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Citizenship and Immigration Bill
The Bill will take forward the recommendations emerging from Lord
Goldsmith QC Review of Citizenship, which was launched on 5
October 2007 and will report to the Prime Minister in March
2008. Details of the Review can be obtained from:Lord Goldsmith QC
Citizenship Review, Steel House, 11 Tothill Street, SW1H 9LJ
Focusing ESOL on Community Cohesion
Demand for English language training for speakers of other languages
(ESOL) has outstripped supply, leading to long waiting lists. The
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) is
consulting on changes to ESOL funding to focus on community cohesion
and integration. This would mean prioritising ESOL training for
people who will be staying long-term in the UK, whilst short-term
migrant workers (or their employers) would be expected to contribute
to the cost of their own ESOL training. The consultation document is
available on the
DIUS website. Response deadline 4 April 2008. Source:
London Council.
Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007
This Act will come into effect in autumn 2008 and will allow
people to apply for an order at specified County Courts, rather than
just the High Courts, to prevent forced marriages. The new law will
give courts discretion to treat each case sensitively and
individually and will employ civil remedies that offer protection to
victims without criminalising members of their family. It also
provides recourse for those already forced into marriage.
Criminal Justice & Immigration Bill
The Bill is aimed at delivering an effective criminal justice
system in ‘Rebalancing the criminal justice system in favour of the
law-abiding majority’, published in July 2006. It looks at how to
cut crime, reduce reoffending and protect the public. The Bill
will apply to
foreign nationals whose removal would breach obligations under the
Human Rights Convention which is likely to have a greater impact on
certain sectors of the foreign national population than others.
Those who have committed crimes or acts such that they would fall to
be excluded from protection under the Refugee Convention exclusion
grounds as well as those who are considered a threat to national
security or those convicted of particularly serious crimes in or
outside the UK. It will also be applied to the dependants of such a
person.
The Government
believes that any difference in treatment towards different
nationalities would not be related to nationality but to criminality
and that the difference in treatment would be proportionate and
justified by the twin objectives of maintaining effective
immigration control and protecting the public.
Consultation on the Discrimination Law Review
On 12 June 2007, the Government published its consultation
document with proposals for a Single Equality Bill, to simplify and modernise
law in the UK. The proposals have been developed as a result of the
Discrimination Law Review launched in February 2005.
Equality Act 2006
The Equality Act 2006 was enacted on the 16 February 2006. The
Act makes provision for the establishment of a new Commission for Equality and
Human Rights (CEHR) from October 2007, and to dissolve the Equality
Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability
Rights Commissions by April 2009.
The Act's main provisions are:
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establish the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR)
and define its purpose and functions;
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make lawful discrimination on the grounds of religion or
belief in the provision of goods, facilities and services, education, the use
and disposal of premises, and the exercise of public functions;
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enable provision to be made for discrimination on the grounds
of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services,
education, the use and disposal of premises and the exercise of public
functions;
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create a duty on public authorities to promote equality of
opportunity between women and men ('the gender duty'), and prohibit sex
discrimination and harassment in the exercise of public functions.
Significant worries have emerged, with fears that the CEHR will
be underfunded and may be compromised by government intervention; for example,
undermine the independence of the new CEHR body.
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
This Act, which was enacted on 16 February 2006, makes provision
about offences involving stirring up hatred against persons on racial or
religious grounds. The Act amends part of the Public Order Act 1986 and the
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
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Policy Issues
Policy issues 
