Spotlight on supporting non-EU destitute migrants Friday 22 nd January 2016 The Immigration Bill 2015/16

The Immigration Act 2014: Context end homelessness together The current Immigration Act gained Royal Assent on 14 May 2014, with many of its provisions coming into force on 01 February Cutting access to services:  Requiring temporary migrants to make a financial contribution to the NHS.  Ensuring private landlords check tenants’ immigration status.  Restricting access to drivers licences and bank accounts. Removals and enforcement:  Cutting the number of immigration decisions that can be appealed from 17 to 4.  Tougher powers to tackle sham marriages and civil partnerships.  Making it easier to recover unpaid fines from rouge employers.

Where are we?: The Bill’s progress through Parliament end homelessness together

Contents: The Immigration Bill 2015/16 end homelessness together 1.The ‘right to rent’ 2.Asylum support 3.Appeals 4.Illegal working 5.Driving licences and bank accounts 6.Language requirements

Legal changes: The ‘right to rent’ end homelessness together Sections 20 – 37 of the Immigration Act 2014 introduced a requirement that all non-British, non-EEA or non-Swiss citizens without leave to remain in the UK are disqualified from entering into a residential tenancy agreement. Landlords found guilt of offering tenancies to disqualified persons can be fined up to £3000 per person (a civil penalty). The Bill proposes to amend the Act by making it a criminal offence to lease property to those who do not possess leave to remain. As a result, landlords will face a prison term of up to five years if it can be proven that they were aware of their tenant’s immigration status at the time the offence was committed.

Securing a new tenancy: The ‘right to rent’ end homelessness together In order to prove that they possess the ‘right to rent’, prospective tenants must present documentation regarding their current immigration status. Analysis of pilot schemes carried out late last year in the Midlands suggest that the policy encourages discrimination against those who look or sound foreign. John Stewart of the Residential Landlords Association also notes that requiring checks means that, on business grounds, “it makes more sense to rent to people who will have quick access to documents.” (The Economist)

Existing tenancies: The ‘right to rent’ end homelessness together To mitigate the effect of criminalising the offence, the government intend to make it far easier for landlords to evict tenants without the ‘right to rent’. On being informed that a tenant does not possess the right to rent, landlords may terminate the tenancy by issuing a notice to quit the property within 28 days. On expiry, the landlord can recover the property without the need for a court order – most tenancies are protected against such action by the Protection From Eviction Act 1977.

Legal changes Asylum support end homelessness together The Bill proposes to remove asylum support from asylum seekers, including those with dependant children, whose claims have been rejected. This will reform provisions under Section 95(4) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 that allow failed asylum seekers with children to continue to receiving asylum support once their claim has been rejected. The only circumstance in which asylum support will continue is if there are genuine obstacles to the family returning home, such as the inability of one or more family members to travel due to ill health.

Support options Asylum support end homelessness together Support for otherwise destitute foreign nationals with dependant children has traditionally fallen on local authorities (LAs). In theory, failed asylum seekers can be accommodated with their children under Section 17 of the Children’s Act 1989, which outlines a LA’s duty to “safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need; and so far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families.” At this stage, it is unclear whether such arrangements will continue. However, the Home Office has emphasised that: “There is no general obligation on local authorities to support illegal migrants who intentionally make themselves destitute by refusing to leave the UK when it is clear they are able to.”

“Deport first, appeal later” Appeals end homelessness together Under the Immigration Act 2014, the number of immigration decision that could be appealed was reduced from 17 to 4. It also introduced powers to deport applicants contesting non-human rights decisions before their appeal was heard. The Bill proposes to extend the Home Office’s powers to deport those contesting decisions before their appeal is heard to cases involving human rights.

A new offence Illegal working end homelessness together The Bill proposes to make illegal working a criminal offence. As a result, a person culpable of working ‘illegally’ is “liable on summary conviction in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks or a fine, or both.” The prison term for those employing ‘illegal’ workers will also be extended from two to five years.

New penalties & powers Drivers licenses & bank accounts end homelessness together People without leave to remain are disqualified from driving in the UK. The Bill proposes to introduce fines “not exceeding ten pounds for each day during which an offence continues after conviction” for anyone found driving whilst disqualified. The Bill also contains measures requiring banks and building societies to take action in respect of existing accounts held by undocumented migrants. This includes freezing or seizing any assets contained within those accounts. Banks and building societies will also be required to carry out periodic checks and to report back to the Home Office on their findings.

The public sector English language requirement end homelessness together The Bill proposes to introduce a requirement that “each person who works for a public authority in a customer-facing role speaks fluent English.” “For the purposes of this Part a person speaks fluent English if the person has a command of spoken English which is sufficient to enable the effective performance of the person’s role.”