UK Borders Bill

The noble Viscount gets me to put on the record the fact that the procedures will not be directly approved by Parliament, but we have had extensive consultation. They are in the Library; I have asked officials to provide copies to Members of the Committee. We will receive with interest comment on both the draft designation principles and the standard operating procedures. If we were to go along the route of parliamentary approval, which I do not think the noble Viscount is suggesting that we do, we would be locked into something that is less manageable as a practical working document. I accept that the PACE codes are revisable, but they take longer to be revised and are, in a sense, less flexible. A balance between the two has to be struck, and we think that we have got it about right. I invite Committee colleagues to look at what we have provided and reflect perhaps, as we have to do, between this stage and Report.