Lords division · 21 Apr 2021 · No. 2

Domestic Abuse Bill

Baroness Meacher moved, as an amendment to Motion E, at end to insert “and do propose Amendments 40B and 40C in lieu of Amendment 40—40B After Clause 72, insert the following new Clause—“Victims of domestic abuse: data-sharing for immigration purposes(1) The Secretary of State must make arrangements to ensure that personal data of a victim of domestic abuse in the United Kingdom that is processed for the purpose of that person requesting or receiving support or assistance related to domestic abuse is not used for any immigration control purpose.(2) The Secretary of State must make arrangements to ensure that the personal data of a witness to domestic abuse in the United Kingdom that is processed for the purpose of that person giving information or evidence to assist the investigation or prosecution of that abuse, or to assist the victim of that abuse in any legal proceedings, is not used for any immigration control purpose.(3) Paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to the Data Protection Act 2018 shall not apply to the personal data to which subsection (1) or (2) applies.(4) For the purposes of this section, the Secretary of State must issue guidance to—(a) persons from whom support or assistance may be requested or received by a victim of domestic abuse in the United Kingdom;(b) persons exercising any function of the Secretary of State in relation to immigration, asylum or nationality; and(c) persons exercising any function conferred by or by virtue of the Immigration Acts on an immigration officer.(5) For the purposes of this section—“immigration control purpose” means any purpose of the functions to which subsection (4)(b) and (c) refers;“support or assistance” includes the provision of accommodation, banking services, education, employment, financial or social assistance, healthcare and policing services; and any function of a court or prosecuting authority;“victim” includes any dependent of a person, at whom the domestic abuse is directed, where that dependent is affected by that abuse.”40C In Clause 79, after subsection (7) insert—“(7A) Regulations under this section bringing section (Victims of domestic abuse: data-sharing for immigration purposes) into force may not be made until both Houses of Parliament have approved a resolution to the effect that it should be brought into force, moved either after debate in that House of any publication of the outcome of a review by the Secretary of State of existing data-sharing procedures in relation to victims of domestic abuse for purposes of immigration control, or after 1 July 2021, whichever is the sooner.””The House divided:

The Contents have it

Majority 54

Contents: 307 Not Contents: 253

At a glance The Contents won by a margin of 54 votes. The Government's position was Not Content, and it lost.

How the parties voted

Contents

Labour	137
Liberal Democrat	76
Crossbench	70
Non-affiliated	14
Bishops	7
Green Party	2
Plaid Cymru	1

Not Contents

Conservative	208
Crossbench	19
Non-affiliated	18
Democratic Unionist Party	5
Ulster Unionist Party	2
Lord Speaker	1

The party breakdowns are our own analysis of the official voting records (recorded votes only; they do not describe the formal whip). How we work this out.

Peers attend divisions ad hoc, so there is no did-not-vote list. Tellers are counted in the Content and Not Content totals, unlike in the Commons.