Terrorism Act 2000 (Alterations to the Search Powers Code for Northern Ireland) Order 2024

Considered in Grand Committee

Moved by

That the Grand Committee do consider the Terrorism Act 2000 (Alterations to the Search Powers Code for Northern Ireland) Order 2024.

My Lords, I would like to begin by taking a moment to pay tribute to all those who lost their lives or were injured as they worked to keep the people of Northern Ireland safe. The Secretary of State’s attendance at the service of remembrance in Enniskillen on Sunday offered the chance to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of those men and women. I know that noble Lords will join me in these sentiments. While the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland want it to continue to be a safe and wonderful place in which to live and work, sadly, we know that there is a small minority who want to cause harm. It is important that the PSNI has the tools it needs to allow it to continue to keep people safe.

Following the terrorist attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in November 2019, the then Home Secretary commissioned the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, to review the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements, commonly referred to as MAPPA, used to supervise terrorist and terrorist-risk offenders on licence in the community. In response to recommendations made by Jonathan Hall KC following the review of MAPPA, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 established three new powers for counter-terrorism policing: a personal search power, a premises search power and a power of urgent arrest. These powers were established in 2022.

This order relates to the new power of personal search, the creation of which was also recommended by the prevention of future deaths report that followed the Fishmongers’ Hall inquests. The personal search power has been inserted into the Terrorism Act 2000, in Section 43C, by the 2022 Act and applies UK-wide. The new search power came into force on 28 June 2022. The order puts into practice the revised Code of Practice (Northern Ireland) for the Authorisation and Exercise of Stop and Search Powers relating to Sections 43, 43A, 43C and 47A of, and Schedule 6B to, the Terrorism Act 2000. A copy of the draft revised code was laid before Parliament on 15 October 2024. The purpose of the code is to provide guidance to officers authorising and conducting stop and searches under Sections 43, 43A, 43C and 47A of and Schedule 6B to the Terrorism Act 2000 and protections to those persons searched.

I start by assuring the Committee that the revisions to the code will not change the manner in which searches are conducted in any way. The amendments should be non-contentious, I hope, and relate mainly to technical matters. They are intended to provide guidance to the PSNI regarding the search powers contained within the Terrorism Act 2000. The equivalent code of practice for police in England and Wales and Scotland was updated in 2022. The changes to this Northern Ireland code will align, but not mirror exactly, the codes of practice for England and Wales and Scotland due to jurisdictional differences.

The revised code, as considered today, builds upon work started by previous Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office, including the noble Lord, Lord Caine. I know how well versed he is on this issue and welcome his continuing interest in and support on these matters. I will outline the main revisions for the Committee now.

Also added to the NI code is an explanation of when the search condition can be added to a licence, specifically to help manage the risk posed by terrorist offenders on licence who are assessed to be a high or very high risk to the public. The code, as amended, contains some language and format differences to the code for Great Britain. However, the purpose and key content of the code remain the same. These differences reflect the devolution of policing and justice functions in Northern Ireland, as well as the consequent differences in approach adopted in different jurisdictions. For example, I draw noble Lords’ attention to the fact that the code for Great Britain contains an explanation of the basis on which an offender is to be released on licence, whereas the revised Northern Ireland code outlines the role of both the Parole Commissioners and the Department of Justice in this process.

I assure noble Lords that the Government ran a 12-week public consultation on the proposed amendments to the code of practice, which closed in January 2024. I highlight the fact that the DUP was the only political party to respond to the consultation and was supportive of it; I am grateful for its participation. Seven responses were received, six of which were in favour of the revisions, with one response commenting that, as a matter of policy, it would not be appropriate for them to comment. Of the six who responded in favour, five suggested other slight amendments to the code. These were duly considered, with a number being accepted. The full details of these suggestions were published in the consultation response document on the NIO web pages in March 2024.

I hope noble Lords will agree that, although these revisions are technical, they are important. They align the code of practice used in Northern Ireland with the code used in the rest of the UK, ensuring that this offender management tool is available across the UK. They give guidance to the PSNI in its use of the powers to stop and search contained within the Terrorism Act.

This Government, like the previous Government, are committed to keeping people safe. The fact that the threat level for Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Northern Ireland remains “substantial”, following its reduction in March 2024, is testament to the tremendous efforts of the PSNI and its security partners. We must ensure that they have the right and appropriate tools to continue at this level.

I know that noble Lords will join me in welcoming the increased additional security funding to be provided to the PSNI in the next financial year. This £37.8 million of funding, provided in recognition of the unique security situation in Northern Ireland, will ensure that the PSNI is equipped to tackle the threat posed by Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Northern Ireland. The revised code promotes the fundamental principles to be observed by the police and helps preserve the effectiveness of, and public confidence in, the use of police powers to stop and search under the Terrorism Act 2000. I very much hope that noble Lords will support these alterations to the code of practice. I beg to move.

