Counter-Terrorism Bill

I understand the noble Baroness’s intention in moving this probing amendment. There was no intention whatever to allow the police to go into properties that someone had lived in years ago and which now belong to somebody else. However, if someone has a family home that he has been living in and then gets a flat and moves there and is using both places, the police need to be able to go into both places to see whether somebody has absconded and whether there is material relating to that absconding, or whatever. I was briefed that it was too difficult to come up with a form of words that captured the differences that the noble Baroness outlines. I assure her that we have absolutely no intention of granting the police an ability to search all sorts of premises that no longer have anything to do with them. However, on reflection, I should like to try again to see whether it is possible to find a form of words that captures that although, as it stands, it is quite clear—and we have put safeguards in place to ensure that the police will not do that. We could discuss the matter outside the Committee with my Bill team to see whether there is a different form of words. If there is not, I shall leave the drafting as it is, because I believe that it captures the essence of what we are trying to do—not to broaden the search to all sorts of premises but to allow police to go to the places that we know that the particular man or woman is using.