Draft Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Northern Ireland and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2015
Draft Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Conduct of Investigations, etc.) Regulations 2015
Draft Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Order 2015
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
Ainsworth, Mr Bob (Coventry North East) (Lab)
† Birtwistle, Gordon (Burnley) (LD)
† Brokenshire, James (Minister for Security and Immigration)
† Campbell, Mr Ronnie (Blyth Valley) (Lab)
† Crockart, Mike (Edinburgh West) (LD)
† Fuller, Richard (Bedford) (Con)
† Garnier, Sir Edward (Harborough) (Con)
† Green, Damian (Ashford) (Con)
† Hammond, Stephen (Wimbledon) (Con)
† Hanson, Mr David (Delyn) (Lab)
† Hinds, Damian (East Hampshire) (Con)
Jowell, Dame Tessa (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
† Lopresti, Jack (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)
Meacher, Mr Michael (Oldham West and Royton) (Lab)
† Opperman, Guy (Hexham) (Con)
Shannon, Jim (Strangford) (DUP)
† Wilson, Phil (Sedgefield) (Lab)
Lloyd Owen, Daniel Whitford, Committee Clerks
† attended the Committee
Second Delegated Legislation Committee
Monday 19 January 2015
[Mr Peter Bone in the Chair]
Draft Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Northern Ireland and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2015
4.30 pm
The Minister for Security and Immigration (James Brokenshire): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Northern Ireland and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2015.
The Chair: With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Conduct of Investigations, etc.) Regulations 2015 and the draft Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Order 2015.
James Brokenshire: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Bone. I hope briefly to take the Committee through each of the three instruments. By way of background, part 4 of the Immigration Act 2014 constitutes the biggest reform of marriage preliminaries in a generation. It provides for a new referral and investigation scheme in England and Wales, aimed at tackling sham marriages and civil partnerships entered into for the purposes of circumventing the UK’s immigration controls. To be clear, we will not tolerate those who seek to abuse marriage or civil partnership as a means of cheating their way into staying within the UK.
The referral and investigation scheme will give us a much stronger platform for effective and systematic action to disrupt and deter sham marriages and civil partnerships and prevent their use to gain an immigration advantage. The draft orders will extend the referral and investigation scheme to proposed marriages and civil partnerships in Scotland and Northern Ireland. That will mean we have a robust response in place across the UK to the problem of sham marriages and do not displace the problem from one part of the UK to another. I thank colleagues in the devolved Administrations for their support for the measures and for the work that has gone on at an official level to ensure that the relevant orders properly take into account the laws of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The draft Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Conduct of Investigations, etc.) Regulations provide for how we will conduct an investigation into whether a proposed marriage or civil partnership referred under the scheme is a sham. The regulations set out the requirements with which parties must comply as part of an investigation and the basis for a decision on whether they have complied. If the parties fail to comply with an
investigation under the scheme, they will be unable to marry or enter into a civil partnership on the basis of that notice.I plan to implement the scheme across the UK on 2 March. From that date, all marriages following civil preliminaries and civil partnerships in England and Wales will be subject to a minimum notice period of 28 days—so too in Scotland and Northern Ireland, under changes to devolved marriage and civil partnership laws. Any couple including a non-European economic area national wishing to marry in the Anglican Church in England and Wales will be required to complete civil preliminaries and give notice at a register office before their marriage. That will ensure that all couples within the scope of the scheme are correctly identified. From 2 March, all couples involving a non-EEA national who could gain an immigration advantage from the proposed marriage or civil partnership—for example, because there is no evidence that they already have settled status in the UK—will be referred by the registration official to the Home Office.
For couples referred under the scheme, we will be able to extend the notice period from 28 days to 70 days where we suspect a sham and decide to investigate the genuineness of the relationship. By extending the notice period and channelling to us all proposed marriages which could bring an immigration benefit, the new system will give us much more time and information to identify and act against shams before they happen. Where they do go ahead, we will have the evidence we need on file to refuse any subsequent immigration application. The scheme places additional duties on registration officers when taking notice.
In line with the new burdens doctrine, the marriage and civil partnership notice fee in England and Wales for couples subject to referral under the scheme will increase from £35 to £47 per person from 2 March to meet the additional cost to local authorities. The new scheme will provide the platform needed for us to tackle sham marriages and civil partnerships more effectively and crack down on this abuse of our marriage and civil partnership laws and of our immigration system. I trust that Members will support the orders and regulations.
4.34 pm
Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab): You will be pleased to know, Mr Bone, that the orders have the support of Her Majesty’s Opposition. We had a long debate on the Immigration Act last year when we discussed the principle behind the orders. We were supportive then and we are supportive now. It is important that robust measures are in place to ensure that people do not use loopholes to establish fake marriages that subvert the integrity of the immigration system. The orders therefore have our support.
I have only one question, which relates to paragraph 8 of the explanatory memorandum. It indicates that although consultation took place with the devolved Administrations, no formal consultation was undertaken in Scotland or Northern Ireland on the orders as a whole. According to the explanatory memorandum, the consultation in England and Wales ran for 12 weeks and produced 5,000 responses. On what basis did the Minister decide not to undertake a consultation in Scotland and Northern Ireland, given that a similar consultation elicited 5,000 responses in England and Wales? Is he content that the
lack of consultation does not leave the regulations open to a formal challenge if the matters are brought before a court? However, I am happy to support the regulations.4.36 pm
James Brokenshire: My information is that the consultation was UK-wide. Although there was not further consultation on the specifics of the orders, perhaps I can reassure the right hon. Gentleman. We have been working closely with the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, who both welcomed the new referral and investigation scheme. We continue to work closely with them on the scheme’s implementation. On the challenge that he flagged up, we can point back to the original consultation being UK-wide and also the detailed discussions that have taken place with the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. I can certainly reassure him that continued discussion and implementation will follow. I hope that the Committee will support the orders and the regulations.
DRAFT PROPOSED MARRIAGES AND CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS (CONDUCT OF INVESTIGATIONS, ETC.) REGULATIONS 2015
That the Committee has considered the draft Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Conduct of Investigations, etc.) Regulations 2015.—(James Brokenshire.)
DRAFT REFERRAL AND INVESTIGATION OF PROPOSED MARRIAGES AND CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS (SCOTLAND) ORDER 2015.
That the Committee has considered the draft Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Order 2015.—(James Brokenshire.)