I welcome the fact that the Minister made clear her support for, and paid tribute to, the Police Service of Northern Ireland. As I am sure she is acutely aware, the RUCGC lost more than 300 of its officers during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Many of the officers who were murdered were the salt of the earth. They were in their job not because it was a job but because they saw it as a vocation. To this day, for many of those who were murdered, nobody has been brought to court to give an account of their actions. I thank the Minister for her tribute to the people in the police service, who are often forgotten.

Over the weekend, many of us—if not all—attended various services in open spaces, in our churches, in our schools and elsewhere to pay tribute to those who died during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and those who served in both world wars. As members read out the roll of honour, they were very moved because stood shoulder to shoulder with those very police officers and UDR personnel with whom they served. One of them said, “I stand here today; my comrades do not”. That is the reality of the situation back in Northern Ireland.

We will be brief—we do not plan to have a tough debate on this legislation. We are not here to pull it apart or anything like that, but we have some queries and questions here and there. I am sure the Minister is acutely aware that policing is a very difficult job in Northern Ireland. From the inception of the Belfast agreement, its stipulations and outworkings have meant that hundreds and hundreds of dangerous and unrepentant terrorists have been returned back to our streets, and today they are at large.

It is stated that the purpose of the code is to provide clarity that the threshold for making an authorisation is higher under the new powers, and that the way in which the powers may be exercised is also different. I hope we have read that correctly and that the outworking will not curtail or restrict the police in Northern Ireland in carrying out their duties. No police force anywhere in Europe is scrutinised to the degree and extent that ours is. Now, that can be a good thing, but it can also have a detrimental impact on policing itself.

My Lords, I will follow on from the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Morrow. I welcome the noble Baroness leading this short debate to her place. I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Caine, for the manner in which he dealt with issues of security in Northern Ireland when he held the office. I believe that he did so with courage and determination—he carried a heavy responsibility when he was in the noble Baroness’s position.

I join the noble Baroness in commending the bravery of our police officers and all the other security personnel who not only defended freedom in Northern Ireland in the past but are still doing so. I totally reject the contention of some in society that there was no other way than terrorism. That is absolutely untrue. I note that the noble Baroness said that the terrorist threat remains “substantial”. That reminds us that there is a great need in Northern Ireland to keep vigilant. Securing the safety of our people will certainly demand vigilance.

The noble Baroness mentioned the additional finance that has been given. It is certainly correct that additional finance has been provided in the recent Budget, and it is deeply appreciated, but I draw to her attention the fact that the number of serving police officers in Northern Ireland is well below what was recommended. We therefore do not have the numbers of police officers on the ground to give that adequate and proper protection for the people of Northern Ireland.

I am sure that the noble Baroness was delighted to remind us that our political party welcomed this legislation. In fact, she said that we were the only party that responded, which is strange, bearing in mind that the security of our people ought to be one of the most important issues that we face. I join the noble Lord, Lord Morrow, in saying that the police service in Northern Ireland is practically the most scrutinised police service in the world. In fact, unbelievably, we have former terrorists sitting on the Policing Board, scrutinising persons they have terrorised in the past.

Finally, paragraph 7.24 says:

“Information should be provided which demonstrates that all officers involved in exercising section 47A powers receive appropriate briefing on the use of the powers”.

What will be regarded as “appropriate briefing” and how far does that statement go?

Can the Minister say whether adequate finances have been provided so that those officers out on duty are provided with proper body cameras, which will be a protection against vexatious claims against them? Will all officers be provided with such cameras?

My Lords, I welcome the noble Baroness to what I think is her first Northern Ireland-related Grand Committee. I thank her for her kind words and thank noble Lords from the DUP for their kind words too. I also associate myself very strongly with her comments about the PSNI and the Armed Forces, and the commemorations that took place over the weekend. As Minister, I had the great honour of laying a wreath of behalf of His Majesty’s Government at Belfast City Hall in 2012 and Messines in 2023, where the Ireland Peace Park is located—very moving and poignant events they were too.

If the noble Baroness were to look at my Twitter account—or X, as it is called these days—from Saturday, she would see that I was proudly sporting a poppy that contained the cap badge of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. I have long maintained that, without the service and sacrifice of the RUC, the PSNI and our Armed Forces, there would have been no peace process in Northern Ireland. They created the conditions in which politics could work, and we owe them all a huge, enormous debt of gratitude.

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for concisely setting out the terms of this statutory instrument. I will be very brief because, as the noble Baroness made clear, the SI has its origins in changes to the Terrorism Act that were contained in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022—a hugely long title for an Act of Parliament—which I well remember my colleagues debating at length when it was going through your Lordships’ House. The changes made to the Terrorism Act, as the noble Baroness set out, related to stop and search powers under Section 43C and required the publication of terms of reference under Section 47 for the exercise of those powers. The SI might, in some respects, be described almost as Conservative legacy legislation. The noble Baroness referred to the consultation that we conducted, which concluded earlier this year.

I can see nothing in the terms of reference that we would have done any differently, frankly, and they should therefore have our full support. Of course, as the noble Baroness made clear, they largely align Northern Ireland with the powers available to and codes of practice for police in other parts of the United Kingdom, to which no unionist could possibly take exception or object.