Calais Migrants: What Is The Government Doing?

After a week of announcements and pledges by the Government, apparently with aim of looking tough of migration, is anything new?

:: Landlords

MEASURE: New measures to enable private landlords to evict illegal immigrants without a court order have been announced.

Landlords who fail to remove illegal immigrants who do not have the right to live in the UK - or who do not carry out checks on their status before renting out properties - could face up to five years in jail.

NOT NEW: The Coalition government previously announced plans, in 2013, that all private landlords would have to carry out checks on the migration status of every tenant before renting a room or house.

NEW: New plans will expand what was a pilot scheme and make it a criminal offence, including a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment if a repeat offender.

:: Fencing

MEASURE: Fencing supplied by the UK Government last month is being put up around the platforms where vehicles board the Eurotunnel shuttle but the Prime Minister said the government would "further boost security by funding additional fencing to shore up as much of the perimeter as necessary".

NOT NEW: Britain constructed a £12m fence as a second layer of security for the ferry port after repeated attempts to break into the terminal by migrants during the summer of 2014.Though some of it was damaged in storms last December.

NEW: This new fencing will primarily be targeted not at the port but at the Eurotunnel where the most recent attempts by migrants have been made.

:: Asylum seekers' benefits

MEASURE: Asylum seekers can currently claim £36 a week in support when they apply for asylum. The Government, which has already cut the amount, said this could be withdrawn completely if their application fails.

NOT NEW: Plans had already been in place for substantial cuts for asylum seekers with children, who this month will see a 30% decrease with a single parent with one child only receiving £73.90 a week. A decision had also been made that all asylum seekers awaiting a decision will receive £36.

NEW: The decision to end the handouts if applications fail.

:: Border Force staff and sniffer dogs

MEASURE: On Friday the Prime Minister pledged additional border staff and security guards along with sniffer dogs.

NOT NEW: This is far from the first time the Prime Minister has pledged a beefed up Border Force, in fact, it seems to be the de facto response.

In June, at Prime Minister's Questions, he said Home Secretary Theresa May was looking at placing more border staff and sniffer dog teams on the French side of the Channel.

Last year France called on British police to come to Calais to help manage the thousands of migrants. And in 2013 the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee blamed staff shortages in the Border Force for failures in checking lorries for stowaways.

NEW: Given the media coverage, extra security will almost certainly be deployed, though the Home Office is unable to give precise numbers.

Effective measures at the Calais port have helped move the problem to the Eurotunnel but improved measures there may just move the problem on to other ports.