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Northern Ireland Bill

moved Amendment No. *5:"Page 5, line 20, at end insert—""““Assembly control of Orders in Council""7  For paragraph 2 of the Schedule to the 2000 Act substitute—""““Parliamentary and Assembly control of Orders in Council" 2   (1) Except where sub-paragraph (2) applies, an Order in Council may not be made under paragraph 1(1) unless each of the following conditions is met— (a)   condition 1 is that a draft of the Order has been referred under section 1(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 2006 to the Assembly; (b)   condition 2 is that a meeting of the Assembly has taken place at which it has had the opportunity to consider the draft of the Order; (c)   condition 3 is that the Assembly at that meeting has not expressed by resolution passed with cross-community support its opposition to the draft of the Order; (d)   condition 4 is that the draft of the Order has been approved by resolution of each House of Parliament. (2)   This sub-paragraph applies where the Order declares that the Secretary of State has advised Her Majesty that because of the urgency of the matter it is necessary to make the Order without meeting any of the conditions in sub-paragraph (1). (3)   Where an Order contains a declaration under sub-paragraph (2) it— (a)   must be laid before Parliament after being made; and (b)   ceases to have effect if it is not approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament before the end of the relevant period. (4)   Where an Order contains a declaration under sub-paragraph (2) it— (a)   must be referred to the Assembly under section 1(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 2006 after being made; and (b)   ceases to have effect if before the end of the relevant period— (i)   the Assembly has not had an opportunity to consider the Order; or (ii)   the Assembly has passed a resolution with cross community support expressing its opposition to the Order. (5)   But sub-paragraphs (3)(b) and (4)(b) do not prejudice— (a)   anything done under the Order before it ceased to have effect; or (b)   the making of a new Order. (6)   In this paragraph— ““the Assembly”” means the Assembly referred to in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Act 2006; ““the relevant period”” means the period of 40 days beginning with the date on which the Order is made.”””” The noble Baroness said: When the Bill was discussed in another place, it attracted support from all the Opposition parties, including all the Northern Ireland parties represented on the Committee. Clause 1(1)(c) allows the Secretary of State to refer such other matters as he thinks fit to the interim Assembly. Paragraph 8 of the joint statement made on 6 April by the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach states that:"““It would of course also be open to the Assembly to prepare for Government by considering issues which the Executive will have to deal with, such as future economic strategy, water rates, public administration and education. Ministers would naturally take account of views which command cross-community support within the Assembly.””" This amendment essentially gives effect to that statement. It is difficult for people to put much weight on such verbal assurances from the Government because they have consistently failed to respect the will of the parties as clearly expressed on a cross-community basis outside the Assembly during suspension. For example, when the Northern Ireland Grand Committee of another place discussed the order introducing top-up fees to Northern Ireland universities, the Government lost a vote on the order by one vote. Yet top-up fees in Northern Ireland were simply pushed through by Ministers in Westminster. How are we to believe that the Government will respect the views of Assembly Members in the interim Assembly? That is what we are seeking to test by this amendment. The amendment would allow the interim Assembly, on a temporary basis, to veto Orders in Council. The veto would not be in the hands of one party or another, or in those of one section of the community. It would not only have to command the support of the majority of Members of the Assembly, but also the support of the majority of the designated unionists and designated nationalists in the Assembly. It would also give the Members of the Assembly an incentive to come together and work on the bread and butter issues for which the Assembly will eventually have to take responsibility. If the clear and overwhelming view of the Assembly on such matters has no binding impact on what the Government do, it is difficult to see how Assembly Members will be motivated to work. Further, as this is a temporary power, as we have already heard, the veto would lapse on 25 November if no Executive is formed. Surely, it would concentrate the minds of Assembly Members to come to an agreement if they knew that they would not retain the ability to have an impact on Northern Ireland policy if they did not form an Executive. These Benches believe that another advantage of this amendment is that it would give Members of this House and another place a clear indication of what the Assembly thinks about the policies that we debate here. We have said on many occasions that the scrutiny of Orders in Council is seriously inadequate. In autumn last year, the Secretary of State wrote to our colleague in another place, the honourable Member for Montgomeryshire, asking for suggestions on how the scrutiny of Orders in Council could be improved. We responded on 2 November with a number of ideas on how to bring the views of the political parties in Northern Ireland to the attention of both Houses of Parliament adequately. My honourable colleague in another place received a response from the Secretary of State on 25 March, almost five months after our suggestions were sent to the NIO. It states:"““Thank you for your letter of 2 November setting out your suggestions for increasing parliamentary scrutiny of Northern Ireland business. I apologise for the long delay in sending you this further reply.""““I fully agree that the current arrangements are not ideal particularly during Direct Rule. So, I welcome your constructive suggestions.""““As you know I have made it clear that we have to make progress towards devolution during 2006 and that the scheduled elections cannot take place in May 2007 if the Assembly is not restored. I remain hopeful of making the progress that will pave the way to restoration, which in turn would clearly change the terms of the discussion about making significant changes to the way in which we legislate for Northern Ireland at Westminster.""““I expect an announcement by the two Prime Ministers shortly, on which I will of course brief you in detail nearer the time.""““I will review the situation again later this year when we should have a clearer idea as to the chances of success. If there appears to be little prospect for a successful restoration of the devolved institutions at that juncture, I will want to talk to you and the other parties to discuss the necessary changes””." In other words, in the event of the Assembly not forming an executive in November, a year will have passed since we made our suggestions before any action will be taken to even consider what we put forward. We cannot go on like this. We cannot keep legislating for Northern Ireland by the Order in Council process. It is totally ineffective. The amendment we move today will at least improve the scrutiny of those orders on a temporary basis. I beg to move.