Call for evidence for inquiry into immigration and integration
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Social Integration is pleased to announce a call for evidence for Stage Two of its inquiry into immigration and integration.
Stage One of the inquiry set out’six guiding principles‘which the APPG believes should inform the design of a post-Brexit immigration system and development of a government strategy for the integration of immigrants.
Stage Two will explore two of these principles in more detail, namely:
- Principle Three: Government must reassess its current ‘one size fits all’ approach to immigration policy.
- Principle four: For new immigrants, integration should begin upon arrival in the UK.
Terms of Reference
For this stage, the APPG invites respondents to consider the two broad principles outlined above, and to address any or all of the following topics:
- English language provision
a) How might the provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and community-based English language programmes be improved?
b) What role, if any, should central and local government, businesses, and service users play in the funding and delivery of these initiatives?
c) What are the advantages and disadvantages of college-based ESOL provision and community-based English language programmes, respectively? - Barriers to participation
a) What are the most common barriers to participation in English language classes?
b) How can these be overcome? - Devolution of immigration policy
a) To what extent could some of the responsibility for immigration be transferred to devolved governments, metro-regions, Local Enterprise Partnerships, or groups of local authorities?
b) How might the establishment of a regionally led immigration system impact, positively or negatively, on levels of integration?
c) How might it impact on the political and public debate on immigration issues? - Drawing on international examples
a) Are there any international examples of successful regionally-led immigration systems which UK policymakers might draw upon?
b) How has the system in question affected migrant settlement patterns and levels of migrant integration and community cohesion?
Responding to the Call for Evidence
The APPG welcomes submissions of evidence from as wide a range of organisations and respondents as possible.
If you make a submission of evidence to the APPG, please ensure that:
- Your submission is no more than 2,500 words in length.
- You state clearly who the submission is from, i.e. whether from yourself in a personal capacity or sent on behalf of an organisation.
- You include a brief description of yourself/your organisation.
- You email your submission in Word format to’appg.socialintegration@the-challenge.org
- You submit your response no later than’Monday 13 March 2017
Definitions
The term ‘integration’ is understood by the APPG as the extent to which people conform to shared norms and values and lead shared lives.
The term ‘immigrant’, unless otherwise specified, is used to refer to economic migrants, as opposed to refugees or asylum seekers. The APPG’s definition of an economic migrant encompasses people who legally immigrate to the United Kingdom to advance their economic and professional prospects. This includes both recent immigrants and those who have resided in the country legally for a number of years, but do not have British citizenship. The APPG’s understanding of the term applies equally to high-skilled, low-skilled, and unskilled immigrants.
Conditions and confidentiality
Submissions will be published on this website after the response deadline, along with a list of names and organisations that responded to the Call for Evidence. The APPG reserves the rights to reference the content of all submissions in future reports and publications and/or to use them as case studies.
If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential please state so clearly in writing when you send your submission.
Submissions that do not meet the criteria outlined above and/or are received after the deadline will not be considered by the APPG and will not be published on this website.