Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

I shall answer the question of the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, first because it is a short one. The answer is that we are having ongoing discussions with the Irish about the border, intelligence sharing, risk and things like that. We have been deeply involved in that, not least because of the CTA work. That is continuing. On the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, the Government are committed to ensuring that consistent and independent oversight is in place throughout the United Kingdom. As such, we fully agree that oversight in Northern Ireland should be provided by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, in line with the oversight provided in England and Wales by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Although the Government have invited the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland to take on this oversight role, I am afraid that discussions with the ombudsman regarding his suggested role are still in the early stages. Officials have been working with the Northern Ireland Office and it is intended to take this matter forward now in the immigration simplification Bill that is due to be published at the end of this Session. It has been decided not to introduce the changes in this Bill because we want to have those discussions completed and want to build on the initial work and allow enough time for scrutiny and discussion to ensure that we get it right. Until such oversight by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland is introduced, where a complaint involves criminality this will continue to be investigated by the police, whereas for complaints regarding staff misconduct it will be for the border force’s Professional Standards Unit to investigate. We are proposing that, through the immigration simplification Bill, the police ombudsman would have oversight of serious complaints, incidents and conduct matters in relation to the exercise of specified enforcement functions by all border force staff and contractors—namely, immigration officers, officials of the Secretary of State, customs officials, contractors and the Director of Border Revenue. While oversight of complaints, incidents and misconduct matters in Northern Ireland is of equal importance to the rest of the UK, arrangements to secure sufficient oversight have been initiated more recently than those with the IPCC. When the Government first approached the IPCC in order to secure oversight in England and Wales, activity in Northern Ireland was at a very low level, with officers from England carrying out ad hoc enforcement operations in this area. However, activity has since increased and there is a proposal for a permanent office to be opened in Belfast. On this basis, discussions are progressing with the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland to ensure that adequate oversight is in place. It is important to note that, although activity has increased in Northern Ireland, it is still relatively low level. For example, I think there are about 18 officers involved in enforcement work there at the moment. I hope that the noble Baroness feels that answers her question enough to be able to withdraw her amendment.