My Lords, I should like to speak to Amendment 25 and to our other amendments in the group that are consequential.
Before I proceed, the comment that I should like to make to the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, is that if, under the terms of our amendment, the Government got it wrong over the pilot, their chances of getting a further extension of their scheme—bearing in mind that we have called for primary legislation if that were the case—would of course be extremely remote. That would be an incentive for a Government who wanted to see their scheme extended to get the pilot right and to get it fair. For that reason, the noble Baroness’s objections to our amendments are, to put it mildly, a bit thin.
This debate relates to the part of the Bill on which we spent the most time in Committee, because many noble Lords had questions about how the provisions would work in practice. However, despite the time spent debating the Government’s proposals, a great many of the questions remained unanswered. We agree with the principle of making it more difficult for illegal migrants to rent property. In Committee, we proposed a new clause seeking to put in place a pilot to be undertaken before the provisions could be put fully into effect.
We have now tabled amendments that would remove the entire chapter and replace it with a power for the Secretary of State to undertake a pilot along the same lines. If the pilot is successful, the Government could then come back to primary legislation to implement it fully. Given the substantial number of concerns that have been raised about the detail of this part of the Bill, and the need to ensure that it works well and receives proper parliamentary scrutiny, this is an eminently reasonable proposition.
A range of organisations have expressed serious concerns about the impact of the proposals on landlords and residential tenancies. The vast majority of landlords—82%—do not support the proposals, according to a survey by the Residential Landlords Association. Giving evidence in the Commons, the chairman of the National Landlords Association said:
“It is going to impose an administrative burden on landlords who are not experts in immigration … The principle of checking identity is not so much the worry as the logistics of how that is done and understanding the documentation”.
In the same evidence session, the policy director of the Residential Landlords Association said that,
“we think that the Bill and its provisions are not workable and will not be effective in achieving the objectives set out”.—[Official Report, Commons, Immigration Bill Committee, 29/10/13; col. 43.]
Of course, one of the key concerns is whether these measures will be workable. The Government have published a draft code of practice for landlords. We asked a number of questions about this in Committee, including: who will be included in the provisions? How will tenants who have never rented out a property know about their obligations in relation to subletting? How will landlords familiarise themselves with, understand and recognise all the potentially relevant documentation?
We also asked questions about enforcement, including: how will it be established that a landlord had acted in breach of their duty? How will the fine be collected? Will provision be made for landlords who repeatedly break the law? Will Home Office staff become overwhelmed as a result of landlords using the telephone notification to the Home Office that they have conformed to the requirements in the Bill as a form of shield?
The Government’s replies on these points were, for the most part, very general and not very helpful. For example, on enforcement, it was stated that the provisions would be enforced,
“as part of the normal business of enforcing immigration law”,—[Official Report, 10/3/14; col. 1653.]
that they would be applied on a “light-touch basis”, and that the Government would be relying on landlords or agents to give evidence that they have complied with the prescribed requirements.
One thing we asked for in the light of these concerns was for the code of practice to receive greater scrutiny, and we are pleased that the Government have listened and require the code to be laid before Parliament and be made by order, but they should have gone further and at least made it subject to the affirmative procedure. We are also pleased by the Government’s commitment that the code will be ready before the first phase of the rollout begins.
A further concern, which we also heard about in Committee from many noble Lords, relates to the impact on vulnerable citizens, including victims of domestic violence, those with chaotic lifestyles, and pregnant women. We know that landlords already avoid renting to groups they perceive as higher risk, and given the difficulty in identifying documents and the potential liability for landlords, it is likely that landlords will want to be on the safe side and ask for a passport in every case, but many vulnerable people do not have a passport.
On this, again, the Minister’s answers were not particularly helpful. He said that the Bill provides,
“discretionary powers for the Secretary of State to authorise a tenant who has no lawful status to rent property”.—[Official Report, 12/3/14; col. 1798.]
How will that work in practice? There is a real danger that people, vulnerable people in particular, will either become homeless or be driven into the hands of unscrupulous landlords.
There is also widespread concern about the potential discriminatory nature of the proposals. These concerns have been expressed by a number of organisations,
including Shelter, Liberty and the Catholic Church. We also heard them expressed in Committee. Again, we are pleased that the Government have listened and that the code of practice in relation to discrimination will receive greater scrutiny.
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We had a debate in Committee between our proposition for a pilot and the Government’s phased rollout. As we said at that time, the key difference between our positions was the opportunity to pause and to fully reflect. We think that this policy needs to be tested before it can be implemented. This needs to be done in a thoughtful and measured way and, crucially, there needs to be an opportunity for Parliament to consider thoroughly the outcome of the pilot before it can be rolled out. That is necessary because of the many unanswered concerns and questions around these provisions.
We accept that the Government have moved some way in our direction on this—I do not seek to pretend otherwise. We are grateful and welcome the moves that have been made. Amendments have been tabled to protect students from the impact of the measures and to ensure that the codes of practice receive greater scrutiny and are in place before the first phase begins. The Government have also given further information about their proposals. They have said that the scheme will be initiated in October of this year in a single geographical area; that they will continue the discussions with interested parties on the codes of practice until then; that the evaluation criteria will be established for the first phase; that the Government will make a formal commencement order and publicise it to landlords and others; that a landlords’ checking service will be put in place for when the first phase commences; and that they will then evaluate the first phase. Then, seeing as the first phase, or pilot, will be initiated under the Government’s proposals in a single area, the Government will have to make a negative order in order to roll out the scheme nationally. Finally, they will publish an evaluation of the first phase for Parliament to scrutinise, and the Secretary of State will review the codes of practice after the first phase.
Before finishing with a couple of points on what the Government have said so far, I ask the Minister to clarify on the record that the Bill provides certainty that the scheme will not be rolled out after the initial pilot without bringing it back to Parliament. I understand that is covered by Clause 71(6) and (7). If that is the case, will the Minister make it clear that that is correct?
The changes in the Government’s position to which I have referred are welcome but there has been no satisfactory explanation as to why under the Government’s proposals the order to extend the scheme further will not have to be made by the affirmative procedure. We agree with the principle of preventing illegal migrants from accessing properties, but we need to ensure that the proposals that the Government have put forward actually work as intended before we go ahead with the scheme, since there are real doubts—which have been expressed in this House and by others outside this House—about the effectiveness and consequences of parts of the Government’s proposals. That is why the
terms of our amendment require further primary legislation, since it is only through that process that there is certainty that the time will be made available for proper consideration of the evaluation of the pilot and the basis on which it is then proposed by the Government of the day that the scheme should be further extended.