Number’s up for immigrant policy

Tightening up the legal rules against over-staying in the UK is as important as determining the numbers entering legally says Oldham MP Michael Meacher

The Oldham West and Royton representative describes immigration as a “fraught issue”.

Meacher said while immigrants put excessive pressure on social services in some parts of the country, they also undoubtedly contribute to economic growth and public services, such as the NHS.

Writing on his blog, Mr Meacher said too often the argument around immigration focuses on drastic cuts to numbers but ministers were missing the real point.

He added: “The real issue is making sure that those not entitled to stay here do actually leave. There is still a gaping loophole leading to perhaps 100,000 a year with no right to remain in Britain not being removed.

“In very few cases are checks made to ensure an entrant leaves once a study course is completed, or if the job does not materialise or comes to an end, or where a newly-married wife having brought in a husband from abroad is then deserted once the husband has secured his Independent Leave to Remain.

“There are also thousands of cases each year where an asylum seeker has applied to stay in the UK, been turned down, appealed and been rejected again, and in many cases appealed again and been rejected a third time, yet is still in the country years later and has never been removed.

“The moral of all this is that tightening up on the legal rules against over-staying is as important as determining the figures for legal entry in the first place.”

The call comes as a report by a powerful committee of MPs said the UK Border Agency lacks the information needed to manage immigration meffectively.

A lack of control over schemes outside of the Government’s immigration cap risks harming UK workers, a lack of exit controls makes it harder to ensure migrant workers leave when they are supposed to, and a lack of control over sponsors means the agency does not even know where the main risks lie.

The report by the Commons Committee of Public Accounts added that while the points-based system was still an improvement on its predecessor, it “has yet to fully meet its objectives”.

Margaret Hodge, committee chairman, said: “The fundamental point is that the agency lacks the management information needed to manage migrant numbers and ensure that the rules are complied with.”

Some 181,000 people who should have left may still be in the UK, the agency estimates.