§ 1. Mr. Thorneycroftasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will require all resident and arriving immigrants to register the names of those dependants whom they wish to come here.
§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Roy Jenkins)No Sir. Apart from other considerations I have no power to do this. But, as mentioned in paragraph 19 of the recent White Paper on Immigration from the Commonwealth, an entry certificate is not normally issued unless the head of the household has furnished particulars of his dependants in time to enable the information he has given to be confirmed.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftMay I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his appointment to his high office, and, so far as it is appropriate for a Member of the Opposition, wish him well? Does he recognise that there is considerable anxiety in the country, not simply about the numbers who are coming in but about the possibilities of evasion? If he is relying on paragraph 19, could he give some indication as to how far it is being used, since if the numbers registering are very small, it becomes almost irrelevant to the problem?
§ Mr. JenkinsI am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his congratulations, and glad to note that my move does not mean that I am independent of criticism from him. On the specific point raised, the numbers registering using forms are so far relatively limited, but the scheme has only been in operation 370 for a short time and I am satisfied that the procedures he suggests would be impracticable.