Clause 4
Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [Lords]
12:00 pm
Damian Green (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Ashford, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment 5, in clause 4, page 4, line 29, at end insert—
‘(3A) Any designation made under section 3 must be approved by a resolution of both Houses of Parliament.’.
This is a short amendment. I will not weary the Committee by repeating the speech that I made earlier about the importance of parliamentary scrutiny, but in essence the same argument applies, and I seek to probe the Minister’s attitude. As hon. Members will see, this is the designation clause. It deals with the different facts that allow a designation to be made, the limits that are put on it, the fact that it can be permanent or for a specified period, and the functions that can be conferred through a designation.
The key point is that the
“power to designate, or to withdraw or vary a designation”—
in other words, all the powers associated with the clause—
“is exercised by the Secretary of State giving notice to the official in question.”
In essence, the Secretary of State is given powers to do all the things that Secretaries of State do in such cases.
In the amendment, we are once again seeking a precautionary measure. I hope, and indeed expect, that the provisions would almost never need to be exercised, but our proposals would provide a further small check so that any action proposed under the wide powers that the clause gives the Secretary of State could be undertaken only with the Parliament’s approval.
I put that in the context of the relatively broad nature of the Government’s plans in this area. We are beginning to tease out some of the details. The Bill gives the Secretary of State very broad powers, and it is not immediately apparent—certainly not from the Bill—how they will be exercised in practice and in detail. The amendment would simply give Parliament some say and some check on how those powers are worked out and how they will operate in practice.
If the current or any future Secretary of State exercises the powers of designation in a reasonable and sensible way, the power in the amendment need never be brought into practical use. However, it would be useful to have it, and it would, once again, increase Parliament’s ability to scrutinise the effects of the Bill.