§ Mrs. Rumboldasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to develop a more open explanation by the Immigration and Nationality Department of its administration of the Immigration Act 1971 and the British Nationality Act 1981; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BrittanI have approved a number of measures to explain more openly and more fully the work of the immigration and nationality department.
Today a report has been published on the work of that Department, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House and the Vote Office. Although the report is focused on 1983 and early 1984, because it is the first of its kind, it ranges more widely in describing the procedures of the Department and its future plans.
In addition senior officials of the immigration and nationality department have begun a programme of visits, arranged through local community relations councils, in order to hold open meetings with representatives of local groups interested in immigration and nationality issues. Visits have already been made to Derby, Leeds, Luton and Brent. There will be another in Birmingham on 18 July, and some more are planned for the autumn.
The scope and regularity of meetings between senior officials of the Department and outside organisations has been increased, as has the number of visits to the Department and the ports by interested organisations and the media. We shall continue to look for further ways by which the work of the Department can better be explained.