UK Borders Bill

My Lords, as these amendments raise two issues that we discussed as recently as Tuesday, I can be very brief. We considered what the Minister said about the draft code of practice, which, as he acknowledged, was clearly marked as a draft, but we remain unhappy about the code for the reasons that we gave, particularly in the context of Amendment No. 24. It makes no reference at all to private contractors, who are carrying out some of the most crucial duties of the BIA, including, for example, detention and escorting, and we simply do not accept that Parliament’s right to approve the code by affirmative resolution gives us any worthwhile opportunity to scrutinise the code before it comes into effect. I repeat—I hope that the Minister can answer this now that he has had 48 hours to reflect on the suggestion—that both this code and the Section 9 code should be made subject to pre-legislative scrutiny. It may not be our normal practice to do that with secondary legislation but, with so many sensitive functions of government now being dealt with by order, this would be an excellent example on which to trial the process. This may not be the time to go into detail on the code but, as an example of matters that cause us concern, I could make some comment on paragraph 16, which deals with children being looked after under private fostering arrangements. As I understand it, the fostering arrangements would not be subject to the provisions of the code. In dealing with an adult who has arranged for a child to come to the United Kingdom, it should be asked what arrangements have been made for the child to be looked after in the UK, although that matter should have been sorted out when the visa was awarded. Satisfactory assurances should be given by the sponsor of the child that the fostering arrangements are in place, that they have been approved by the local authority and that the fosterer is a properly qualified person to fulfil that role. However, there does not seem to be any certainty either that the BIA will be notified of the fostering arrangements or that the local authority will have inspected them. These defects should be dealt with in the final version. I also suggest that the code should form part of the contract between the local authority and the person who is to provide the fostering arrangements. I take it that the draft has been sent to the relevant professional and voluntary bodies, the LGA and the local authorities for comment. I ask the Minister to arrange, as has been done on other occasions, for a summary of the responses to be published so that they can be considered, preferably as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process that I have suggested.