their expedited citizenship? What about those who simply cannot undertake it, such as those working for a very substantial part of the day and those with families? Will there be an exemption for certain categories? If so, who will give it? Who will monitor the voluntary work that is carried out, and how will it be assessed and proved? I understand that part of the system which the design group is working out is that there will be a referee to complete the applicant’s paperwork. But who is that to be, and how can there be confidence that such a referee will have proper and regular direct contact with a volunteer to be able to judge whether they have in fact carried out the activity to the proper, required level? Where will the referees come from, and will they have to have a certain seniority level? These questions will continue. They should have been answered before we started on this legislation. We have reason to believe that a nationality checking service will play a role in signing off the volunteer and sending those signed-off papers to the UK Border Agency. But where does this come from? It is not in the legislation—we do not know anything about it. Perhaps we could be told at some stage what it is. Have the Government made any attempt to assess what extra burdens carrying out the responsibility for these migrants will place on the voluntary sector and on local authorities, which I understand are also to be involved in supporting the nationality checking service? Can the Minister give any assurances about the stage at which this activity is likely to be undertaken during the citizenship process? Can it be at any time? Does it have to be part of the probationary period? Can it be undertaken for a short time, or a long time? For how many hours should it be undertaken? What is the expectation? Will childcare be paid for? What about travel and all the other costs associated with volunteering requirements, and will that be funded by the UK Border Agency? Given that employees are statutorily entitled to a minimum of 24 days a year, how can the Government be sure that that requirement for this activity will not have to be taken out of those 24 and therefore not breach this legal entitlement? Will employers be required to give these employees time off to undertake this voluntary activity without jeopardising their employment? These questions are only the tip of the iceberg—there are many more. Presumably the design group will try to answer them. We can brief the Minister on any other aspect he wishes. This enormous proposal is dealt with in just two short lines of legislation, with nothing to back it up. The Minister must understand that this would be the first national scheme in which the state directly rewarded people for volunteering. The design group is clearly important in ensuring that all the problems which I have outlined are overcome. However, when will we have sight of its work? I am advised that it might not be until the summer, but by then this legislation will be on the books and it will be way past Parliament's ability to deal with it. Ideally, we should be able to see what the design group is doing before Report so that we can consider it. This is another area where a letter might be almost too little to explain all that is going on. I hope the Minister can make a good fist of trying to explain it. I beg to move.