Clause 9 - Information gathering powers: extension to domestic flights and voyages
Police and Justice Bill
6:30 pm
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
Clearly, this is a new power for us and a new area into which we are moving. I am sure that the police will learn from their experience of using the power whether it is fit for purpose.
The current proposal is for a request to be submitted to obtain advance information. I am not sure how far in advance some domestic carriers would have that. We are currently in negotiations with the industry, for example, about what documentation people need to produce for domestic flights. Currently, people do not need to produce passports for such flights, so we need to try to ensure that we get sufficient information to be of use to the police. However, we should not ask for too much information because that becomes a burden on both the carriers and the individuals concerned. We are trying to ensure that the costs for and requirements on the carriers are minimised, while ensuring that we have useful information that we can use for crime prevention and detection.