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7 pm
Ms Oona King (Bethnal Green and Bow): I begin by welcoming some of the concessions that the Government have made on the support arrangements, especially with regard to children. I tabled an amendment in Committee that provided that the support arrangements would not continue if an asylum seeker did not have his claim determined within six months. Another amendment was tabled that provided that the support arrangements would not be introduced until the Government had reached their targets. Amendment No. 1, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard), would provide that the support arrangements should not apply to asylum seekers with children.
The Government's compromise takes into account both those elements: the time that it takes to determine a case, and the removal of families with children from the support arrangements until the Home Office determines claims within its initial target period of two months. That throws up many questions.
What constitutes a target? Is it an average or a mean? How can we ensure that, once the targets are in place, we do not revert to the current lamentable state of affairs in which initial decisions, instead of taking two months, take 20 months? I hope that the Government will succeed: I am sure that my right hon. Friend will be successful. However, in case he is not, I should have liked an assurance that any asylum seeker--not just children--would be protected from being dealt with under a system substantially harsher than the current one until the Government have reached their targets.
I should like to raise an issue that I mentioned in my maiden speech, about which I feel strongly. We are discussing support arrangements for children. It has always struck me as strange that, if a 17-year-old who has been appallingly treated comes to this country, we say how terrible their situation is, whereas if someone is 19, 20 or older, we tend behave as if that did not matter--and, as a result of the present proposals, such people will inevitably be put to the back of the queue while others are fast-tracked. I understand the need for that, but surely the Government could agree not to introduce these support arrangements until they meet their targets. I do not think that that is too much to ask, and I hope that, even at this late stage, the Government will agree to reconsider this matter in the other place.
My concern is that these measures, such as they are, will protect the 10 per cent. of asylum seekers who have dependants, but will do nothing for the 90 per cent. who do not. I have a great problem with that, if we take the 90 per cent. income support level as beneath the poverty line.
I welcome the fact that the Government have significantly increased the cash component, but, notwithstanding that, there are problems relating to the nature of the voucher system. We are asking people to live on less than anyone else in the entire country, but we are preventing them from shopping in the cheapest places. If a mother has to buy some new socks for her child, she can get a pair for about £1.50 in Sainsburys in Whitechapel in my
constituency, where her voucher will be accepted. If she came out of Sainsburys and walked 20 yards across the street to Whitechapel market, she could get a pair of socks for her children for about 40p--but her vouchers will not be accepted there, so they will be worthless.
We are expecting these mothers to look after their children at a cost that we do not inflict on other people in Britain. I hope that Ministers will think about that when they consider the other proposals--including the size of the one-off cash payment to be paid after six months so that parents can provide for their children, and so that utensils which may or may not have been provided, and clothes which may or may not have worn out, and which may or may not have been appropriate for the British climate when people arrived in this country in the first place, can be replaced.
My understanding of what the Home Secretary said is that there will be a one-off payment of approximately £50--that would naturally be in addition--for the six months. That is about £2 per week per asylum seeker, or 30p a day. I hope that that could be at least doubled: I gather that the figure of £100 per person is also under consideration. I should be grateful if the Minister would consider that matter.
I want to direct my remarks to the 90 per cent. income support package. I am grateful that the Government have acknowledged that the support package that they provide must be the equivalent of 90 per cent. of income support. I am delighted that the Government would not force asylum seekers to live on less than that amount, which is already below the poverty line. Given that, could my right hon. Friend give us a breakdown of that package, and explain how it has been worked out? I have been perturbed by some of the calculations used. I must admit that my maths is appalling, but even I can understand that if the estimate of how much it costs the average social security claimant to pay for their utilities is 8 per cent.--which is the figure that the Government use for other social security claimants--the figures do not add up to 90 per cent. Seventy per cent. plus 8 per cent. does not equal 90 per cent.
The Government have said that other items will make up that amount, such as the provision of utensils. Other claimants who are put into privately rented accommodation get utensils anyway. I hope that we will not deal with asylum seekers differently from other claimants.
The speed of the decision making is intrinsically related to the fairness of the system. I hope that the Government will consider the slogan on which we have based this legislation--fairer, faster, firmer--and will consider how to make the system fairer and faster. We should examine the discretionary element of the support arrangements. Some hon. Members have had a disturbing brush with the Home Office because of its officials' idea of discretion in other areas relating to asylum seekers. Asylum Aid referred to a decision stating:
Ms King:
Thank you for your advice, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I was trying to establish a firm link between the
While we are discussing the Bill's provision for women and children, let me mention the need for gender guidelines. It has been raised before, and I trust that it will surface again in future discussions.
The key words are "fairer", "faster" and "firmer". We can be fairer only if we are faster. Of course we must protect children first, but please let us not do so at the expense of the 90 per cent. of other asylum seekers who have no dependants. Let us not forget that our duty under the 1951 convention is to protect anyone who seeks asylum here. I trust that this Labour Government will have regard to that when making any further amendments to the Bill.
Mr. Tony Worthington (Clydebank and Milngavie):
I, too, support the amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard), and commend the role that he and his colleagues played in Committee.
I wish to register my concern about the introduction of vouchers. I am not speaking on the basis of constituency concerns, although I respect those of my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Mr. Prosser). I consider the position of those who have fled from Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria or Sierra Leone, and ask myself a fundamental question: do I think it right for such people to be compelled to live on 70 per cent. of what is deemed to be the minimum necessary for people who live here? It is as basic as that.
I accept that some people are not genuine refugees and asylum seekers, and I know that we must tackle that problem in areas such as Dover. I also thank my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary for the changes that he has made. As a supporter of the Government, however, I believe that the introduction of vouchers is wrong in human-rights terms, and will backfire on them.
"You state that the men drove you to a place one and a half hours away and told you to run before they opened fire on you. The Secretary of State . . . considers that if the men had intended to kill you they would have done so straight away rather than give you a chance to escape".
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord):
Order. I gently remind the hon. Lady that the subject of the new clause is support for children. She is now straying wide of the mark.
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