Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

These amendments would tighten up the provisions in the Bill for the disclosure of customs information. Clauses 14 to 20 deal with the disclosure of information between customs and immigration, and Clause 14(1) creates new powers for the use of disclosure of information. Designated customs officials, immigration officers, the Secretary of State or another Minister, "““by whom general customs functions are exercisable””," the Director of Border Revenue and any other ““person acting on behalf of”” these people may use customs information that they have acquired through one function for the purposes of any of their other functions. Even more broadly, any of these people may disclose customs information to any other official for any exercisable function. Once you give officials multiple functions, there is nothing to prevent them using information discovered or received under one function for the purpose of another. Allowing full disclosure between all immigration and customs officials goes even further. There needs to be proper justification for allowing complete information sharing and use between HM Customs and Revenue on the one hand and the Immigration Service on the other. We have also had representations from the Law Society of Scotland which suggests that information subject to legal professional privilege should be expressly protected from the general disclosure provisions in these clauses. We would like the Government to explain whether, and if so to what extent, information subject to professional legal privilege is protected under the Bill and how this is to be specified.