HC Deb 02 February 1984 vol 53 cc275-6W
Mr. Proctor

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1), pursuant to the answer of 19 January to the hon. Member for Billericay, Official Report, c. 441, if he will list in the Official Report the interested bodies to which he will be issuing a revised circular on the provisions for voluntary repatriation;

(2) what steps he is taking to advertise and to provide literature explaining the provisions of the new repatriation scheme under section 29 of the Immigration Act 1971; whether the literature will be written in the main ethnic minority languages; whether the scheme will be advertised, in particular, in the ethnic minority press; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waddington

Information about the revised arrangements for repatriation will be set out in a circular issued to local authorities. After consultation with them, copies of the circular will also be made available as appropriate to other advice-giving bodies, but the precise details of its distribution have not yet been settled. Information sheets in English with details of the new arrangements will be prepared for use in response to requests or inquiries. If demand justified it, we should be prepared to produce information sheets in other languages. We have no plans to advertise the revised scheme.

Mr. Proctor

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the reply of 18 January to the hon. Member for Billericay, Official Report, c. 441, if he will set out in the Official Report the main differences in the criteria governing the two former repatriation schemes and the new single scheme under section 29 of the Immigration Act 1971.

Mr. Waddington

The main changes in the administrative criteria governing the repatriation scheme under section 29 of the Immigration Act 1971 are:

  1. (1) the removal of the requirement that applicants for assistance must have a poor employment record and prospects;
  2. (2) an increase from £5 to £20 in the amount of earnings above supplementary benefit level as the upper limit of eligibility; and
  3. (3) the removal of the requirement that applicants must have failed to settle in this country.