My Lords, I also have Amendments 2, 3, 6 and 13 in this group. My noble friend Lord Greaves commented the other day that it has become something of a custom—not as much as a convention—for the early speeches on amendments in Committee to turn into something like Second Reading speeches. I do not intend to make a Second Reading speech, and the comments with which I shall preface my remarks on Amendment 1 could not have been made at Second Reading.
I do not suppose that having to deal with 112 amendments at such a late stage was easy for the Minister or for officials. Indeed, I suspect that the officials who have had to deal in very short order with what is in effect a new Bill as regards the provisions for labour market enforcement have had a particularly difficult time, so I am sympathetic to all of them. However, others of us who have been involved in the Bill have not found it easy and, in particular, those outside this House who are involved in the
sector and whose comments are always so valuable to us have had a really hard time. Frankly, this is no way to legislate.
A member of the Public Bill Committee in the Commons commented on how good the process had been, although he did say, “Pity about the content of the Bill”. The Minister has also commented on the evidence sessions in the Commons, saying that more detailed scrutiny was undertaken than is often the case. However, these new clauses dealing with the role and remit of the GLA affect the structural arrangements and the relationships of actors in the sector. They also introduce new measures and more, and I cannot see that anyone could describe this as best practice.
I apologise to the Committee for the late tabling of amendments to the government amendments—I tabled a number on Friday—but I wanted to look at them, with my own responses to them, at this stage rather than repeat the process on Report, as might have happened had I left it until then. As I said, how can the NGOs and others respond, presented with amendments in effect less than a week ago? It is not just their problem; it is ours as well, because we cannot do our job well if we are in a vacuum. I am sure the Minister will say that the consultation on the labour market sector, which closed in December, trailed the proposals, but it did not; not in the way in which we now see them. We are making law and therefore we have got to make it right, not just have a general narrative discourse on the arrangements.
3.45 pm
Part 1 of the Bill, on the labour market, has no place in immigration legislation. The issues do not apply universally to immigrants and, conversely, are very relevant to many people who are not immigrants. Even without the new version, as I will call it, the Bill would be difficult enough. The Constitution Committee of your Lordships’ House has commented scathingly that immigration law stands out as a particularly byzantine field, saying that the Bill’s complexity is exacerbated by much of it amending existing, already highly complex pieces of immigration legislation which are subject to frequent changes. It comes in the wake—although the wake has not subsided, of course, but we will come to that later—of the 2014 Bill, which itself is substantial and complicated. The Constitution Committee expresses its,
“real concern from a rule of law perspective”,
describing immigration law as inaccessible and not fit for purpose—whinge over.
Amendments 1 and 2 seek an understanding of how the new regime will sit within government. I appreciate that it is quite usual to refer to a Secretary of State without designating a department, for obvious reasons. However, this situation is unusual, which is why I have referred to the Secretary of State “for the Home Department”. That is the sponsoring department for the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, but the consultation to which I have referred was a joint consultation involving the Home Office, which focuses on protection and enforcement, and BIS, which focuses, among other things, on deregulation. Of course, the
Treasury is also involved, and the debate in the Commons suggested that the director will report to the Home Office.
I had better pre-empt any teasing about my criticising joined-up government. I am not doing so. I have argued often enough for that myself, so I do not want to complain about cross-departmental working. However, if the powers are to be exercised jointly, it is important to have an on-the-record explanation of how that is going to operate.
Amendments 3, 6 and 13 would put the involvement of the devolved Administrations on the face of the Bill. I had a look back at the Modern Slavery Bill, which seems to deal with this issue in the way that I have dealt with it in these amendments. I have picked up that progress has been made on this, and I hope it has. It hit my consciousness only last week during a visit to the Scottish Parliament. Although the Governments continue, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly will go into purdah in about nine weeks’ time because of their elections. This adds another dimension to our consideration of the Bill, because clearly these things need to be sorted out quickly, and not just in respect of this clause. I beg to move.