Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill

I cannot answer the noble Lord’s question on behalf of my honourable friend Mr Burnham but I will ask him for the answer. I am sure that there is a logical reason. I am very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, for saying that she would be happy with a letter. I will assure her at least that external physical characteristics do not include DNA. I hope that that helps her. If I can provide assurance on any other issues, I will do so as we proceed. In Clause 27 we are trying to bring together and rationalise our provisions on the retention and examination of passports and other documents produced or found on passengers during an examination. Noble Lords will know, probably better than me in many cases, that under the existing law an immigration officer may retain a passport or other identity document produced during examination until the person concerned is given leave to enter the UK or is about to depart or be removed. An officer may also retain documents relevant for the purposes of examination that were produced or found during that examination, and to examine them for up to seven days or while he is satisfied they may be needed in connection with either an immigration appeal or criminal proceedings. Amendment No. 51A would alter the regime as the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, has indicated, first, by preventing an immigration officer retaining the documents of a person against whom criminal proceedings were pending, where it is decided that the person does not require leave to enter the UK; and, secondly, preventing an immigration officer retaining documents relevant to an outstanding immigration appeal. I am well aware that in Committee one uses amendments to probe the Government’s intentions, so I do not intend to spend much time looking at the specifics behind the amendments. I am pretty certain that the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, seeks assurance on what the Government propose to do and that the clause will work effectively. I say categorically that there is no intention to hinder anybody who wishes to make a voluntary departure. Where there are neither criminal proceedings nor a pending immigration appeal to which a document is relevant evidence, documents are normally returned when a person is removed from, or decides to leave, the UK. The only circumstances where it may not be possible to return a document is where it is required in criminal proceedings, has been tampered with, is a forgery or contains a forged visa or entry stamp. In such cases, the national authorities of the person concerned are contacted in order to re-document the passenger and thereby enable them to leave or be removed.