My Lords, it may be for the convenience of the House if I now speak to my Motion. However, perhaps I may first comment on the interesting remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Avebury. As he said, the previous Government had signalled their support for English language changes, but as part of a staged process over a number of years in order gradually to introduce the policy that all spousal applicants would have to speak English in order to better their integration. The decision to go for a phased development related to the availability of English language classes in some of the countries from which applicants were likely to come. I shall be interested in the Minister's response to the points and questions that the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, has raised.

I pay tribute to the Merits Committee for its careful attention to the two statements of changes in the Immigration Rules that are encompassed by my Motion. I turn first to the substantive statement, HC 59, laid on 28 June. Two changes are proposed in that statement to the points-based system as applied to highly skilled migrants. These are to provide for the application of a limit on applications approved under tier 1 general of the points-based system and to increase the number of points required to qualify under tier 1 general. These changes are meant to be interim and the Government are consulting on how limits should be determined and applied in the longer term on a permanent basis. I have two substantive points to make: first, the principle of the changes to be made; and, secondly; the degree of parliamentary scrutiny in relation to the size of the cap.

Last Thursday, we had an excellent debate on the Government's cap policy in relation to highly skilled migrants. It was opened by the noble Baroness, Lady Valentine, and more than 20 speakers from all round the House took part. Essentially, it drew attention to the illogicality and damage to the UK of the immigration cap imposed by the coalition Government.

In speaking to my Motion tonight, I do not underestimate the challenge of immigration policy for any Government. Over the centuries, this country has experienced wave after wave of migrants coming to our shores and we have benefited mightily from the talent and commitment that they have brought. They continue to come and enrich our country. However, migration also brings pressures to many of our more vulnerable communities-pressures on jobs, public services and social cohesion. That is why the previous Government committed themselves to an immigration system that both promoted and protected British values. As a result of the action that we took, our borders are stronger than ever. We recognise the pressure that can be placed on housing and public services in many communities and we had planned to expand the migration impact fund paid for by contributions from migrants to help local areas.

We can clearly see the progress made, with a reduction in net migration to the UK and with asylum claims now down a third from their 2002 level. We also introduced the new points-based system to ensure that the need for migrants was closely aligned to the needs of the British economy. That is why we built flexibility into the system. That flexibility has essentially been removed by the cap that the Government have introduced-at first temporarily through the statement, but to be followed by a permanent cap next year. This in turn has brought immediate problems for business, universities and the arts. I believe that it threatens to seriously undermine the UK economy.

Last Thursday, in the debate, the consequences were spelt out by many noble Lords. The noble Lord, Lord Ryder, the chairman of the Institute of Cancer Research at the University of London, spoke about the institute as a world-leading cancer research organisation and said that its international pre-eminence would be at risk unless the Government adapted their cap on immigration. My noble friend Lord Giddens said that many companies are already deciding not to invest in projects in the UK because of worries about the availability of specially skilled staff. The noble Lord, Lord Lucas, talked about the impact on the independent schools sector. The noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller, spoke about the need for our universities to be globally competitive and said that they were being put at risk by the cap. The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, raised concerns about the impact on our creative industries. The noble Lord, Lord Newby, drew attention to the critically important energy sector, where the arbitrary cap may force companies to move specialist functions to other countries. Many similar points were made by other noble Lords, including my noble friends Lord Judd and Lord Turnberg.

Tonight, we have an opportunity to ask the Government to reflect on the damage that their arbitrary cap is doing already and will certainly do in the future. I hope that the Government will also reflect on the degree of parliamentary scrutiny that they are affording to these major changes in policy. The Merits Committee report identified four matters that the House might wish to explore. First, is the Government's analysis of the impact of the changes on the number of applicants accurate? Secondly, has the case for interim limits been fully made? Thirdly, will the changes have any specific equality impact? Fourthly, what is the Government's reasoning for not putting the actual limit in the statement itself, which would then make it subject to parliamentary scrutiny?

Given the time, I would like to concentrate on the fourth point, because that is the subject of my Motion. The actual limit imposed on applications for tier 1 general is not in the statement. This limit is published separately by the UK Border Agency on its website and the key concern is that the UKBA guidance is not subject to parliamentary scrutiny, whereas the statement of change that we are debating today is. This concern about the Government making substantial changes in immigration policy without being subject to formal parliamentary scrutiny has of course been the subject of a number of recent judgments. As a result, the Government have altered the way in which tier 2 changes are to be implemented. Even then, however, in the case of neither tier 1 general nor tier 2 have the relevant statements provided for the limits. In the case of tier 2, the limits are left to the points-based system guidance.

I am concerned about this principle because I believe that the actual numbers should be determined by Parliament. As the Merits Committee says,

"the actual limit imposed for Tier 1 (General) would seem to be an important matter, and the House may wish to consider further the Government's reasoning for not putting the proposed Tier 1 (General) limit in the Rules themselves".

If the Government wanted to, they could set the tier 1 general limit as zero through an administrative act subject to no parliamentary control.

Although we are told that these are interim limits, there is no guarantee that they will be replaced by permanent limits in the future. I am sure that the Minister will say that there is a need for flexibility. I understand that, but there is also an overriding need for parliamentary scrutiny. As the Merits Committee points out,

"Government's desire for flexibility could be met by setting an overall limit in the Rules themselves, with the UKBA then given the ability to vary the month-by-month quotas in order to provide the desired flexibility".

There may well be other ways in which flexibility can be provided but with the overall limits being subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

My Motion refers to another statement-HC 96, laid on 15 July. That statement was laid on an urgent basis following two court judgments concerning the extent to which requirements under the points-based system should be set out in the Immigration Rules rather than in the UK Border Agency guidance. I have referred to that already and, in a sense, my remarks apply as much to the second statement as to the first.

I hope that the House will consider my Motion. My understanding from the media is that the UK Border Agency announced last week that it will be issuing no more visas in October as a new monthly limit has already been replaced. I would be grateful if the noble Baroness could confirm whether that is right. If so, it is a disaster. The Government are putting at risk this country's pre-eminent status in academia, the arts and business. The Standard reported that Mr Cameron said in his speech today that,

"the new immigration cap will not shut out business talent from overseas".

The problem is that there are specific examples from companies showing that it is being shut out from overseas. I question whether that is the right thing to do when our economy is in a position of great fragility. My Motion is not a fatal Motion, but passing it would send a powerful signal to the Government that they need to think again.