New Clause 8
Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [Lords]
2:00 pm
Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington, Liberal Democrat)
With these two new clauses—the last, I think, to be debated today—we return to the issue of probationary citizenship, which is a matter that we discussed in one of last week’s sittings. I will deal with the new clauses together because they both relate to what constitutes probationary citizenship. The Government’s view is very much that probationary citizenship is not about citizenship, but that it is a stage at which citizenship has not been reached. The new clauses state that probationary citizenship is citizenship that has been achieved but is under probation—if people understand the semantic difference. The new clauses, therefore, are looking at ensuring that assistance is available through local authorities to deal with homelessness—the subject of new clause 8—and looking at what assistance is available and what fees should apply when seeking to access services such as education and health—new clause 9.
As the Minister is aware, under the current proposals a holder of probationary citizenship would be ineligible for 15 different benefits that are available to those with indefinite leave to remain, and overseas rates would apply for further and higher education. That means that people whom we are hoping will soon become citizens of the United Kingdom and whose circumstances will often be difficult will find it hard to afford further and higher education, in particular, and may find themselves unable financially, for example, to access the national health service. It is an issue of principle about what probationary citizenship is, how we should view people who are going through that phase and how they should be treated in comparison with what applied previously in relation to indefinite leave to remain. I hope that the Minister will consider the new clauses carefully.