The
Committee consisted of the following
Members:
Blunkett,
Mr. David
(Sheffield, Brightside)
(Lab)
Blunt,
Mr. Crispin
(Reigate)
(Con)
Brake,
Tom
(Carshalton and Wallington)
(LD)
Campbell,
Mr. Alan
(Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's
Treasury)
Green,
Damian
(Ashford)
(Con)
Gwynne,
Andrew
(Denton and Reddish)
(Lab)
Hillier,
Meg
(Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home
Department)Huhne,
Chris
(Eastleigh)
(LD)
Maclean,
David
(Penrith and The Border)
(Con)
Mole,
Chris
(Ipswich)
(Lab)
Morley,
Mr. Elliot
(Scunthorpe)
(Lab)
Reed,
Mr. Jamie
(Copeland)
(Lab)
Swire,
Mr. Hugo
(East Devon)
(Con)
Timpson,
Mr. Edward
(Crewe and Nantwich)
(Con)
Tipping,
Paddy
(Sherwood)
(Lab)
Wilson,
Phil
(Sedgefield) (Lab)
Mark
Oxborough, Committee Clerk
attended the Committee
Fourth
Delegated Legislation
Committee
Tuesday 15
July
2008
[John
Bercow in the
Chair]
Draft Immigration (Supply of Information to the Secretary of State for Immigration Purposes) Order 2008
10.30
am
The
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Meg
Hillier): I beg to
move,
That
the Committee has considered the draft Immigration (Supply of
Information to the Secretary of State for Immigration Purposes) Order
2008.
It
is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time,
Mr. Bercow. Section 20 of the Immigration and Asylum Act
1999 enabled the police, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and those
accommodating UK Border Agency-supported asylum seekers to supply
information to the Home Office for specified immigration purposes.
Further to improve the sharing of information among Departments and the
UK Border Agency, we want to include the Secretary of State for
Transport in respect of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and the Secretary of State for Work and
Pensions and the chief constable of the British Transport police force
in respect of social security
information.
The
order provides that certain information held by those Departments and
organisations may be supplied to the Secretary of State for the Home
Department for immigration purposes, as defined under
section 20(3) of the Act. It also extends the definition of immigration
purposes to cover two additional UK Border Agency functions relating to
individuals in receipt of asylum support under section 4 of the Act,
and those who may have civil penalties imposed under section 15 of the
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act
2006.
The
order is necessary because currently there are no statutory powers for
the Department for Work and Pensions, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing
Agency, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency or the British Transport
police to supply information that they hold to the UK Border
Agency for immigration purposes. Those Departments rely on common-law
powers to share such information with the UK Border Agency to exercise
immigration functions and to investigate criminal activity. We believe
that it is right that staff working in the Departments should be clear
about the limits of their administrative powers under the law and the
extent to which information-sharing with other Departments is
permitted.
Given
the increasing importance of the information that those bodies supply
for immigration purposes, we felt it prudent and timelywe are
all aware of other debates going on within Governmentto make an
order setting out a clear legislative basis for the supply of such
information. The information will be used by the UK Border Agency to
locate and remove immigration offenders,
to ensure compliance with existing immigration laws, including the
checking of applications under the new points-based system, and to
prevent abuse of the asylum support benefit
system.
The
UK Border Agency is forging closer partnerships with Government
agencies and Departments as part of its enforcement strategy
Enforcing the Deal, which my right hon. Friend the Home
Secretary published earlier this year on 19 June. The order is crucial
to enabling that work to proceed. It is worth my mentioning that we are
fully complying with the data protection rules. The new power does not
remove the need to comply with those important safeguards under
both the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act
1998.
Data
security is also worth a particular mention. The Government take the
protection of personal information very seriously and the Departments
involved in the order have all reviewed the handling of personal data
and have implemented enhanced procedures, following publication of the
Cabinet Office interim report on the data handling review in
December 2007. Those Departments as well as the Home Office have
continued to make improvements and are committed to implementing the
Cabinet Office mandatory requirements that were published in March of
this year, and to which reference is made in the final
report.
I
trust that members of the Committee will join me in supporting the
order, which the Government believe is necessary to assist the UK
Border Agency in carrying out its functions. The information will be
used to locate and remove immigration offenders, ensure compliance with
existing immigration laws and prevent abuse of the system. I cannot
believe that any hon. Member disagrees with those important
principles.
10.34
am
Damian
Green (Ashford) (Con): It is a particular pleasure to
serve under your firm but fair chairmanship, Mr. Bercow. I
am grateful to the Minister for her explanation of the order. However,
I have a few questions and a warning for her. We have no objection in
principle to the Secretary of State being given as much information as
is legally held and used that might help her in the role of ensuring
that the immigration laws are upheld and enforced. We can clearly
envisage circumstances in which it is right for the agencies to be
added to the list of those that can share information with the
Secretary of State for immigration purposes. However, there are some
questions that the Minister could help the Committee with. First, how
many immigration offenders currently apply for driving licences or
benefits under their own name, allowing them to be caught by this
procedure? In other words, how widespread is the problem and how many
illegal immigrants do the Government expect to detect andone
hopesremove as a result of these measures?
