Justice 1 Committee, 06 Mar 2007

Meeting date: Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Official Report 108KB pdf

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UK Borders Bill

The UK Borders Bill is United Kingdom Parliament legislation. I refer members to the legislative consent memorandum on the bill, which has been lodged by Cathy Jamieson, the Minister for Justice, and to a note that the clerk has prepared on it.

I point out to members that, as a result of amendments to the bill that have been tabled, the UK Parliament will no longer legislate on devolved matters in the bill and, as such, there will be no need for the Scottish Parliament to debate a motion on the legislative consent memorandum.

Do members wish to make any comments?

I would be grateful if the clerks would provide a little explanation of what that means in practice.

Is it possible to do that, Callum?

Are you asking for an explanation of the substance of the matter?

Yes. What will happen as a result of our agreeing to the LCM?

The procedural position is that a matter of law that is devolved to the Scottish Parliament will no longer be legislated for by the UK Parliament. That would have been the position if we had been considering the UK Borders Bill as it was introduced to the UK Parliament, but the UK Government has tabled amendments to the bill that remove those elements of it that pertained to devolved matters. Therefore, assuming that those amendments are agreed to, the bill will not impact on any devolved matter. That is my understanding of the position.

I see.

Members will see in the note on the LCM that most of the bill's provisions relate to reserved matters of immigration and nationality, so they do not apply to the Scottish Parliament. The exceptions are clauses 27(1) and 27(2), which amend the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004. Paragraph 5 of the note says:

"The Executive states that the application to Scotland of clause 27(1) and (2) was an oversight. As such amendments have been lodged so that these provisions do not extend to Scotland."

There is nothing for us to do, really.

I am slightly surprised that the Westminster Government has not addressed the powers of customs officers in Scotland. It is making changes to the powers of customs officers in England and Wales that it is not making in Scotland. However, that is a matter for Westminster. If it wakes up to that, an LCM might be required later—you never know. However, the LCM that is before us is perfectly proper and reasonable. It simply reflects poor drafting or a mistake, which will be corrected. That is it—end of story.

Are members content to move on?

Members indicated agreement.

Can I be clear that we have agreed to note the legislative consent memorandum?

We have formally noted the LCM.

My reason for asking is that I think that this LCM is on the Parliament's agenda for tomorrow. If we note it, it will come off the agenda, if members see what I mean. The matter is not quite as trivial as it might seem.

Thank you for that, Stewart—you are ensuring that we are procedurally correct.