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I listened carefully to the experiences and wise words of the noble Lord, Lord Luce. I very much like his idea of an EU/AU plan to mobilise members of the diaspora who have skills that can be used in peacebuilding. Having had discussions with various diasporas in the past, I am sure that they would warm to such a suggestion. The noble Lord, Lord Crisp, and others drew our attention to the impact of conflict on health, that basic human need. Yes, the Government strongly support partnerships such as the one he cited between King’s College Hospital and Somaliland. I will come back to him on the issue of funding. I greatly respect the noble Lord, Lord McColl, for his extraordinary work on mercy ships and, of course, the organisation itself. His words were chilling, but the work that he does brings warmth to our hearts and we are very proud of him.
In respect of the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Government’s policy is based on three principles: avoiding a return to war, which would be unacceptable; demarcating the border; and finding a way for the parties to normalise relations. In November we set out this policy very forcefully when the Foreign
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The noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, asked about pooled funding. The UK in southern Sudan uses the pooled mechanism with six other donors and works to assist the Government of southern Sudan to use the World Bank-managed multi-donor trust fund.
There are important future challenges for the UK and the wider international community. First, there is the question of progress on agreeing an arms trade treaty at the UN. We need a treaty that will stop the irresponsible trade in weapons that are used to fuel conflict, repression and human rights abuses. Secondly, we should ensure that the concept of responsibility to protect, endorsed by 191 world leaders at the UN world summit in 2005, is operationalised so we can help states to improve their capacity to prevent the most egregious crimes. Where they are not upholding their responsibilities we pressurise them to do so, and as a last resort we step in when they fail. That is part and parcel of the Government’s approach to hard-headed internationalism. Thirdly, new approaches should be developed to new challenges such as the potential impact on Africa’s security of climate change as water, land and other resources become scarcer in some areas. Finally, we should put into action the key linkages highlighted recently by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister to ensure that all future peacekeeping missions have plans for post-conflict recovery at their heart.
The Government are fully committed to addressing both the fundamental causes of conflict in Africa and its consequences. We will continue to put that at the heart of our broader agenda for Africa’s development and to use our influence within the wider international community.
2.11 pm
Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, every contribution to this debate has demonstrated a breadth of knowledge and, from all parts of your Lordships’ House, a profound love of Africa and African people. The debate has been enriched by the experience of three former Ministers, by the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, speaking from the government Front Bench and by the other Front-Bench speakers, and by many other notable contributions based on personal experience and real knowledge.
Many speeches have concentrated on the situation in specific countries such as Sudan, Zimbabwe, Congo and Somalia. Others have looked at the human costs, especially to women and children, at the opportunity costs and economic costs of conflict and the correlation between conflict and poverty. Others again have talked about conflicts that have arisen, how we might end them and the role of international agencies and countries such as China and Russia.
A large number of speeches have called for an end to the flow of arms into Africa. As some developed nations continue to sell arms into Africa, we have to ask: where are our consciences? As some African
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Before all other targets for Africa, both within and outside the continent, we need to mobilise our ingenuity and our resources to end the conflicts that take so many lives and endanger development. In once again thanking all noble Lords who have participated, I beg leave to withdraw the Motion for Papers.
Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.
Security Industry Authority
2.13 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will now repeat a Statement made in another place earlier this afternoon by my right honourable friend the Home Secretary.
“Following my Statement of 13 November, I would like to update the House on the actions that we are taking to address Security Industry Authority licensing checks and the issue of entitlement to work in the United Kingdom.
“An SIA licence demonstrates that the holder has undergone training and that identity and criminality checks have been completed. An SIA licence has never constituted evidence of entitlement to work in this country and it is the responsibility of employers to ensure that the people whom they employ are entitled to work.
“Before my previous Statement, steps were already being taken to prevent illegal working in the security industry. From 2 July 2007, the SIA introduced immigration status checks with the Border and Immigration Agency on all non-EEA applicants as part of the security industry licensing process. This is not a substitute for employers meeting their clear obligations, but the SIA checks provide a double lock on illegal working in this area.
“Alongside these immigration status checks, my department took steps to determine how many people who were granted licences prior to 2 July did not have the right to work. Plans were put in place for the BIA to check all the 39,885 non-EEA nationals licensed by the SIA before 2 July. Manual checks had started at the rate of 1,000 cases per week.
“I wanted the process to be speeded up without compromising accuracy. I therefore ordered automatic matching between the SIA list of non-EEA nationals and databases operated by the BIA and UKvisas. The BIA and the SIA have now completed these checks on the 39,885 non-EEA nationals licensed by the SIA before 2 July. On the basis of these checks, I am advised that the BIA is fully satisfied that 28,737 have the right to work in this country. It believes that 6,653 do not have the right to work in this country. In 4,447 other cases, the BIA is not satisfied that the individual has proved the right to work. The balance of 48 represents duplicate records.
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“The following steps are being taken to revoke the licences of those found not to be entitled to work in this country. The SIA has written to all companies on its database to remind them of the need to check regularly on the SIA’s website the registers of licence holders and of revoked licences, to ensure that all their staff have the right to work. The registers are currently receiving over 1,000 hits a day.
