Clause 7 - Failed asylum seekers: withdrawal of support
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill
9:10 am
Mr Mark Oaten (Winchester, Liberal Democrat)
The Minister has been extremely helpful. She says that it is not good law making to narrow down the option. I could argue that it is not good law making from the Opposition's perspective merely to have a Minister's promise or commitment in Committee about something in the Bill that is unclear. I am uneasy about that. It would be hard to envisage circumstances where one would wish to vary the time period downwards. It would go into someone's natural period of justice and I am uneasy about it. I accept the Minister's reassurances and we may want to revisit that at a later point.
On the wider issue of whether it is 14 or 21 days, I understand the Minister is saying that, in this particular fifth class, we are allowing a longer period. As there will be a generally longer period, there is an argument for saying that it should not be 21 or 14 days. She has yet to explain how long it will be. We have
some detail about the letters and the interview but we need to know whether that will all be done in a week, two weeks or four weeks. Until we have clarity about how long the process, which I think is helpful, will take, it is difficult for us to make a judgment about the 14 and 21-day point.
For the sake of a week, it would be a tidier system if the fifth class were in line with other classes. It must make sense to have the same principle in place. Not having it in place could lead to confusion. Individuals may assume, perhaps because they have been through the process before, or their advisers may assume that the period is the same as it is for other classes. It is sensible to have tidy legislation that is similar to the other processes that are in place. The Minister admitted that these cases are more complex. That is why the Government want to put these processes in place. If these cases are more complex, it is inconsistent to have a period that is much shorter than the one for less complex cases.
Finally, I may be misinterpreting some of the subsections, but in some of the other classes there might be an ability to appeal against the determination to terminate the support. My reading of the clause is that no appeal may be brought for the fifth class on the removal of support. If that is being taken away, my layman's interpretation is that another tier, another period, is being taken away for this class. That suggests that having the 21-day period rather than the 14-day period would be helpful. We will need to revisit these issues. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.