Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

I will attempt to meet the noble Baroness’s aspirations, and if I fail I will be happy to extend that in greater detail in writing. The effect of the amendment would be to widen the circumstances in which the Secretary of State could exercise discretion to weigh the need to fulfil particular requirements in respect of exceptional Crown services. In particular, it would remove the need for a person to be serving outside the United Kingdom at the time of the application in order to qualify for the discretion. As the discretion is specifically designed to be applied to Crown servants who are serving overseas, we do not consider that to be appropriate. At the same time, by defining the broad parameters of the discretion as we propose, we provide for greater transparency, which we think will help Parliament. Further, I can advise the Committee—and I hope that this starts to meet the points raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham—that we would be likely to use the discretion when a Crown servant had demonstrated exceptional service by, for example, representing Her Majesty’s Government in a senior position such as vice-consul, or by demonstrating service significantly above and beyond the call of duty that has directly benefited the United Kingdom and its interests. As I say, we intend to define the broad parameters of the discretion. I hope that we can, meanwhile, move along on that basis. Regarding the greater definition, that will be forthcoming but if, in the mean time, I can help the noble Baroness by giving more examples in writing, I will do so.