UK Borders Bill

My Lords, I express my gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, for reminding us of the detail of the discussion that we had at an earlier stage. He is quite right to do that. I understand and appreciate the issues that he raised, echoed by the noble Baroness, Lady Carnegy of Lour. She is precisely right: that is why I made the point about the Scottish Executive confirming that they are giving the matter further consideration. The issue raised by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, about a particular individual was clearly an operational one. I raised it with officials, who told me that they were generally satisfied with the working relationships between the Immigration Service and the police service and the support given by the police in those sorts of instances. On the cruise ships visiting the islands around Scotland, I understand that work on checking those on the manifest is generally undertaken at an earlier stage and that most of the issues that would potentially arise are resolved far earlier. This particular incident was of special concern, and the authorities are well aware of that. We continue to work with the Scottish Executive to resolve these issues. This is clearly an important matter, of which we are apprised. I am confident that we can secure the necessary co-operation in the future, as we have in the past, and that the arrangements should work well. I said something a while ago that I ought perhaps to correct for the record, relating to my observations on the Immigration Service and how it acts being a reserved matter. I should have said that the conferral of functions on immigration officers to detain a person pending the arrival of the police is devolved. That clarifies that issue. Of course, immigration officers in Scotland have full powers to deal with immigration and immigration offenders, so there should be no confusion on that issue.