I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

On Second Reading, in Committee and on Report, concern was expressed from a number of quarters about police procedures at the terrorist holding centres. I repeat that the Government are wholly committed to ensuring that the highest standards apply in the conduct of police interviews with terrorist suspects. We have listened carefully to the anxieties that were expressed, and have decided to make a number of important changes.

First, we have decided to create a code of practice under the powers in clause 60, dealing with the detention, treatment, questioning and identification of terrorist suspects. The amendment would impose a duty on the Secretary of State to produce such a code; it would also leave intact the enabling power in relation to the other matters currently specified in the clause as possibilities for codes of practice.

The Government also announced in another place on 13 May that we were considering the appointment of an independent commissioner to monitor procedures at terrorist holding centres. While our ideas on that remain at a formative stage, it is possible to envisage a scheme with certain general features.

First, the commissioner would be appointed with the remit to visit holding centres and to have access to those centres at any time of his or her choosing. Secondly, the primary task of the commissioner would be to ensure that the proper procedures relating to the treatment of terrorist suspects were being followed. Thirdly, the commissioner would, therefore, be concerned with such matters as the proper completion of custody records, the procedures under schedule 3 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989, the proposed code of practice on detention to be made under the Bill, the provisions of part VI of the Bill, the continued supervision of the closed circuit monitors and, generally, to see that the arrangements for the detention of suspects were satisfactory. Fourthly, the commissioner might have the duty to report periodically to the Secretary of State and could be required to draw any matter of immediate concern to the attention of the Chief Constable.

It will take some time to work out the details of the scheme. We are currently having discussions with the RUC, the police authority and the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights, among others, on those matters. I hope that the House will feel able to welcome those developments. They demonstrate that the Government have given serious consideration to the concerns that were raised in the House and are prepared, wherever possible and practicable, to introduce new measures to enhance confidence in police procedures and to enhance further the rights of persons arrested and detained under the terrorism provisions in Northern Ireland. I commend the amendment to the House.