Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, it is by joining up our powers, assets, skills and people in one organisation that we can increase our flexibility, strengthen border security and improve our capacity to facilitate legitimate trade and the movement of people. While I appreciate the sentiments behind the amendments proposed by my noble friends Lady Gibson and Lady Turner I want to explain why I believe they are not appropriate. The amendments would prevent the Secretary of State and the Director of Border Revenue designating immigration officers and other existing officials of the UK Border Agency as customs officials. They would also reduce the agency’s operational flexibility by removing the ability to make and to vary designations according to business needs. I should point out straightaway that Clauses 3 and 4 do not permit the Secretary of State to designate contractors as general customs officials; contractors are not officials of the Secretary of State for the purposes of these provisions. I assure my noble friends that that is not the intention and it will not happen. By not allowing other designations, however, this would prevent the full integration of customs and immigration functions within the new border force and it would jeopardise delivery of a unified customs primary checkpoint, as recommended by the Cabinet Secretary’s report, Security in a Global Hub. My noble friend talked about not having the same number of barriers. We now have a first line of the border force which is abroad, where the visa agency used to be. We will monitor all of that, and in future there will be e-Borders as well. The second line is the full development of e-Borders, targeting based on PNR and intelligence and the line of people at the port itself. Combining immigration and customs powers in the hands of our officials will enable us to improve the breadth and depth of protection at our borders. It will mean greater operational flexibility for the agency to deploy its staff better. Over time staff can be redeployed quickly to manage effectively any change in the nature or scale of the threats that we face. That is often very intelligence-based. The agency can cover more locations and respond to a greater number of threats. The approach will bring benefits for our staff too. As a consequence of our proposals, some roles will broaden as we develop an integrated approach to the front line, providing opportunities to learn new skills, take on new responsibilities and have wider career paths. We will be careful to ensure that we do not lose the strong capabilities that exist in HM Revenue and Customs and the former Border and Immigration Agency and UKvisas. Accordingly, in some areas, specialisms will be retained. The UK Border Agency was created because it represents the best model to secure the border. We will aim to retain good practice where it already exists. Rather than dilute the skills, Part 1 will enhance the capabilities of our border force officers. The new legislation will make sure officers have all the powers, tools, equipment and training that they need to carry out passport and customs controls at the borders. That training will provide them with the instruction and skills appropriate and necessary to allow them to exercise the full range of their functions. I hope that my noble friends will be reassured to know that we have kept trade unions across all affected departments updated as we have taken our proposals forward. The national body, the Council of Civil Service Unions, was consulted by the Cabinet Office review team during the preparation of its report, Security in a Global Hub. We continue to build on this involvement as a key part of the implementation process and regular meetings are held with the recognised trade unions. Any proposed changes that might impact on jobs or terms and conditions will be subject to full consultation with those unions. We need every man and woman that we have to ensure the safety of our borders. This is certainly not some hidden way of trying to reduce numbers. In summary, the Bill is intended to increase the flexibility to deploy UKBA officers and officials where they are most needed and to build on existing skills and manpower. We do not envisage reducing the number of personnel at the border in any way. Rather, we intend to deploy people on the basis of intelligence in the most appropriate way, given their skills to meet the threats that we face. The amendments would prevent the flexible deployment of the agency’s staff and would impact on its ability to deliver the broader and deeper coverage of our borders that the Bill is intended to achieve. While I understand exactly where the amendments come from, I hope that I have been able to reassure my noble friends that the unions need have no fear in this area and we will not be employing temporary staff as they are not covered by this. I hope that my noble friend will feel able to withdraw the amendment.