Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to consult civil society before publishing the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

The King’s Speech on 17 July confirmed the Government will introduce the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to deliver enhanced powers to tackle organised immigration crime whilst providing for strong and effective border security. Work is underway to prepare this legislation and it will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

The measures will provide a framework for the Border Security Command to operate, improve investigative capability into organised immigration crime, enable smarter, faster and more effective interventions to protect UK border security; and make it easier to detect, disrupt and deter those seeking to engage in and benefit from organised immigration crime, limiting the permissible environment and its impact. Throughout the development of the legislation, the Government has engaged with a range of partners including operational teams and will continue to do so throughout the Bill’s passage.