Part of UK Borders Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:15 pm on 20 March 2007.
Damian Green
Shadow Minister (Home Affairs)
12:15,
20 March 2007
I am grateful to the Under-Secretary for that explanation, and I hope that she will go away and look at this again. She said that she believes that these documents are most likely to be found at the address of the person to whom they directly relate, but I put it to her that that will not be the case if the legislation were passed in this way—because that will be the only place where the police are allowed to investigate. One does not need a great criminal brain to work out that if one leaves the evidence somewhere else, and the police are not empowered to investigate it, one is less likely to be caught. For practical reasons, I hope that Ministers will reconsider the powers of the police and immigration officers in that regard. The Bill contains an enormous loophole, and nothing that the Minister has said persuaded me that its existence has been adequately addressed. Nevertheless, for the time being, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
