This Committee report focuses on the proposed new Government Bill, Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill, announced on the 27 November 2003. The Committee aims to highlight the most significant and controversial elements of the Bill, and reached a number of conclusions and recommendations. That the Government needs to explain and expand on the phrase "reasonable excuse" in relation to people fleeing persecution and who are seeking asylum. Where reasonably possible, all who seek asylum should be made aware that the destruction of their documentation when arriving, or prior to arriving in the UK will be penalized, and that surveillance techniques should be continued and developed to catch such activity, including an examination of the proposal that carriers keep copies of all travel documents on their flights. The new asylum appeals system should be developed alongside improvements in the initial decision-making on asylum cases. The Committee expressed unease about the introduction of "Clause 7" to the Bill, whereby the children of failed asylum seekers could be taken into care, because the families were no longer eligible for income support. The Committee felt this was flawed and wants the Government to provide figures on the number of families and children in the asylum system who would be effected by this part of the legislation.