Clause 102 - Police, &c. Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill
3:00 pm
Ms Angela Eagle (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Wallasey, Labour)
The good character test is always left to the discretion of the Secretary of State for naturalisation purposes. Such a test would be ludicrous if it meant that someone with a parking offence could not become a naturalised citizen. Criminal activities range from parking and summary offences to far more serious crimes, and the power of the Secretary of State to exercise discretion should take
account of that. There is no fixed statutory means of achieving that, which is why the Secretary of State has discretion. Clearly, minor offences carry less weight. The clause deals with the facts that the Secretary of State needs to take into account to exercise discretion under the law. A pattern of less serious offences might lead to a refusal, as might a more serious offence. As I have explained, the law currently leaves decisions to the discretion of the Secretary of State.
It is clear that inappropriate granting of British citizenship to people engaged in serious criminal activity is potentially harmful to public safety, so the clause provides a legal basis for chief officers of the police, the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal and Intelligence Service, HM Customs and Excise, certain contractors providing accommodation under the National Asylum Support Service and persons specified by order under section 20 of the 1999 Act to disclose information to the Secretary of State to verify good character for immigration purposes.
I hope that the hon. Gentleman will accept that such information plays an important role in the appropriate exercise of discretion. The clause ensures that it can properly be passed to the Secretary of State by those specified bodies.