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Government immigration reform consultation challenged

We have written multiple times about the Government’s major immigration reform consultation, firstly in a previous Week in Parliament where we did a little dissection of it raising significant concerns over the process and then in a wider piece questioning whether there might be problems in the Home Office’s consultation culture.

We criticised the consultation for its short duration (only six weeks), for being online-only, for placing barriers in front of participants and therefore potentially limiting its reach and for being rather long, particularly for the time given to respond. It seems we’re not the only people with concerns.

According to the Law Gazette, the solicitors Duncan Lewis have issued a judicial review application arguing that the consultation indirectly discriminated against their clients. As we would expect, it seems a major part of their case will revolve around the public sector equality duty, and the lack of provision for other languages in the consultation.

The Home Office intend to defend the claim, stating that “We make no apologies for wanting to move quickly- vulnerable people are falling prey to organised crime gangs and are dying making dangerous journeys across the English Channel”. Whilst it might seem a compelling argument, it’s unlikely to stand up in court as a reason to undertake a prima facie strangely short consultation.

This is unlikely to be the last challenge to recent Home Office consultations, and their apparent habit of undertaking sub-par consultations may well lead them into further legal trouble. At the moment, we are currently involved in an FOI process over another of their consultations that is likely to lead to legal action, and it will be interesting to see what the courts have to say about this one.

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