My Lords, the statement reverses the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of ZN (Afghanistan) concerning the Immigration Rules that apply to dependants of former refugees who have been naturalised as British citizens, and imposes a new English language requirement on persons applying to join their spouses or civil partners already settled in the UK.

Up to now, the rules have allowed British citizens and non-EEA nationals who are settled in the UK or who are being admitted to the UK for settlement to bring with them their spouse, fiancé or civil partner subject to certain conditions which do not normally include a pre-entry language requirement, the only exception being where the applicant is asking for indefinite leave to enter as a partner or spouse. In those cases, where the applicant satisfies all the other requirements but not the English language test or the test of knowledge of life in the UK, she or he is normally admitted for a period of 27 months, which generally gives them time to do the homework and pass both tests.

The justification for extending pre-entry testing, given in paragraph 7.13 of the memorandum accompanying the statement, is that it will help spouses and civil partners to integrate into British society. The Government say that it will help promote the economic well-being of the UK by encouraging integration and protecting public services. They claim that it will help ensure that spouses and civil partners are equipped to play a full part in British life from the outset.

But the Immigration Minister, the honourable Member for Ashford, has included these rule changes in a list of initiatives designed to reduce numbers. The honourable Member for Romford reinforced the point when he appeared on the BBC's "Politics Show" on 9 June. I understand that the Government estimate that the tests will produce a 10 per cent reduction in applications from spouses and civil partners-perhaps my noble friend the Minister will confirm that figure.It would mean that we are talking not merely about a delay affecting the failed applicants but about their permanent exclusion. If the number of applications is the same in every year and the failures are successful 12 months later, the 10 per cent reduction will happen only in year 1 and will be made up by those who defer taking the examination until the second year. Will the Minister confirm that it is assumed that none of the 10 per cent will get through the tests after some delay? If not, what is the Government's estimate of the proportion of applicants who drop their attempts permanently?

There was no consultation on the imposition of the language test on the grounds that the changes proposed were said to be minor and to reinforce rather than change existing policy. There was a consultation on the UKBA's original proposal on marriage visas generally in December 2007, and, the following July, it reported that 68 out of 101 respondents were against pre-entry language tests. Respondents pointed out the difficulty of accessing good-quality tuition in many countries and said that English was best learned in the UK, where facilities are available and the newcomer is already immersed in British life.

Liberty, the civil liberties organisation, reminds us that, because of the problems uncovered by that consultation, the previous Government decided on a phased implementation. In July 2008, they announced their intention to establish a cross-government departmental group to identify benchmarks that would trigger implementation of universal pre-entry language testing, to develop monitoring and reporting arrangements and to improve English services in priority areas from which most spouses apply. In the Home Office's equality impact assessment of 1 October this year, we read that the FCO, BIS,DfID and the British Council indeed formed such a group, but, as far as I know, any advice that they gave has not been published. It would be interesting to know what they said about the time that it would take to implement marriage visa reform. I hope that the Minister will agree to place copies of their reports in the Library of the House.

Without knowing even approximately how many spouses may be affected, one can see already from the adverse effects on family unity of ordinary migrants that, for some of those who must take the tests, these are not minor changes by any means. My correspondent, Mr R, originally from Kuwait but now a British citizen, wishes to bring his wife and one year-old child to live with him in the UK. He lost his well paid job here during the recession and has since been in Kuwait looking after his wife and little girl. As Mrs R is a Bidoon, it took some time and a lot of correspondence to register the little girl as a British citizen. Mr R is now facing the dilemma that the accommodation and maintenance tests can be passed only by returning to the UK and trying to get work in a hostile economic environment, leaving his wife and daughter to fend for themselves in a society where Mrs R is a non-person. It may take several years before Mr R can get the resources needed. Meanwhile, his wife must learn English without having the money to pay for lessons.

On the basis of a legal opinion from Matrix Chambers, the director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, says that pre-entry English tests are discriminatory and unlawful, and that Liberty will challenge the policy in the courts. The memorandum gives the Secretary of State the power to let the applicant off taking the test where there are exceptional compassionate circumstances that would prevent them meeting the requirement. It would be helpful if my noble friend explained how that expression is to be construed. Will there be guidance on its interpretation and when can it be expected?

The equality impact assessment published on 1 October acknowledges the possibility of an Article 8 case if a family is separated because a spouse such as Mrs R is unable to meet the requirement either because she cannot access English lessons in the country of origin or because she is destitute, or both. The EIA also admits that cases might be brought under Article 14 of the ECHR on discrimination on grounds of nationality, taken together with Article 8 on right to family life, because spouses from countries where English is the Majority language are exempted from taking the tests.

