Clause 4 - Entry clearance
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill
1:15 pm
Tony McNulty (Minister of State (Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality), Home Office; Harrow East, Labour)
As I have tried to say, I cannot say that in that strict sense. I can say that it will not happen instantly—the first part of what the hon. Gentleman suggests—but I cannot pre-empt the final nature and shape of the points system. If I cannot pre-empt that, I cannot pre-empt the transition period from that to the final points system. We think that it will happen roughly about mid-2007, but, like many of these matters, as and when we can introduce elements of the points system earlier, we shall.
I shall give one small example. If Members look at the first tier of the points system, the plan to replace the highly skilled migrants programme, without pre-empting the consultation, will probably not be miles different from what it is now. That may be introduced at an early stage.
If I do know at this stage every detail—the nature of the transition or the nature of the final position—I cannot say absolutely that clause 4 will not be introduced until after the points system. To be helpful to the Committee—I say this on a personal level, so do not put me up against a wall and hold me to this—I think that it is very unlikely that clause 4 will be implemented before, at the very least, the transition period between the absolute points system and the introduction of elements of the system.
The entry clearance function, to which clause 4 and the amendments relate, is central to—far more than people readily understand—the points system. They are inextricably linked. Do not shoot me should some of clause 4 be implemented before the points system is introduced, but in all likelihood it may not. In all honesty, do not push me further on that, because further I cannot go. Three or four processes are unfolding simultaneously. I want to ensure that all of them are interlocking before we go down that road.
I understand the concerns in terms of the higher education sector. As my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow suggests, we shall get to a stage where everything is far more transparent. I agree with him, too—otherwise road blocks would run this place rather than MPs—that 100 per cent. objectivity is a fool's errand. Do not go there, because there is not 100 per cent. objectivity.
Furthermore, it is in our collective interest, in public policy terms, for there to be that flexibility in the system and for it not to be as sharp and rigid as 100 per cent. objectivity would imply. To the extent that it can be, there must be clearly defined flexibility in the system in the context of how the process will unfold. It is not about simply ticking boxes and adding points up, although that is a large part of the measure.