Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I appreciate that the noble Lord is trying to be helpful, but I think that the level of detail that he is attempting to argue should be placed in the Bill is inappropriate. That detail is best left to instructions. The point is very clear and the standards are very clearly set out. In my description, I made that very obvious. I also made the point that responsible officers must keep valid and accurate records as they may be required in court. The noble Lord seemed to suggest that there was no requirement to keep a record. The instructions to responsible officers are very clear: these records must be kept in terms. If we were to detail in the Bill this instruction in a particular way and if at some later stage it was felt that that was not the most appropriate form in which it should be set out, we would have to come back to reargue the legislation and use a legislative slot to make that simple change. I do not think that that is an intelligent use of the legislative process. That is one of the reasons why these kinds of matters, important as they are, which I acknowledge, are best kept in the form of guidance which is clear and well understood. That guidance can be consulted on and, from time to time, changed when it suits and when it is right to change. For those reasons, I do not think that the amendment is necessary, nor do I think it is required in the terms set out by the noble Lord.