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Equality Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for government Amendment No. 141. She promised to look into the issue when we debated it in Committee, and I am delighted that the amendment is now before us. We tabled such an amendment during the passage of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act, but it was resisted by the Government at that time. I am delighted at their change of heart on the matter. We support the exceptions made in the amendment, but we need to ensure that they are fairly applied. The Minister says that the exceptions relate to what is conducive to the public good, and to why it is undesirable for the person to remain in the United Kingdom. I have no difficulty with that. They relate to the four categories that she mentioned—refusing entry clearance, cancelling leave to enter or remain, refusing to vary leave to enter or remain, or varying leave to enter or remain. The question is not about the operation of paragraph (f), but about who supervises the provisions to ensure that there is no discrimination, particularly religious discrimination. The public good or why it is undesirable for a person to remain here have to be explained, otherwise such powers could be fairly oppressive. Our Amendment No. 148 is designed to meet that problem. We propose the appointment of a person to act as a monitor. There is a monitor on immigration cases, and issues relating to race ought to be looked into specifically. It is important that we have an annual report about the operations of the provision, and that it be available to Parliament. Will the Minister confirm that, at the moment, no particular authority can look at some of the issues that I have identified? Our amendment is designed to build confidence in the operation of exceptions that so far have been excluded from other anti-discriminatory legislation.