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Northern Ireland Policing Board (Northern Ireland) Order 2007

rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Northern Ireland Policing Board (Northern Ireland) Order 2007. The noble Lord said: This order was laid before the House on 6 February and debated in the other place only yesterday. I will explain the background to the order and its contents before I go through some ofthe details, because it is important that the dates and the chronology are fully taken on board. The Northern Ireland Policing Board is one of the vital elements in the policing accountability architecture recommended in the Patten report. The Government, and indeed everybody else involved, are very grateful to the Policing Board members, both past and present, for the key role they have played in policing in Northern Ireland. Indeed, some noble Lords have firsthand experience of the work of the Policing Board, having been members themselves. I am sure they share the Government’s view of the board’s importance to policing in Northern Ireland. The Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 sets out arrangements for selecting the members of the Policing Board. The Act provides different arrangements for constituting the Policing Board under devolution and under suspension. As noble Lords will be aware, the membership of the Policing Board consists of 19 members and is made up of two elements—political members and independent members. In accordance with the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000, restoration of the Assembly automatically means that the membership of the Policing Board has to be reconstituted. With the restoration of the Assembly now imminent, the Secretary of State is required to appoint nine independent members following a recruitment competition. The appointment of the 10 political members follows a specific formula set out in the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000—essentially the same d’Hondt formula as is used for allocating Assembly ministerial posts. The Secretary of State launched the recruitment competition for the nine independent members on Tuesday 13 February. These public appointments, which, for obvious reasons, are some of the most important in Northern Ireland, are fully regulatedby the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Noble Lords will be well aware of the political discussions in recent months. It would not have been appropriate to commence the competition until it was certain that it was required. Given both the importance of the competition and the requirement to comply with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments guidance, a competition of this nature takes some four months to complete. Therefore, there would not be time to complete the competition before the restoration of the Assembly planned for 26 March. The legislation before the Committee today ensures that the vital work of the Policing Board continues during this competition. Its provisions are needed only for these particular circumstances. Given the uncertainty about timing, it was not possible to have an extensive consultation on the contents of the draft order. However, since the draft order was laid, officials have undertaken a series of briefings with interested parties. I should now like to take the opportunity to consider the contents of the draft order. As the competition to select independent members will not be completed—because it takes four months—when restoration of the Assembly takes place, this order creates a new transitional Policing Board to carry out all the functions of the existing board until the competition is completed. The Government are planning for success on26 March. It is the A-plan; we do not have a B-plan. Everybody knows that it is a case of devolution or dissolution. However, to ensure that the vital work of the Policing Board continues without disruption, the draft order modifies Schedule 1 to the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 to provide that if restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly takes effect on 26 March but is subsequently revoked on28 March, the current members of the Northern Ireland Policing Board will continue in office, their terms unaffected by restoration or revocation. Following the restoration of the Assembly and the completion of their nomination process as set out in the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000, political members will be able to take their seats on the transitional board while the Secretary of State appoints nine independent members from the current independent board members. The draft order therefore amends the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 to provide for a temporary transitional arrangement to enable nine of the current independent members of the Northern Ireland Policing Board to be reappointed for a period of up to four months. The political members’ positions will remain unchanged when the Secretary of State appoints the independent board members following the conclusion of the transitional board. The Secretary of State will consult the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on the appointment of independent members of the transitional board. Being mindful that current independent members’ circumstances may change—I am talking about their individual circumstances; they may change job, for example—the draft order provides that no vacancies are filled during the transitional arrangement, and that there may be fewer than nine independent members during that transitional period. The final provisions in the draft order relate to the appointment of the chairman and vice-chairman. This will be a matter for the transitional board. A new chairman and vice-chairman will be appointed once the restoration of the Assembly board is complete. In conclusion, I am sure noble Lords will agree that the Northern Ireland Policing Board is one of the undoubted successes of the Belfast agreement. Its work has very recently and rightly been applauded at an international policing conference held in Belfast a few weeks ago. The draft order ensures that the Northern Ireland Policing Board’s vital work continues, irrespective of what happens on 26 March and the time lines that follow that, by ensuring that temporary transitional arrangements are in place while the independent membership is being recruited under the due process agreed with the office of the appointments commissioner. I beg to move. Moved, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the draft Northern Ireland Policing Board (Northern Ireland)Order 2007.—(Lord Rooker.)