Police and Justice Bill

My Lords, first, I thank all those who have spoken. I give a particular apology to the noble Earl, Lord Caithness. I assure him that no discourtesy was intended. He knows that, to put it mildly, I have been under a little pressure time-wise just recently, which has meant that it has not been possible to have the meetings that noble Lords will know I am always very happy to have whenever I am able to. The reason why the amendments came back very quickly is that this House had expressed a huge interest in the nature of the inspections. I thought that this House deserved the courtesy of being the first to consider these matters—matters which I reasonably anticipated would give this House a deal of satisfaction and pleasure. Of course, it was open to me not to take that course, not to act with expedition and not to give the House this opportunity, but to allow the other place to have that privilege. If what we have done has done this House a disservice, I humbly ask noble Lords for forgiveness, but I think that it reflects the regard that I, and indeed the Government, have for this House. It would be remiss of me not to remark in a modest and mild way that my coming back to the House with these amendments seemed to give the House a little pleasure in hearing what I had to say. I reassure the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, that the frequency and regularity of inspections will be matters for the inspectorate to determine. Nothing has changed. I reassure the noble Lord, Lord Elton, too, that unannounced visits will be entirely at the discretion of the inspectorate. I say modestly to the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay—with appreciation for the work that is done by others rather than by me—that our amendment is accurate. I know that the noble Baroness always strives very hard to get the essence of what she wants down on paper and I am always happy to provide the means by which it can be delivered thereafter. We have been able to deal with the proposals for merger comprehensively, and I assure her that I indeed anticipate that, if they were to return to this House, this House would give them rigorous examination before any endorsement was given. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, for the grace with which he has dealt with the matters that he has raised and for his support. The noble Lord, Lord Elton, talked about joint inspections under Amendment No. 10D, and asked about the power to direct joint inspection programmes from time to time. The Lord Chancellor, the Attorney-General and the Home Secretary are jointly responsible for the five inspectorates under discussion. As such, they will need to agree priorities; otherwise the inspectorates could be subject to competing demands. This will ensure that there is no duplication between the inspectors, who report to different Ministers. This is so that we can have clarity and consistency, and, we hope, materially reduce the level of conflict that may arise from time to time. I hope that I have satisfied the House on inspections. I believe that I have answered all the questions asked by the noble Lord, Lord Elton, except for the question about the publication of programmes. These do not prevent unannounced inspections. Orders made by the Attorney-General will be made using the negative procedure, as are other orders, which is why the Attorney-General is referred to in the amendments. On Question, Motion agreed to. 36 After Clause 46, insert the following new Clause- ““Designation of Part 2 territories: omission of United States of America In the list of territories in paragraph 3(2) of the Extradition Act 2003 (Designation of Part 2 Territories) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/3334) ““the United States of America”” is omitted.”” The Commons disagree to this Amendment for the following Reason- 36A: Because it is appropriate for the United States of America to be a designated territory for the purposes of sections 71, 73, 84 and 86 of the Extradition Act 2003 85: Schedule 14, page 142, line 5, at end insert- ““14A (1) Section 84 (case where person has not been convicted) is amended as follows. (2) After subsection (7) there is inserted- ““(7A)The Secretary of State may not make an order under subsection (7) designating the United States of America for the purposes of this section unless there is in force an agreement with the United States of America pursuant to which an order for the extradition of persons from the United States of America to the United Kingdom may be obtained in terms relating to the production of information and evidence similar to those which apply to extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States of America after the designation takes effect.”””” The Commons disagree to this Amendment for the following Reason- 85A: Because it is appropriate for the United States of America to be a designated territory for the purposes of section 84 of the Extradition Act 2003