Clause 29
UK Borders Bill
11:45 am
Liam Byrne (Minister of State (Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality), Home Office; Birmingham, Hodge Hill, Labour)
I will certainly do my best to help the hon. Gentleman. The subsection aims to make it clear that the legislation will dovetail with the definitions and terms that are used in the Immigration Act 1971, in which the power of the Home Secretary is defined in terms of his ability to exercise certain powers and to deport people if that is deemed to be conducive to the public good. The subsection concerns exceptions that are relevant to the cases of mentally disordered offenders, to whom we might have obligations. For example, it would not necessarily be to the public good to deport a mentally disordered offender who had been committed to an institution and was receiving care. On balance, it might be to the public good for us to continue to care for him until he was better so that he could be returned to his country of origin safely rather than as a rampaging psychopath. We want to reconcile this Bill and the 1971 Act where they relate to circumstances that trigger an exception.