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Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, I appreciate the concern of the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, in tabling this amendment and I should be grateful if he would let me explain why I cannot accept it, although I appreciate many of the points that he raised. I hope that I can give assurances and comfort that will allow him to withdraw the amendment. The amendment would restrict to six hours the period of detention in a short-term holding facility of persons other than administrative immigration detainees. As the noble Lord said, the amendment was tabled at Report, when we made it clear why we could not accept it. The wording of the second limb of the new definition of a STHF may look at first sight to be broader than it will be in practice. Let me explain. The only people whom we want to hold in STHFs, in addition to administrative immigration detainees, are those who have been arrested in connection with an immigration or customs offence. These people are subject to the protections of PACE. The only reason why we are tinkering with the established definition of a STHF in the 1999 Act is because that Act refers solely to administrative detention under immigration legislation. As we bring customs functions into the Border Agency, we want to ensure that arrests under immigration and customs legislation can also be caught, to ensure that the facilities of the Border Agency with immigration and customs functions can be used flexibly and efficiently to house all its clientele. We should not be misled by the phrase "for any period". This is not an open power to detain anyone indefinitely—far from it. Under PACE, the time limit is six hours, unless the facility has been specifically designated under PACE as a place where people may be held for longer. However, any such designation, and any detention in an STHF with that designation, will be subject to all the procedures and protections that PACE requires when detaining for more than six hours. Our proposed revision to the definition of a short-term holding facility would have no effect whatever on the relevant time limits that would apply to a person’s detention or custody in those facilities, including those that apply to an arrested person whose detention is regulated by the provisions of PACE. We do not need to set a time limit because PACE already provides all the necessary limits in criminal cases. In accordance with the provision that we are making elsewhere in Part 1, where an arrested person is detained in a short-term holding facility, appropriate obligations and safeguards in PACE, or the equivalent order in Northern Ireland, will continue to apply. Under the proposals in the Bill, individuals who have been arrested on suspicion of committing an offence, whether immigration or customs, may be detained for up to six hours in a short-term holding facility, or where such a facility has been designated for the purposes of PACE or the PACE (Northern Ireland) Order as a place of detention for longer than six hours, in accordance with the time limits prescribed by PACE, which could clock up to a maximum of 96 hours. There is, therefore, no need to specify a time limit in the definition itself. I emphasise again that in all cases there will be no change to the relevant powers of arrest and detention, no change to the statutory protections that would apply to individuals held in a short-term holding facility and no change to the relevant statutory time limits that apply at present. To turn that around, I reassure noble Lords that the revised definition of a short-term holding facility does not in any way create new powers of arrest, detention or custody. It simply allows for the possibility of such facilities being used in a more flexible and efficient way to support the work of the UK Border Agency and any joint operations carried out with HMRC. The noble Lord asked a number of questions. He asked whether the regulation would be the subject of a statutory instrument. It will. The rules for short-term holding facilities will be brought forward in the next few months. They will set out the standards and protection that will apply to immigration detainees in police cells and prisons and they will provide the reassurance that I have given that PACE will apply if people are detained in police stations or prisons. In broad terms, they will reflect the framework of those locations, modified as appropriate to reflect the non-criminal nature of immigration detention. The noble Lord asked when this will come into effect. It will come into effect at Royal Assent. It is not our intention to delay its practical application, but I give an assurance that it will be applied in a way that will be consistent with the statutory instrument that will be introduced in the next few months. The noble Lord asked a further question on consultation. I can give the assurance that we will consult the organisations that he named, including the Children’s Commissioner and appropriate NGOs. I hope that, on the basis of this explanation, the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.