13.This instrument proposes to bring into force a new version of the Authority to Carry Scheme, which aims to prevent those who pose a terrorist or other threat from travelling to or from the UK. Under the Scheme, operators of international planes, ships and trains must check their passenger lists against a Home Office database of those who should be refused permission to travel. Fines of up to £50,000 are payable if a banned person is carried. An individual might appear on the database if, for example, they have previously been deported, excluded or had a visa revoked, are the subject to a travel ban, or their travel documents have been lost or stolen. The Home Office states that since the introduction of the Scheme in 2015, carriers have been refused authority to carry around 10,900 individuals seeking to travel to the UK.
14.The changes reflect the forthcoming introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs), a new system that requires everyone wishing to travel to the UK, except British and Irish citizens, to seek permission in advance of travel. The new Scheme adds to the banned list anyone (i) who has been or would have been refused an ETA; or (ii) whose ETA has been cancelled under the immigration rules. The Home Office told us that it will issue further details about the timetable for introducing ETAs in due course.
15.These made affirmative instruments are part of the legislative package laid under the Energy Prices Act 2022 to deliver the Government’s support with energy costs during the current energy crisis.
16.SI 2023/9 supports the operation and delivery of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) for non-standard customers in Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI). This specific scheme will provide financial assistance, in the form of grants, to certain non-domestic customers to help meet the costs of electricity and gas taken from public networks, but not provided by licensed electricity or gas suppliers. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) explains that the scheme is necessary because certain non-domestic customers do not currently receive support under the regular EBRS which is only available to customers of licensed energy suppliers. BEIS says that these specific customers are often large energy users, for example companies operating in the chemicals sector. This instrument enables support for such users that is comparable to the support provided under the EBRS for regular non-domestic customers.
17.SI 2023/10 ensures that pass-through requirements for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Fuel Payment (EBSS AFP) are put in place in Northern Ireland (NI), so that intermediaries, such as landlords, pass on benefits received from the EBSS AFP to end users, such as tenants. The EBSS AFP will provide £200 of support with energy costs to all domestic customers, in addition to the £400 of support paid through the regular EBSS. BEIS says that the EBSS AFP will be delivered to all households in NI, where far greater use is made of alternative fuels,3, with almost two out of every three homes in NI being heated by oil,4 and connection to the grid more limited than in GB.5 The EBSS and EBSS AFP in NI will be delivered as a single payment from January 2023.
18.We reported an instrument to the House in November 20226 which introduced equivalent pass-through requirements for the EBSS in GB and NI. We raised concerns about the complexity of the system that has been devised, in particular the concept of passing on a “just and reasonable” amount to customers, the expectation that even the most vulnerable customers could have to be prepared to take legal action against their own landlords to recover any outstanding support that has not been passed on, and an “inequality of arms” between a landlord who manages multiple premises and individual customers. These concerns also apply to the arrangements that have now been put in place for the EBSS AFP in NI.
19.Amongst other changes to the immigration rules, this instrument increases the threshold required to deport people who only have pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) but are eligible for settled status (whether or not they have applied).
20.The changes only affect those facing deportation, not those whose pre-settled status simply expires (who would become liable to ‘administrative removal’, which is a less rigid process). Someone might face deportation if they are convicted of a crime. The decision to deport can be taken based on one of two criteria: under the basic threshold, the crime need only be of a relatively minor nature, but under public policy or public security grounds would need to be more serious (or a series of offences). The Regulations provide that European Economic Area and Swiss citizens eligible for settled status who committed a crime before the end of the transition period can only be deported under the higher threshold, bringing their treatment into line with those who actually have settled status. The measure is intended to reflect the position agreed in the EU Withdrawal Agreement.
21.Pre-settled status lasts for five years from the date it was granted to the individual. The Home Office told us that the first grants of pre-settled status will begin to expire in August 2023. However, a recent High Court judgment7 found that those granted pre-settled status would have the right to remain in the UK after their PSS expired without needing to apply for settled status. The Government have been granted permission to appeal. We note that there is a significant backlog of 188,170 cases in processing applications to the EUSS, according to the latest (September 2022) data.8 The Home Office told us that over 2.2 million people in the UK had pre-settled status in September 2022, but that not all will be eligible for settled status.
22.The Regulations also extend the use of the Home Office’s online service which enables employers to check whether a potential employee has the right to work in the UK. The service will now also cover employees with a right to work resulting from an outstanding immigration application, submitted before their previous permission expires. The Home Office says the changes will make the system simpler and clearer for employers. The instrument also ensures that businesses can be excused penalties for employing illegal workers if they conducted checks using the Home Office service (or certain other specified systems).
3 Alternative fuels are fuels used for heating other than mains gas or electricity, such as heating oil, coal, biomass and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
4 Department for the Economy, ‘Other Fuels’: https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/topics/energy/other-fuels [accessed 24 January 2023].
5 Norther Ireland Executive, ‘Gas’: https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/energy/gas [accessed 24 January 2023].
6 Energy Bills Support Scheme and Energy Price Guarantee Pass-through Requirement (England and Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/1102) and Energy Bill Relief Scheme and Energy Price Guarantee Pass-through Requirement and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/1125), see: Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, 18th Report (Session 2022–23, HL Paper 96).
7 R (on the application of Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreement) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (European Commission and another intervening), [2022] EWHC 3274 (Admin), 21 December 2022.
8 Home Office, ‘EU Settlement Scheme quarterly statistics, September 2022’: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-quarterly-statistics-september-2022/eu-settlement-scheme-quarterly-statistics-september-2022 [accessed 18 January 2023]. The figure quoted is the difference between the total number of applications to date (6,874,700) and the number of applications concluded (6,686,530). The Home Office told us that the outstanding backlog contains not only applications to convert from pre-settled to settled status, but also applications from joining family members and late applications, and that the data is not further broken down.