In a recent
written parliamentary answer to me, the Home Secretary admitted that
one third of asylum backlog casesthe so-called legacy
caseshad been closed because of administrative
errors and duplication. Will the Minister give some indication
of how many more such administrative errors she expects to find, if and
when the new powers are granted?
As the
Minister alluded to in her speech, there are two sentences in the
explanatory notes that will give the Committee particular cause
for concern. The first refers to
the increase
in volume of information UKBA requires, and in some contexts, the
decision to move to bulk disclosure of information via electronic
format.
The
notes go on to
state:
All
information will be shared in a secure manner in line with Cabinet
Office
guidelines.
Given
the recent history of the bulk movement of information electronically,
and given last years catastrophic breach of Cabinet Office
guidelinesor any other sensible guidelineswhen the
details of half the population of this country were lost by Her
Majestys Revenue and Customs, people will be rightly nervous
that we are adding to the list of agencies that can transfer large
amounts of personal information electronically around Government
systems. Will the Minister tell us exactly which details, and whose
details, will be passed on? For example, will DVLA information be
passed over wholesale? Will information be obtained for specific
individuals, or will there be mass transference of records? Will the
details of all foreign nationals who hold driving licences be passed
on, or will the Home Office simply be asking for cross-references with
individuals whom it suspects of having committed an immigration
offence?
I
hope that the Minister can reassure us on those vital points. Given the
history of data transfer over the past 12 months, words may provide no
more than minimal reassurance, but that would be better than
nothing.
10.38
am
Meg
Hillier: I welcome the support of the hon. Gentleman and
his party for the order in principle. He raises some valid points.
Regarding the number of immigration offenders that we can identify by
this route, I do not want to give a definitive number, but it is
important to point out our current position and where we believe we
will be in future, partly through the use of this order. The Department
for Work and Pensions currently deals with approximately 700 requests a
month from the UK Border Agency, mainly relating to checking
immigration applications. In April this year there were 505 requests,
in May there were 639 and in June there were 938. If the hon. Gentleman
would like me to write to him in more detail on that, I am happy to do
so, although I have now put those figures on the record.
The DVLA
shares information on applications that it receives for driving
licences where the identity of an individual cannot be established,
where there are doubts about an individuals immigration status
or where there is suspected benefit fraud or illegal working. We
estimate that over time, the UK Border Agency will be making
approximately 3,000 requests a month to the DWP. Clearly, we envisage
that there could also be increases in
requests to the DVLA. Until we actually start using the process, it is
be difficult to be precise regarding the figures.
The purpose
of the order is to strengthen our ability to tackle fraud. The hon.
Gentleman rightly raised the issue of data security. As a Minister,
that issue exercises me a great deal, especially given my
responsibilities at the Home Office. It is worth highlighting that
Departments, as I mentioned in my opening comments, have all reviewed
the handling of personal data and implemented enhanced procedures to
protect personal data.
I keep a
close eye on issues associated with potential data loss and data
security. The Home Office has adopted some new guidelines: a senior
information risk owner is to be appointed; only encrypted laptops and
removable media may be taken outside secure premises in which there are
personal data; non-encrypted personal information may not be sent
beyond the secure boundary of Government IT networks; a new centralised
encryption service has been established, along with a new system for
reporting security instancesthe data loss at HMRC was down to
individual error, and imposing a system of reporting will make
individuals think twiceand the publication of an information
charter.
Whether
we deal with transfers on a bulk or a case-by-case basis will be judged
by the UK Border Agency and the relevant Department; they will decide
which is most appropriate. The transfer is for specified purposes. For
example, for the Department for Work and Pensions it is for social
security purposes, and for the Department for Transport it is for DVLA
purposes.
We want to
allow the UK Border Agency to carry out more effective checks for the
DWP. When a person is subject to the requirement that they do not claim
benefit as a condition of entering and remaining here, the agency will
be able to check with the DWP whether they have been truthful in their
application. It is important that we have such checks across
Government. Many people expect that we do anyway, but this measure puts
it on a proper statutory footing.
We know
that, for many people, a driving licence is seen as a useful form of
identity. It is important that such a prized identity document be
issued only to the right people. We want to work with the Department
for Transport and the DVLA to see how we can tighten up further the
already stringent checks that we carry out on applicants. For the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the British Transport police, this
order and the change of information are included for law enforcement
purposes.
I hope that
that clarifies matters regarding the comments made and points raised by
the hon. Gentleman, and that all hon. Members agree that we should
introduce this order.
Question
put and agreed
to.
Committee
rose at eighteen minutes to Eleven
oclock.