Draft Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 2022

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Monday 7th November 2022 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Miss Sarah Dines)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 2022.

It is a pleasure to appear under your chairmanship, Ms Cummins.

The draft regulations were laid before the House on 13 October 2022. Maintaining our national security and keeping the public safe is a top priority for the Government. That is why deprivation of citizenship where it is conducive to the public good is reserved for those who pose a threat to the United Kingdom or whose conduct involves very high harm. When passing deprivation measures in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, the House agreed that in cases where the Secretary of State intends to make a deprivation order on the ground that it is conducive to the public good without prior notification, an application must be made to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which will consider the Secretary of State’s reasons for not giving notice.

To implement that process, we must first amend the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Procedure) Rules 2003, which are made and amended by the Lord Chancellor, but to create the necessary power to amend those rules we must first amend the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997, which is the purpose of this technical instrument. Today, we take a significant step towards implementing the safeguards that the House has agreed to. I therefore commend the regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Miss Dines]

I am pleased by the welcome for the measures. They were carefully thought out and have been considered by both Houses now.

To set out the historical context, which is always interesting, the powers have existed for over 100 years. It is only right that we modernise and make sure that the powers are subject to rigorous scrutiny. There are safeguards of course, and lots of checks and balances along the way.

The hon. Gentleman spoke about secret decision making, and I want to be clear that there is to be no secret decision making in deprivation cases. Appeals against deprivation of citizenship are heard by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission where there is reliance on sensitive material that could harm the public or individuals if it were revealed in open court. However, appellants are appointed special security-cleared lawyers for the task, so their interests are appropriately represented. The process is robust, as we would all expect. The changes made by the regulations strike just the right balance to protect the security of the nation and the rights of those going through this process.

On the question of timing, I will write to the hon. Member for Aberavon to say when the measures will be introduced. As usual, we are grateful for the co-operation to protect national security that we have received from the Opposition.

Question put and agreed to.