Habitual Residence Test (Hansard, 20 March 1995)

§ 5. Mr. Madden
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what reports he has received about British citizens being denied benefits under the habitual residence test. [12992]

§ Mr. Lilley
I have received correspondence on this matter both from hon. Members and from other individuals and organizations.

§ Mr. Madden
Does the Secretary of State agree that when the test was introduced the House never envisaged that it would be applied to British citizens? Does he realise that many British citizens who originate from overseas perceive the test as part of this country's immigration controls? Will he address his reply to the question that I have asked about British citizens and not to Canadian backpackers with British citizens as grandparents?

§ Mr. Lilley
The regulation was always intended to apply to anyone who was not habitually resident in this country, who had severed his connections with this country and chosen to live elsewhere or who had been born and brought up elsewhere. That includes people who—technically—have British citizenship because they have British grandparents, but who may have been born and bred in Canada, who come here on working holidays, as the hon. Member kindly reminded us, and expect the British taxpayer to pay for their benefit. Surely the hon. Gentleman or, indeed, any hon. Member cannot believe that that is right. The extraordinary thing is that the Labour party opposes every measure that we introduce to stop abuse of the benefits system and then tries to get us to amend the measures in ways which are incompatible with the European Community law, to which it normally wishes to make us subservient.

§ Mrs. Roe
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that many of the so-called British citizens who are denied benefit under the habitual residence test have very little connection with the United Kingdom and that some have never visited this country before? Does he agree that we should limit benefits to those people who have demonstrated a commitment to this country?

§ Mr. Lilley
I am sure that my hon. Friend's view will be widely supported in the country. People believe that benefits should be available primarily for those who live 6 and have their residence in this country and who contribute through the tax system directly and indirectly to the cost of welfare, and that benefit should not be available to those who have chosen to live elsewhere, to pay taxes to other people and to be dependent on benefits there.

§ Ms Lynne
Following the woefully inadequate reply to the question asked by the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden), does the Secretary of State accept that, although we all want to stamp out benefit tourism, British citizens are being caught in the net? Those who go away to work for a couple of years or who go to live abroad with their husbands and come back to this country because their marriages have broken down face destitution. Will the Secretary of State at least guarantee to look at the legislation again and take into account those particular British citizens who are suffering?

§ Mr. Lilley
On the hon. Lady's second point, as with all new measures, we are committed to keep this measure under close review to see how it works in practice. I assure her, however, that the vast majority of those affected are not British citizens. As for those who are technically British citizens, they are rarely in the circumstances that the hon. Lady described. Nevertheless, we shall of course keep the regulations under review.

§ Mr. Congdon
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the changes simply bring us into line with other European countries where it is not possible for foreigners to claim benefits as of right? Is it not entirely right to put the interests of the British taxpayer before the interests of those people?

§ Mr. Lilley
My hon. Friend is right in that most continental countries have a residence system and only people with residence permits in those countries are entitled to the equivalent of income support there. No country in the European Community is entitled to discriminate on the basis of nationality, as the Opposition appear to wish us to do.

§ Mr. Bradley
When will the Secretary of State answer two simple questions which he has so far failed to answer on the Floor of the House or in parliamentary replies? How many British citizens have won their appeals against the decision to deny benefit under the habitual residence test and what reasons were given for their winning those appeals? If the Secretary of State is so sure that it is simply a matter of benefit tourism, will he give those answers today—or will the deafening silence continue, with many claimants being denied benefit and suffering severe hardship as a consequence?

§ Mr. Lilley
The hon. Member will know that I cannot, off the cuff, give the result of every appeal and the reasons for it, but I will respond to questions tabled by the hon. Gentleman as soon as the information becomes available. He would not expect me to do otherwise. There is an appeals system and it is right that there should be one. If people disagree with the judgment, they can take the matter to appeal. That would merely be a measure of how successful the appeal system is.