Siân Berry

Immigration and Asylum Bill (Third sitting)

I beg to move amendment 64, in clause 1, page 2, leave out lines 1 to 5 and insert— “(5) In the exercise of its functions, the IIAA must— (a) be accessible, fair and independent, (b) handle its cases quickly and efficiently.” This amendment would remove the requirement for the IIAA to “aim to” operate fairly and independently and handle cases quickly and efficiently, so that the IIAA instead has a duty to so act. It would also remove the requirement for the IIAA to have regard to the public inte

Spoke in debate: Immigration and Asylum Bill (Fourth sitting)

Parliamentary appearance by Siân Berry

Spoke in debate: Immigration and Asylum Bill (Third sitting)

Parliamentary appearance by Siân Berry

Immigration and Asylum Bill (Fourth sitting)

It is great to have you in the Chair, Mr Stuart. I was just summing up on my amendments 66 and 67. When we adjourned, I had only one further point to make, which is a practical one. I well remember the arguments and discussions we had on the Courts and Tribunals Bill: yes, taking things off judges and putting them on to magistrates seems efficient, and we would save on judge time, but a serious concern is whether magistrates could fill the gap, given the number of magistrates that we would need.