Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the debate on Port Examination Codes of Practice and National Security Determinations Guidance Regulations 2020 on 10 July (HL Deb, cols 1327–46) (1) what assessment they have made of the report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, UK Border Force short-term holding facilities, published on 24 June, and (2) what discussions they have had with the College of Policing regarding training and accreditation for officers applying the Code of Practice, with particular regard to racial profiling.

(1) We recognise the need for improvement in some facilities and there is an ongoing programme of work to ensure all sites used for detention are appropriately equipped and that the facilities are suitable to allow for the welfare of detainees to be prioritised

(2) The new Schedule 7 and 3 Codes of Practice are both clear that selection of a person for examination must not be arbitrary or for discriminatory reasons and that protected characteristics (whether separately or together) are not to be used as criteria for selection except to the extent that they are used in association with considerations that relate to the threat from terrorism or hostile activity. The Home Office continues to work with the police to ensure that training and guidance for frontline officers reflects the legal provision and important safeguards of these codes.