Nationality and Borders Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 11:30 am ar 4 Tachwedd 2021.
“(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations specifying scientific methods that may be used for the purposes of age assessments under section (
(2) The types of scientific method that may be specified include methods involving—
(a) examining or measuring parts of a person’s body, including by the use of imaging technology;
(b) the analysis of saliva, cell or other samples taken from a person (including the analysis of DNA in the samples).
(3) A method may not be specified in regulations under subsection (1) unless the Secretary of State determines, after having sought scientific advice, that the method is appropriate for assessing a person’s age.
(4) A specified scientific method may be used for the purposes of an age assessment under section (
(5) The appropriate consent is—
(a) where the age-disputed person has the capacity to consent to the use of the scientific method in question, their consent;
(b) where the age-disputed person does not have the capacity to consent to the use of the scientific method in question, the consent of—
(i) the person’s parent or guardian, or
(ii) another person, of a description specified in regulations made by the Secretary of State, who is able to give consent on behalf of the age-disputed person.
(6) Subsection (7) applies where—
(a) the age-disputed person or, in a case where the age-disputed person lacks capacity, a person mentioned in subsection (5)(b), decides not to consent to the use of a specified scientific method, and
(b) there are no reasonable grounds for that decision.
(7) In deciding whether to believe any statement made by or on behalf of the age-disputed person that is relevant to the assessment of their age, the decision-maker must take into account, as damaging the age-disputed person’s credibility (or the credibility of a person who has made a statement on their behalf), the decision not to consent to the use of the specified scientific method.
(8) Regulations under this section are subject to affirmative resolution procedure.
(9) This section does not prevent the use of a scientific method that is not a specified scientific method for the purposes of an age assessment under section (
This new clause provides for use of scientific methods in age assessments. If a person refuses to consent to a method specified in regulations, this may damage their credibility. Before a method can be specified, it must be considered appropriate, on the basis of scientific advice. Other (non-specified) scientific methods may be used in appropriate circumstances, but failure to consent to those would not affect credibility.
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Nationality and Borders Bill — New Clause 32 - Use of scientific methods in age assessments
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