Rabinda Singh and Aileen McColgan of Matrix Chambers advised Liberty that there are,

"serious grounds for concern as to whether the imposition of pre-entry language requirements ... is consistent with the UK's obligations under Articles 8 and 14 of the ECHR, and also with the positive obligations imposed on public authorities (specifically here the UKBA) by the Race Relations Act 1976".

Can my noble friend say how the Government reached the conclusion that making it harder for refugees' spouses to join them, and thus damaging family unity, is compatible with the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees? Will she address this question in the light of the judgment by the Supreme Court in the case of ZN, where the noble and learned Lord, Lord Clarke, said in paragraph 35 that there were,

"coherent policy reasons for applying the same principles to applications to join or remain with a spouse or parent who has been granted asylum both before and after such a sponsor has become a British citizen".

This principle is underlined in many of the decisions of Excom, the governing body of UNHCR, of which the UK is a prominent member. In 2005, for example, Excom reaffirmed,

"the importance of family unity and reunification as referred to in its Conclusions Nos 9, 24, 84 and 88; and recognises that family members can reinforce the social support system of refugees, and in so doing, promote the smoother and more rapid integration of refugee families".

It follows that creating barriers to entry will delay the integration of refugee families and, as children learn languages less easily as they grow older, the delay may be critical. In the Netherlands, when language testing was introduced there was a reduction of 39 per cent and 44 per cent in the number of spouse applications from Turkey and Morocco respectively, the two main countries of origin, in 2006, the first year of the tests, and that reduction continued into 2007. Will the Minister ask the Netherlands Government whether they sought advice from independent agencies on the effects of their tests on integration, particularly since they raised the standard of the tests in 2008?

On the question of who will conduct the tests, the EIA answer to question 1.2 says that initially we will accept any of the test providers who are approved for tier 2 of the points-based system and who confirm that they provide appropriate A1 speaking and listening tests. What has been the response so far of these providers, and when is the full procurement exercise for providers of English tests likely to be undertaken? In the mean time, what will the tests cost an applicant and will they be able to take them online?

Lists of approved testing centres will be needed in all the countries from which spouses are likely to apply. Perhaps my noble friend will place copies of those lists in the Library. There are further questions from both ILPA and the JCWI in their joint letter to the Immigration Minister of 1 October, and I hope my noble friend will ask him to publish his reply to that letter.

The other change in Cm 7944 is that, if the refugee is naturalised as a British citizen, for the first time his spouse has to satisfy the accommodation and maintenance requirements that apply to spouses generally to get a marriage visa. The Government's argument is that under the rules as they stand there is discrimination between British citizens who were not refugees and other British citizens who were refugees and are now naturalised. However, as ILPA has pointed out, the circumstances of the two groups are profoundly different. The cause of family disunity in the case of the refugee is that he had to leave his home country because of his well founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Naturalisation does not change his status as a refugee. As I have mentioned, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Clarke, said in paragraph 35 of the Supreme Court's judgment in the case of ZN, which the Government now seek to reverse, that there were,

"coherent policy reasons for applying the same principles to applications to join or remain with a spouse or parent who has been granted asylum both before and after such a sponsor has become a British citizen".

This principle is underlined by many of the decisions of Excom, as I have already mentioned. Have the Government asked UNHCR to comment on these changes? Can my noble friend explain why the Government consider that making it harder for refugees' spouses to join them, and thus damaging family unity, is compatible with the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees?

In the impact assessment published in August 2009, I understand that the cost of implementing these measures was estimated at between £26.9 million and £51.1 million, but that did not include the legal cost of defending human rights actions based on Articles 8 and 12 of the ECHR, the right to private and family life and the right to marry and found a family respectively. Can we have an update on the cost, including an estimate of the legal fees that will be incurred?

These changes, and similar ones in Germany, Denmark and France, are modelled closely on the system in place for several years past for dealing with spouses in the Netherlands, except that in the Netherlands family members of persons who have been recognised as refugees are exempted permanently from the test. Research there by Human Rights Watch has shown that the system hinders integration by preventing spouses from living together; and the operation of the test, coupled with the income requirements, high costs and long waiting periods, creates a strong impression-expressed also by the majority of migrant representatives interviewed by Human Rights Watch-that the measures are not about integration but rather about keeping people out of the country. In the words of one, they are "to close the door". I fear that that will be the legitimate reaction to this statement among immigrant communities here too, so that the damage to integration will not be confined to the families immediately affected. I beg to move.