Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I am arguing that they should be in exactly the same position. The Government propose to give bailiffs the right to employ violence against debtors. That is in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act, not in this Bill. They are able to bring in regulations that will describe to what extent bailiffs are allowed to employ violence against the person. I argue that the Government should refrain from bringing these regulations into effect. That would be the simple thing to do; I am proposing to do it by means of an amendment that would prohibit the regulations from being brought into effect. We know little about the rules under which bailiffs operate. There is a code of conduct—a set of guidance—but the Government refuse to publish it. It was requested under the Freedom of Information Act and appeared with two-thirds of it blanked out. I presume that that will again be the case if bailiffs are allowed to use violence; we will not allowed to know the rules under which they are allowed to use violence against debtors. When the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act went through, we were promised that there would be a process of consultation, that the results would be published and that we would know who the Minister consulted and what had been said. I do not know how many bailiffs the Minister comes across, I am happy to say that I come across a large number. I chair the Enforcement Law Reform Group and this year I am the chair of the judges for the Civil Enforcement Awards. I have enjoyed meeting them, and they are a fine body of men and women. None of them has asked for this power. When the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act was going through Parliament, they argued strongly against it, and they continue to argue strongly against it either individually or in their organisations. I have not come across one of them who wants this power, so why are the Government doing it? I hope that the Government will back away from this, but if they are still committed to going ahead, can they at least name one or more organisations that want this power and give us some idea of how they intend to employ it and why? I beg to move.