25 July 2006
An in-depth review of the immigration system
sets out the Home Secretary's plans for
widespread changes and improvements.
The UK's immigration policies must move
with the times to deal with the spreading
impact of globalisation, changing patterns
of travel and migration, and the effects
of international crime and terrorism, so
says Fair, Effective, Transparent and Trusted:
Rebuilding Confidence in our Immigration
System, a review published by the Home Office
today.
The review outlines how the Home Office's
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
(IND) will meet the challenges it faces
in the coming years.
The document is designed to build on the
government's existing five-year strategy
for asylum and immigration, with new proposals
for strengthening borders, streamlining
the asylum process and removing the most
harmful illegal immigrants first, in order
to protect the people of the UK.
Key proposals in the review
The review contains a number of proposals
that will help the IND refocus its attention
on its core objectives. These include:
implementing ID cards, starting with biometric
residence permits for foreign nationals
by 2008
requiring non-European Economic Area nationals
to have unique, secure IDs in order to travel
to Britain by 2011
performing border checks before people leave
their home nations, especially on high-risk
routes
counting everyone in and out of the country
by 2014
enhancing the powers of the borders service
handling 90% of asylum claims within six
months
making more effective use of detention,
tagging and monitoring of those whose asylum
cases have not yet been decided
strictly enforcing laws that ban the employment
of illegal residents
There is no overnight solution
Home Secretary John Reid said the challenges
facing IND are growing and the agency will
have to move with the times if it is to
handle them with strength and success. 'There
is no overnight solution, but work has begun
and we are already taking action to improve
our services and restore public confidence,'
Dr Reid said.
He said some of the review's suggestions
will require consultation in the coming
months, but that 'with the continued hard
work and commitment of the directorate,
we will be able to deliver a more effective,
efficient and robust service that the public
and Parliament rightly expect.
Reforming the Home Office
The review of the immigration system published
today is part of our plans to reform how
the Home Office works, and follows the publication
last week of a detailed Review of the Criminal
Justice System and our overall Reform Action
Plan.
For more information on our Reform plans
and updates on our progress over the coming
months, see Reforming the Home Office.
Source - http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk
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