Nicholas Soames, Mid Sussex MP, has today welcomed the Immigration Act becoming law. It completed its passage through Parliament and received Royal Assent last week.

This important Act continues the Conservatives’ reforms to restore control to our immigration system so our economy delivers for people who want to work hard and play by the rules. It includes action to:
 

• protect public services for people who have contributed with their hard work and taxes so they can rely on them when they need them. The Act introduces a new requirement for certain temporary immigrants to make a financial contribution to the NHS.
• make it easier to deport illegal immigrants so the law is on the side of people who respect it. It cuts the number of immigration decisions that can be appealed from 17 to 4 and makes it harder to abuse Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to a family life) to avoid being deported.
• deter illegal immigration so there is less abuse in the system. The Act will make it harder for illegal immigrants to get a driving licence, open bank accounts, and access products such as credit cards and mobile phones.

These steps build on our previous reforms which have cut net immigration from outside the EU to its lowest level since 1998.

Nicholas Soames, the Co-Chairman of the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration said; “There is still much work to do to clear the mess we inherited from Labour, who let immigration get out of control for years, but the Immigration Act is a significant step along the way. It will stop migrants using public services to which they are not entitled, reduce the pull factors which encourage people to come to the UK for the wrong reasons, and make it easier to remove people who should not be here.

“As part of our long-term economic plan, we are building an immigration system which is fair to hardworking people and legal migrants, while cracking down on those who are here illegally.”

Notes

The Immigration Act became law on 14 May 2014. The Act makes way for a series of reforms which will ensure our immigration system is fairer to British citizens and legitimate migrants and tougher on those with no right to be here (Home Office, Immigration Bill becomes law, 14 May 2014, link).

Full details of the Act can be found here.

Net migration from outside the EU is at its lowest level since 1998. In the year ending September 2013, non-EU net migration is down by more than a third compared to when the Government came to power in 2010 (Home Office, Non EU migration continues to fall, 27 February 2014, link).

Overall net migration is also down from 2010. Nearly 70,000 fewer migrants are coming to the UK annually (ibid.).