I am very aware of that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and very grateful. It is, of course, entirely a matter for you and not for me. However, it is sometimes difficult to answer specific points that have been raised if they are not directly relevant to the amendments, even though they might be generally relevant.
Let me try to explain again what the amendments on the short-term holding facilities do. There has been a discussion about them this afternoon and, at times, the issue of detention centres has been confused with the issue of short-term holding facilities. It is, of course, the latter that we are talking about. Typically, in a short-term holding centre people will be held for a small number of hours and rarely for longer. There are some examples, of course.
The hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr. Walker) made a point about the time that it takes. Of course, some of the legacy cases have taken a number of years. That is regrettable, but it is most often caused by not the lack of a clear decision but a series of legal challenges involving appeal, fresh application, application for judicial review and so on. It is exactly that point—that justice delayed is justice denied both for the applicant and the taxpayer—that our proposals on judicial review are designed to address. Given that the hon. Gentleman spoke so strongly and passionately about the need for speedy decisions, I hope that he will support us, if we divide tonight, on the administrative reforms.
Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [Lords]
Proceeding contribution from
Phil Woolas
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 14 July 2009.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [Lords].
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