Windrush

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:14 pm on 2 May 2018.

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Photo of Meg Hillier Meg Hillier Chair, Public Accounts Committee, Chair, Public Accounts Committee 5:14, 2 May 2018

I congratulate my right hon. Friend Mr Lammy, who is no longer in his place, on bringing this matter to the Government’s attention and my right hon. Friend Ms Abbott on her dogged determination in pursuing the issue.

I want to take issue with some of the comments made in this debate. Tom Pursglove, who is no longer in his place, spoke about the matter as though it were just a small administrative error, but my hon. Friend Shabana Mahmood summed up the ignominy that many of my constituents have faced because they have a west African name or a strong accent. They come to see me for things that they should not have to see me about—not just immigration issues but, yes, those as well. I, too, have a heavy immigration workload, and I have some advice for the Minister, because another thing that has been said in this debate is, “Why aren’t we looking at the Labour years?” Well, I was the Immigration Minister in the last three years of the Labour Government, so perhaps I can help to bridge that gap.

Let me be candid: the Home Office has long had administrative problems on immigration. One of the issues that the Minister and her boss the new Home Secretary will face is that, to deal with the problem, we need proper investment in the right quality and numbers of people to be able to turn casework around in the necessary time, so that people are not dribbling through the system for a decade or bouncing backwards and forwards with decisions that require legal challenge. However, even with the current desire to tackle the issue, I bet that it will be a big challenge to secure the necessary money from the Treasury to deliver that.