“Apart from a small number of cases where the SIA licence is close to expiry, the SIA has written to all those individuals—more than 10,500—where checks indicate no right to work or where the BIA is not satisfied that the individual has the right to work. These letters advise the licence holder that the SIA is minded to revoke their licence. The SIA gives the recipients 21 days in which to respond with further information and it expects that many will do so. If evidence is not forthcoming, the SIA will move for revocation. The law then allows the individual a further 21 days in which to appeal to the magistrates’ or sheriff courts.
“Once the SIA has completed this process, it will be in a position to determine the number of individuals not entitled to work but who obtained SIA licences prior to the new double-lock checking regime now in place. The SIA expects that a significant proportion may yet establish that they have a right to work in this country. I am advised that, of the new applications for licences initially considered for refusal by the SIA on the basis of checks with the BIA following 2 July, over 30 per cent have since shown that they have the right to work. The SIA will publish the final numbers of the pre-2 July group on its website when they are complete.
“I repeat that it is important that all employers fulfil their obligations by carrying out all the proper checks before taking anyone on. We are also taking further steps to protect the public from those individuals who we suspect have breached our immigration laws by working here illegally. First, all the cases where minded-to-revoke action is now being taken against individuals have been passed to BIA enforcement intelligence units to be assessed for further action. The BIA is screening these individuals against the police national computer and other databases so that we can target any individuals who may pose a risk to the public.
“Secondly, these cases are being analysed for evidence of employers who appear to have a track record of employing people who do not have a right to work. BIA tells me that a third of its illegal-working operation is currently being deployed on this employment sector. Visits to specific individuals and employers have already begun and swift action has been taken in those cases that merit it. A series of targeted enforcement operations will take place in the coming months, with a view to prosecuting employers and removing or prosecuting individuals in the worst cases.
“Thirdly, in line with our enforcement strategy, we will continue to target illegal working on the basis of the risk of harm to the public. New powers that come into force in February mean that
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“We are taking other steps to further guard against illegal working in the security industry. First, the BIA has passed to the SIA the right-to-work expiry dates of all existing licence holders and recent new applicants. The SIA has agreed that in future it will send minded-to-revoke letters to all these licence holders shortly before their right to work status expires. Secondly, I have asked the BIA to work with the SIA to provide specialist advice to enhance its ability to spot fraudulent documentation. Thirdly, at present, the SIA’s licence application form does not specifically ask applicants to state that they have the right to work in the United Kingdom. I have therefore asked the SIA to review the application form to ensure that it contains all the information that both the SIA and the BIA may need with a view to making changes as soon as possible. Fourthly, in January, the SIA will run a joint seminar with the British Security Industry Association to underline the importance of employers meeting their responsibilities in this area. Fifthly, the task force that I set up to resolve this issue in September, chaired by my honourable friend the Member for Gedling, will continue to oversee action.
“I believe that the update that I have provided today demonstrates my and the Government’s determination to put in place effective systems and procedures to further protect the public”.
My Lords, that concludes the Statement.
2.22 pm
Baroness Neville-Jones: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Statement. I remind your Lordships that, although the Government knew of the problem of illegal working in the security industry as early as last April, we learnt of it only in November, through a Sunday newspaper. That is over six months later, even though we are talking about the security industry. At that time, it seemed that about 5,000 people might be involved. Now we learn that more than 11,000 may be working in this country illegally in the security industry alone. The Government say that they are applying a double lock, but it seems that a large horse has already bolted. Would it not have been much better to have had competent staff in the stable preventing this breakout from the system?
It would help the House greatly if the Minister could respond to the following questions. How many people are protecting sensitive individuals such as Ministers and police and how many are protecting sensitive sites belonging, for instance, to the critical national infrastructure? The Minister said that the individuals involved had the right of appeal and that the whole process of establishing entitlement to work could take up to 42 days in individual cases. During that time, the individual has the continuing right to work. But where the safety of sensitive people, including government Ministers and installations may be involved, is this provision the right way round? Should there not be at least an ability to suspend pending confirmation?
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In another place, the Home Secretary said that investigation of a significant number of cases was now in train. How many are likely to result in deportation? Why does the system function so badly? In the Statement, the Minister says that the granting of an SIA licence,
That is not what the SIA says, nor is it what any employer would reasonably understand from its website. In a document published in 2006 and reflected on the website, the SIA states:
“To obtain an SIA licence it is necessary to pass checks relating to competency and being a fit and proper person for the role”.
with a lot of other requirements thereafter. To establish the right, the SIA required applicants to submit originals of a wide variety of documents, including passport, driving licence, firearms certificates, photo ID and so forth.
What is the SIA for if it is not going to establish immigration status? Why is it only now that the SIA is going to benefit from close co-operation with the Immigration Service? Would it not have been natural for the SIA to seek this collaboration with the BIA from the outset? Does the Minister not accept that that would have been a competent way of proceeding, especially when the SIA was giving the industry the impression that it was checking immigration status? Presumably a number of the documents presented in applications were also forgeries. How many have been uncovered by the SIA? Is the Minister in a position to say whether there will be any prosecutions?
