Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Bill [HL]

Let us deal with that point. I am advised that Clause 13 gives all the power that is necessary to grant a licence. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Oldham, for trying to help the Government by making sure that the power is in the Bill. However, I am assured, and my noble friend Lady Noakes confirms this, that Clause 13 grants that power. I will address Amendments 7 and 10 more generally. There are some important issues here. Although the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, did not spend long speaking to her amendment, she made an important point. These two amendments would clearly require the Treasury, when deciding whether to designate a person, to consider the UK’s international obligations to prevent terrorism. The Treasury would also be required to consider the humanitarian needs of persons affected by designations, including which licences should be granted immediately after the designated person is notified. The key international obligation is United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, which requires all UN member states to freeze the assets of terrorists and prevent their nationals and persons within their jurisdictions making funds, resources or financial services available to them. However, it is left to individual member states to decide to whom the measures should be applied. The Government recognise that a decision to designate someone has a significant impact on their human rights. It is for this reason that designations can be imposed only where they are necessary to protect the public from a risk of terrorism. It may be helpful if I explain the process that the Treasury goes through when designating someone. Decisions as to persons who should be subjected to terrorist asset freezes are informed by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which prepare statements of case setting out the material that gives rise to a reasonable suspicion or belief that the person is or has been involved in terrorist activity, and why the freeze is necessary for public protection. When submitting their recommendations, law enforcement and intelligence agencies also provide a risk assessment framework to inform immediate licensing decisions by the Treasury, and ensure that designated persons are not deprived of access to funds immediately after designation and before the longer-term licensing needs of the person can be addressed. That is also informed by the risk assessment framework. Treasury officials and lawyers then scrutinise the statements of case and make recommendations to the Minister on how to proceed. Where a designation is envisaged, this will include recommendations on immediate licensing needs, in accordance with basic principles of good governance, to ensure that a designated person’s basic needs can be met. It is important that the asset freeze is applied in a proportionate manner—managing the risk of funds being used for terrorism while ensuring that the human rights of the designated person are protected and that third parties are not adversely affected by the freeze. For this reason, several general licenses have been issued—for example, to authorise legal aid to be made available for designated persons and to enable them to take out insurance. We have also made clear in Clause 12(3) that the payment of social security benefits to spouses is not caught by the prohibitions, even when they are made in respect of the designated person. Designated persons can also contact the asset-freezing unit to seek additional licences and to make additional representations in relation to their designation or licensing arrangements at any time. Where a designation is made public, as they are in all current asset-freezing cases under the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2009, once the Treasury Minister has taken a decision to designate, a notice is then published on the Treasury’s website. Subscribers to the website, which include the financial sector, receive an automatic notification of the freeze, enabling them to implement it without delay. The designated person is then sent a letter, explaining that they have been designated; setting out the reasons for the designation; enclosing relevant licences; referring to the general licences that are in place; informing them of how to apply for further licences; and informing them of their right to challenge. I apologise for dwelling on this process but it is important to understand what I perhaps take for granted because I see the paperwork and assessments that are made in every case that comes before me. It may not be clear from the tip of the iceberg that appears in the Bill that, when assessing whether the freeze should be implemented, the Treasury absolutely considers the UK’s international obligations, the national security need and the human rights impact on the designated person. There are also robust arrangements in place, as I have described, to ensure that the human rights of the individual are protected from the outset. Reflecting on all this, the changes made by Amendments 7 and 10 do not need to be written into the legislation. I therefore hope that the noble Lords will withdraw their amendments. Turning to Amendment 48, I stress again the points that I have just made about licences, which deal with the main issues here. Licences provide a mechanism by which exemptions to the asset freeze can be made and issued, for example to allow designated persons access to funds and economic resources necessary to meet their and their families’ living costs. At present such licences are granted by the Treasury as a matter of course if they are required by the designated person. Therefore, the proposal to place an obligation on the Treasury to issue such licences is unnecessary. It is for those reasons that I hope my noble friends will withdraw Amendment 48. Finally, Amendment 51 inserts a power to grant a licence under Clause 13(4), which gives the Treasury the power to vary or revoke a licence. I assume that this amendment was tabled from a concern that the clause does not give the Treasury the power to grant a licence. However, as I have described already, partly since subsections (1) and (3) grant such a power, we see no particular value in including the amendment in the Bill. On that basis, again, I hope that the noble Lords will withdraw the amendment.