Immigration Bill 2015-16: Committee Stage Report

The Immigration Bill 2015 – 16 was first announced in the Queen’s speech on 27 May 2015 and had Second Reading in the Commons on 13 October. The Bill is due to have Report and Third Reading in the Commons on 1 December.

The Bill was considered in Public Bill Committee over 15 sessions held between 20 October and 17 November. The first four sessions took evidence from external witnesses.

In addition to amendments made to the clauses and schedules as set out in the Bill as introduced, four new Government clauses and three new schedules were added to the Bill during Committee stage:

• Clause 11 and Schedule 2 (on illegal working in relation to private hire vehicles)

• Clause 29 and Schedule 6 (on supply of information to the Secretary of State)

• Clause 30 (on detention by immigration officers in Scotland)

• Clause 38 and Schedule 9 (on availability of local authority support)

The Bill as amended in Public Committee (Bill 96 of 2015-16) is available from the Bill’s pages on the Parliament website, alongside the Bill as introduced, the accompanying Explanatory Notes, and details of its passage through Parliament.

This briefing summarises the main changes made to the Bill in Public Bill Committee and some of the new clauses proposed for consideration at Report stage. It refers to the clause and schedule numbers in the Bill as amended in Committee (Bill 96). The provisions of the Bill (as introduced) are discussed in greater detail in Library briefing 7034, Immigration Bill 2015-16,