Finally, will the Minister now tell the House how the SIA proposes to strengthen its procedures? The board members are all appointees of the Home Secretary. Had she been in the House, it would have been helpful to have heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Henig, who is chairman of the board. It is a matter of public record that she is paid £64,800 a year for a three-day week. Her duties are therefore not insubstantial in this matter. Will the Minister say when the department is likely to have finished its current investigations, so that it can advise the House of the outcome and reassure us about the confidence and integrity of the system that has been put in place?
2.27 pm
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement and updating the House on what has happened since the Statement on 13 November.
Two issues on the table continue to cloud the clear thinking in this area. The SIA is licensing individuals but the industry groups employers. Individuals are being licensed, but employers have the legal responsibility for checking. That issue has contributed to the present position. Since the original Act was drawn up in 2001, it has become apparent that the security industry has expanded considerably. The Government’s intention to farm more work out to it in all sorts of areas means
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I have talked with people from the industry, who describe the Act as a starting point. Perhaps if they were generous they would describe it as the 11-plus compared with university entrance. It may have served a purpose before there was anything else in place, but it needs an overhaul now.
I have some questions for the Minister. He mentioned that cases were being analysed for evidence of employers who appeared to have a track record of employing people who do not have the right to work here. The BIA said that a third of its illegal-working operation is concentrating on that. I wonder how many people constitute a third of that operation. Are we talking about five people, 15 people or 50 people? That will be relevant to how fast the case load can be got through.
Secondly, according to the Security Industry Authority, of the 114 contractors currently licensed there have been four withdrawals of licences, from the employers’ side, I imagine, although it is not clear to me. Perhaps the Minister would explain exactly what happens where an employer is found still to be operating even though it has a large number of individuals whose individual licences have been withdrawn. Lastly, will the Minister tell me the current position of all this in Scotland?
2.30 pm
Lord West of Spithead: My Lords, thank you for those points. The noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Jones, raised the chronology of how various decisions were made and referred to the timings of when things were known and my right honourable friend the Home Secretary’s response. Effectively the SIA, although it was under no obligation to do so, started checks in 2006 to identify whether any of the people who were being cleared on the basis of their CRB and competence were not entitled to work in the United Kingdom. They did some checks with a small sample and found that there were a number. That made them think that they should check in a little more detail and a larger sample was chosen. In April this year that highlighted that this was a problem.
That shows how important the matter is and what a good thing it was that we established the SIA back in 2003, because there was nothing in existence before that to look at these things. My right honourable friend Liam Byrne became aware of the issue in April this year. The full scale of the problem became apparent in about August, but before that on 2 July, as I said in the Statement, every applicant identified as a non-EEA national by the SIA had their right to work in the UK checked by the BIA. That was done off its own bat before Ministers had looked at this. In August we had a couple of meetings on the issue. The Home Secretary was made aware of the problem and she understandably said that she wanted to know the full scale, the full implications and the actions to be carried out. That she wanted to check the figures was shown clearly by the fact that the numbers have changed regularly, as was pointed out by the noble Baroness. Initially we thought that it might be about
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A point was raised about the number of people protecting sensitive ministries and so on. All the people who work at the Home Office in this context have SIA checks anyway. There is not an issue. In August the Cabinet Office wrote to all HR directors of various departments to establish the fact that they had to use the directive that points out the baseline personal security standard for all their people. That has been done. We have looked across the board and there are no areas where we are concerned about that risk to government departments, agencies, the military, the police and so on.
Since the 2 July cases we have passed 338 cases to enforcement teams. We have produced 328 intelligence packages, where they try to identify the full detail. We have made 101 enforcement visits, 44 encounters and so far arrested 15 people, but these are early days and there is a 42-day period for people to respond.
I was asked about what happened with the immediate suspension of a licence. The SIA can suspend a licence immediately if it is reasonably satisfied that there will be a clear threat to public safety. Having looked through the relatively high proportion that we have and the number of successful challenges, we believe that this is not an appropriate course of action at the moment for the ones that we are dealing with.
It was said that the SIA website says that it will conduct right-to-work checks. That is not correct. It says that it may conduct right-to-work checks. As I said before, it was set up on the basis of checking competency and CRB, not that right-to-work check. However, the double lock system now means that that is done and will be covered.
The noble Baroness thought that the SIA had functioned badly. I go back to what I said before, which shows me that we are lucky that we established an SIA, that it was doing its job thinking of other aspects and that it did the right things. It has been brought to our attention and now a raft of measures are being implemented to find out the exact position and to take action to make sure that we get this right. Therefore I do not think that it functioned badly at all. It functioned well and spotted something that was going wrong, bearing in mind that it was established in 2003.
The noble Baroness, Lady Miller, mentioned the licence of individuals and employees and rightly raised the fact that Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 does not fulfil what is required of it. That has been recognised. Later today in this House, for example, we will be discussing the Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2007. That is part of a series of measures to replace Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act with something a little more practical that we will be able to use properly to prosecute the firms that the noble Baroness was talking about who are clearly breaking those rules. It has been difficult and clumsy to do it in the past.
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