ADD2331 Immigration White Paper - consultation and engagement

The Government has published an Immigration White Paper outlining its future approach to immigration after the 31st December 2020, the currently planned end to the transition period as the UK prepares to leave the EU. This is the single largest change to immigration policy since the adoption of freedom of movement in the EU. A year of ‘extensive engagement’ will now follow before Immigration Rules are published. The White Paper notes that this engagement is a ‘vital avenue through which to explore and consider the social and economic needs of all parts of the UK.’

The Home Affairs Committee has criticised the Government for making “no attempt … to build consensus, nor to consult with the public about the decisions that must be made and the trade-offs our country faces”. The next 12 months provide a unique opportunity for the GLA to engage with a wide range of stakeholders to collect more comprehensive and detailed evidence on the impacts of immigration policy.

The GLA has already worked closely with businesses to respond to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) investigation of Brexit’s impact on the UK labour market. The Social Integration Team support vulnerable migrants through the EU Londoners Hub, the London Strategic Migration Partnership and the Citizenship and Integration Initiative. Work is also underway within the Skills and Employment directorate to create a robust evidence base on the skills need for London.

However, a holistic organisational approach to this policy area would be valuable. A consultant could fill gaps in capacity and immigration expertise in some teams, ensure consistency of engagement with stakeholders, explore cross-cutting issues such as exploitation and social integration which might otherwise be overlooked, and to effectively draw together these strands of work to ensure the work is representative. This work will enable the GLA to have a comprehensive evidence base on immigration, and to more effectively reflect the views of a wide range of stakeholders in the capital.

Consultant commissioned to provide capacity and expertise to the organisation engaging a wide range of stakeholders on immigration and integration policy. This consultant will:

• Coordinate and manage a programme of consultation with expert stakeholders across sectors, using existing forums wherever possible and working with/building on the existing expertise and stakeholder strategies in teams.
• Explore cross cutting policy issues within team’s existing engagement and evidence gathering
• Create a report with detailed analysis of the evidence collected through the consultation, looking at the crossover between different sectors and identifying opportunities, challenges and priorities for London to inform the GLA’s response to the Immigration White Paper
• Support to develop proposals to engage more Londoners in policy conversations about Brexit and Immigration through deep community engagement

A comprehensive and cross cutting report on the impact of the Immigration White Paper proposals for London and Londoners.

Extensive engagement with stakeholders and Londoners themselves on immigration and integration.

This programme aims to highlight and explore the equality, integration and inclusion implications of the Immigration White Paper proposals, ensuring these issues are comprehensively explored in conversations with stakeholders.

In order to ensure the highest standards of equality, diversity and inclusion are upheld, the GLA will use outreach and engagement approaches to target activities at particular groups that are less able to engage or face greater barriers to engagement to enable them to participate, whilst ensuring that activities are open and accessible to all Londoners. The procurement process will make clear that contractors need to comply with the GLA’s Equality duties.

1. Key risks and issues

b) Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

This work forms part of the Mayor’s Social Integration Strategy, to remove barriers to integration relating to ability to access legal rights to citizenship and residence.

c) Impact assessments and consultations.

This work relates to a desire to consult more closely with stakeholders and with Londoners to understand the impact of the proposals in the Immigration White Paper.

The expenditure of up to £32,000, will be funded from the 2018-19 Social Integration budget held within the Communities and Social Policy Unit.