British Future and The Home Affairs Select Committee Immigration Inquiry

 

Director of Communications at British Future, Steve Ballinger writes about The Home Affairs Select Committee Immigration Inquiry launched today and how his organisation hopes the decision makers listen to the public’s views on immigration.

Today at Westminster the Home Affairs Select Committee launches a new Inquiry into developing a consensus on an effective immigration policy.  British Future is pleased to be working with the Committee on this Inquiry.

The Committee will conduct a series of regional meetings across the UK, meeting with a cross-section of the public to hear their views, starting in early 2017.

Accompanying the Home Affairs Select Committee hearings in each region is a ‘National Conversation,’ coordinated by British Future.  This project will consult the public through a series of citizens’ panels in every nation and region of Britain, together with online surveys and in-depth opinion polling, feeding the results into the Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry to provide a more detailed picture of public attitudes to immigration in Britain and the common ground on which people can agree.

The National Conversation aims to find out what the public thinks about who we admit to the UK and how we make immigration work for local communities, new arrivals to Britain, employers and workers.  We want to know what the public thinks about integration and how best to make sure that newcomers become successful members of local communities.

British Future’s research over the last five years into public attitudes to immigration and integration has consistently found that the majority holds balanced views on immigration, which polarised public debates often fail to reflect.  When they are engaged properly, people have constructive contributions to make to the immigration debate and there is considerable potential to find common ground.  That is why this Inquiry is so important.

We want decision makers to hear the public’s views and to be informed by them in their policy making.  Our collaboration with the Home Affairs Select Committee will provide an opportunity to do this.

The Inquiry launches today and we look forward to working with the Home Affairs Select Committee.