§ Baroness Lockwoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they propose to make changes to the arrangements for overseas domestic workers who accompany their employers to the United Kingdom. [HL3043]
§ Lord Williams of MostynWe have been concerned for some time at reports of abuse of domestic workers accompanying their employers to the United Kingdom. We have been working with Kalayaan, the organisation which represents overseas domestic workers, to see what changes we could make to the conditions under which they are admitted with a view to improving them and preventing abuse.
With effect from today, only those domestic workers whose duties exceed those set down in the International Labour Organisation's International Standard Classification of Occupations will be allowed to accompany their employer to the United Kingdom. This means that those whose duties are only cleaning, washing and cooking will not qualify. Once in the United Kingdom, they will be allowed to change domestic employment to another employer, provided the nature of their duties meets the above criteria.
These changes, which we shall include in the Immigration Rules at a suitable opportunity, will reduce the number of overseas domestic workers admitted to the United Kingdom. However, once here, they will be able to change to anther employer if they suffer abuse from their original employer.
132WAWe also propose to regularise the stay of those overseas domestic workers who, because of the shortcomings of the provisions in the past, find themselves in an irregular position through no fault of their own.