Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

The amendment would allow the IPCC to entertain complaints about acts of HMRC and UKBA officials and their private contractors both within and outside the UK. Together, the two amendments would also allow us an opportunity to understand the respective jurisdictions of the IPCC and the Prison and Probation Ombudsman. Section 41 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 empowers the Home Secretary to confer jurisdiction upon the IPCC to investigate complaints of misconduct against immigration officers, and the purpose of our amendment is to ensure that complaints can also be made to the IPCC about the conduct not only of customs and immigration officials, but also of their private contractors. We are somewhat pleased to note the Government’s response to our amendment with their Amendment 38, but disappointed that they have confined their amendment to the United Kingdom. The Cabinet Office report published in November 2007, Security in a Global Hub, which has already been mentioned several times, remarks that: "““The drive to push as much border control activity as possible overseas has been a key theme in the development of border management over the past decade””." This objective has meant that immigration powers are exercised increasingly by UKBA officials and private contractors overseas, including at the ““juxtaposed controls”” where UK officials and private contractors exercise immigration powers at EEA ports with the agreement of the Governments of France and Belgium. As the report says, the use of these powers overseas has significantly expanded since the Home Secretary was given the power in January 2003 to exercise immigration control at European Economic Area ports. However, officers were using these powers overseas before then, such as at Prague airport in 2001. Although airline liaison officers overseas have the right to stop people boarding flights, it is really at the juxtaposed controls that our wording is to be preferred to that of the Government because at those locations the powers of search, detention, fingerprinting and so on may be exercised by both immigration officers and private contractors. The private contractors may carry out other immigration functions overseas, as I have already mentioned, such as escorting people who are being removed from the UK. The dossier of allegations in the document Outsourcing Abuse which is currently, as I mentioned earlier, subject to investigation by Dame Nuala O’Loan, includes assaults by private contractor escorts outside the UK. As I mentioned, 3 per cent of the allegations recorded were assaults on aircraft after take-off from the UK, and one can assume that assaults at that point would be less likely to be recorded because of the practical difficulties facing someone who has been removed. The report states: "““The authorities appear reluctant to investigate reported assaults which often happen behind closed doors, with no witnesses””." We have already noted in the discussion on Clause 22 the Government’s stated commitment to strong oversight, transparency and accountability of the UKBA. So the absence of jurisdiction for the IPCC to investigate complaints of misconduct by immigration officers and their private contractors exercising immigration functions overseas is a significant omission, only partially repaired by the government amendment. So, while we are grateful to the Government for having gone some way towards our proposals, we are more concerned than ever to ensure that oversight of what happens outside our borders is placed on the same footing as it is within the UK. The scope for abuse is almost inevitably greater when the chances of detection are lessened, and vulnerable individuals deserve and need the protection that our amendment will afford. I beg to move.