Part of Prisons and Courts Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:15 pm on 29 March 2017.
Richard Arkless
Scottish National Party, Dumfries and Galloway
2:15,
29 March 2017
I beg to move Amendment 30, in Clause 4, page 9, line 6, at end insert—
“(d) Investigating cases where a person is detained in immigration detention facilities for longer than 28 days.”.
This amendment includes as a function of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to investigate where a person has been held in immigration detention for more than 28 days.
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.
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.
