§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the statement by the Home Secretary on 23 February 2004,Official Report,columns 23–36, on immigration from the accession states, what assessment he has made of the impact of the policy on the recruitment of health care professionals to work in the UK. [158585]
§ Beverley HughesRelevantly qualified healthcare professionals from the EU accession states will be able to work in the United Kingdom after accession.
All nationals from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania who find work in the UK will be required to apply to register with the Home Office under the new 'Worker Registration Scheme' as soon as they find work. This should have no impact on the ability of the NHS to recruit health care professionals from EU accession states.
§ Glenda JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) to whom and how often employers will be required to forward the number of EU accession citizens in their employ; whether employers1562W will be permitted to charge the employee for such registrations; and whether employers will be fined if they fail to keep such information up-to-date; [156980]
(2)whether the issuing of a worker's registration certificate will enable a citizen of an EU accession state to look for work in the United Kingdom if employment is not already guaranteed; [156982]
(3)who will issue the registration certificate enabling EU accession nationals to work in the UK; and whether there will be a charge for such a certificate; [156992]
(4)when the work registration certificates enabling EU accession states citizens to work in the UK will begin to be issued; for how long such a certificate will enable the holder to seek work; and whether it will be necessary for such certificates to be re-applied for should the holder move to another part of the UK from that in which their initial employment was found. [156998]
§ Beverley HughesMy right hon. Friend the Home Secretary indicated in his statement to the House on 23 February 2003,Official Reportcolumns 23–25, that, from 1 May, accession country nationals will have free movement across EU borders. They will not be required to apply for entry clearance to travel to the United Kingdom in search of work. With the exception of Malta and Cyprus, citizens of the new member states will need to register with the Home Office when they find a job in the UK, providing information about where and for whom they are working. Employers will be required to satisfy themselves that accession country nationals in their employ apply for and receive registration under scheme.
The registration scheme will be run by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The Directorate is looking into whether all or part of the administrative costs of the scheme could be recovered through charges.
Registration under the scheme will be issued for 12 months, and within that period will be valid for as long as the worker is in the registered employment. The worker should apply to renew the registration if he or she finds a job with a new employer. Registration under the scheme will apply only to workers in the United Kingdom, not to those who are not working.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what restrictions he plans to introduce to prevent unwanted mass immigration after accession of Eastern European countries to the EU in May. [153097]
§ Beverley HughesBased on research and experience of previous accession, the Home Office does not expect migration from the accession countries after May 1 to be at levels which would damage the labour market. Measures to ensure we can both monitor the impact on the labour market and prevent access to work-seeking benefits, child benefit and housing support were announced by my right hon. friend the Home Secretary to the House of Commons on 23 February 2004,Official Report,columns 23—25, in which he outlined the regulations the Government will be bringing forward to ensure that income related benefits, housing support and child benefit are not abused.
1563WAccession state nationals who want to work in the UK will be required to register as a worker once they have found a job. This will allow the Government to very closely monitor the numbers of people coming to work in the UK.
In the unexpected event of a large influx of workers to the UK, which threatened the level of employment or standard of living in a particular region or occupation we would impose restrictions on workers.
§ Mr. SimmondsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place between his Department and its counterparts in the new EU accession states regarding the security of peripheral EU borders. [157576]
§ Beverley HughesHome Office Ministers and officials have discussed the security of periphery EU borders with accession state counterparts on many occasions over the past 12 months (and longer), both bilaterally and within the EU framework. These discussions will continue during the lead up to formal accession in May and beyond.
Examples of these discussions include the recent bilateral meetings between my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) and Polish and Hungarian counterparts; a joint UK-Finnish border management conference attended by all 13 accession and candidate countries; bilateral technical co-operation meetings with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Malta, Poland and Slovenia; a UK-hosted seminar on justice and home affairs issues attended by all accession states; and UK participation in border control projects in Malta and Poland.