Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

Clause 28 extends the regulation-making powers of the Secretary of State in Section 41 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 to enable her to confer functions on the Independent Police Complaints Commission in relation to serious complaints, incidents and conduct of matters in respect of the exercise of functions of the border force under Part 1 of the Bill. I am grateful to the noble Lord for his amendment and for bringing forward scrutiny to this area of the Bill. The Government have also tabled an amendment to Clause 28 and I should like to deal with this first before turning to the amendment proposed by the noble Lord. Clause 28 as introduced would enable the Secretary of State to make regulations allowing the Independent Police Complaints Commission to oversee serious complaints, incidents and conduct matters relating to the provision of contractual services in relation to the discharge of customs functions in England or on behalf of the UK Border Agency. The Government, however, wish to give the IPCC the same oversight role in respect of the provision of contractual services in relation to the discharge of those immigration and asylum enforced functions specified in Section 41(2) of the Police and Justice Act 2006, which the UK Border Agency exercises in England and Wales. It is for this reason that the Government are bringing forward this amendment to Clause 28. The Government feel that the amendment would strengthen the independent oversight arrangements for these functions. In his Amendment 37, the noble Lord has identified that Clause 28 only secures oversight of contractors exercising customers’ functions. As I have explained, the Government will move an amendment to Clause 28 to ensure regulations can secure oversight over contractors exercising both customs functions and functions in relation to immigration and asylum matters. We are therefore agreed on the underlying purpose in relation to the need to cover contractors, but we prefer our slightly simpler amendment on that point. The amendment proposed by the noble Lord would also extend the oversight of the IPCC to oversee the exercise of specified enforcement functions by officials of the Secretary of State in the UK and overseas. The Government do not believe that the amendment is necessary as officials working at our diplomatic posts overseas do not exercise enforcement powers. At our juxtaposed controls in France and Belgium, UK Border Agency officials are exempt from prosecution under French or Belgian law for acts committed in the UK control zone in the course of their duties. Under the terms of the treaties in place for juxtaposed controls, any complaints are investigated by the authorities of the host state and all evidence gathered is handed over to the relevant authorities in the UK for consideration under UK law. The Government are considering whether an independent oversight system can be put in place for matters arising at the juxtaposed controls that do not warrant criminal investigation but do constitute serious misconduct. Currently such matters would be investigated by the agency’s professional standards unit but are not subject to independent oversight. All criminal matters that do not relate to an official function in the UK control zone are a matter for the French and Belgian authorities and will be processed in accordance with their domestic legislation. The Government are committed to securing appropriate oversight of all the UK Border Agency’s complaints, incidents and conduct matters relating to exercise of enforcement powers. However, it has always been intended that the territorial extent of the IPCC be limited to England and Wales. I hope the noble Lord will agree and feel able to withdraw his amendment.