Member

If we were to take the steps suggested by the noble Lord in his amendment, it would build on current legal aid arrangements. Where a person is taken to a police station and it is decided that there is no criminal element to the case, but there is an immigration element, then the police, as a matter of practice, request assistance through the immigration police station advice scheme. For immigration matters that are classified as criminal offences, the details are captured by the defence solicitor call centre, which is responsible for bringing in a criminal solicitor. The proposed system implicit in this amendment would simply involve allocating an immigration lawyer to an individual upon them entering detention.