Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

There is no intimation of a clause stand part debate on Clause 38, so, if I may, I shall take the opportunity of this amendment to Clause 38(2) to revert to the observation of the Delegated Powers Committee on this subsection. When we debated Clause 9 last week, I referred backwards to Clause 8, and especially Clause 8(2), which had also prompted comments by the Delegated Powers Committee. Those comments had embraced Clauses 9 and 10, as well as Clause 8. I was obviously not seeking to go backwards then but I indicated that, if the Government had not yet responded, I would return to the matter on Report. The noble Lord who responded for the Government on that occasion said that he was not aware of any reply and accepted the notice, but he later let us know that the Government had replied. I of course accept that my reference was taken from the third report of the Delegated Powers Committee, and the fourth report, which has not yet been published, will presumably contain the reply, but I cannot know whether that reply will resolve the matter. Exactly the same thing has happened with regard to Clause 38(2), which the Delegated Powers Committee has drawn to the attention of the House. I do not want to unsight the Government, so I shall return to this matter again—in this case, on Report—unless the Government’s reply, which presumably by then will have been published, has resolved the matter satisfactorily.