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.
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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.
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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.
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The primary update to the code is the incorporation of the new stop and search power provided for by Section 43C of the Terrorism Act 2000. The code as amended provides guidance to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and officers from England, Wales and Scotland police services when operating in Northern Ireland, surrounding the use of not only Sections 43, 43A and 47A of and Schedule 6B to the Terrorism Act 2000, as outlined in the original code of practice, but Section 43C.
Section 43C provides a power for a constable to search a terrorist offender who has been released on licence, and not recalled, and whose licence includes a search condition. I reassure the Committee that this power applies only to those who have been convicted and where it has been deemed appropriate for an offender, when released, to have this licence condition included as part of the conditions of their release. Even where the power is included as a licence condition, for it to be used the constable must be satisfied that it is necessary to do so for purposes connected with protecting members of the public from a risk of terrorism. Furthermore, the constable may conduct the search in any place to which they legally have access, whether or not it is a place to which the public has access.
In revising the code to include the Section 43C power, we have set out for police officers the basic principles for its use and clarity on its scope. This includes providing guidance on when the power can be used and the powers of seizure associated with the search power. The revised code also clearly sets out the limitations on the clothing that a person can be required to remove when the Section 43C power is being exercised by officers. In keeping with the existing stop and search powers, police officers exercising the Section 43C power may not compel a person to remove any clothing in public except for an outer coat, a jacket or gloves, and an intimate search may not be authorised or carried out under the new power.
I and my colleagues speak for my party on this, and we agree that there has to be accountability and that the police must always act with great discretion and responsibility. I hope that this legislation will not in any way deter them. I do not think it will, but I hope it is that way. All of us have a moral and community responsibility to support and encourage the agencies of law and order. That includes, for instance, our Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive attending graduation days, and our schools promoting the police service as a good career to follow and get involved in. That does not always happen. I sometimes think that the Government could do a bit more to encourage that line. That would go a long way to playing a good part in the full restoration of law and order.
Things are infinitely better than they were—we can all say that without fear of contradiction. However, the Minister rightly said that the threat level in Northern Ireland is still high. Other police services across the United Kingdom do not have to contend with that to the same extent as our police service in Northern Ireland. I hope that there is no discouragement in this document, which I have tried to read through, although I will not give the impression—I hope—that I understand every line of it. The Minister briefly quoted from the Terrorism Act 2000, the workings of which she is obviously well acquainted with.
Can the Minister assure us that this measure will be for the betterment and the more efficient delivery of a police service, and that those who try to thwart the police in their duties—the very people she has spoken about—and cause a great deal of concern will not benefit from this? I know that that is not the intention, and I am not in any way saying that it is. I just hope that the security forces, our police, will see that this is intended to help them deliver a duty and service that they can be proud of. I hope too that the law-abiding in Northern Ireland will be reassured that this legislation is good and for their betterment, and that we will see an efficient and effective outworking.
We want an efficient delivery of policing, and I will therefore ask the noble Baroness a few questions. I note that the purpose of this code is to
“reflect that changes to Terrorism Act 2000 powers entirely replace those previously found in sections 44-47 of Act and are not simply a modification of those provisions”.
But the code then says that the
“new provisions carry different criteria for both authorisation and use”—
in fact, it is stricter. Paragraph 3.3 of the code says:
“To provide clarity that the threshold for making an authorisation is higher under the new powers and the way in which the powers may be exercised is also different”.
If it is higher and we still have a substantial threat in Northern Ireland, surely that makes it more difficult, rather than allowing police officers to have the freedom they need when they are out on duty and dealing with possible terrorists.
Paragraph 4.3 says:
“This Code of practice must be readily available at all police stations for consultation by police officers, detained persons and members of the public”.
I am wondering what is meant by “available … for consultation” by police officers, detained persons and members of the public, because surely these are the guidelines that are already set down—the consultation part is over.
Then, paragraph 6.2 of this document states that, for the police officer dealing with this, having “reasonable grounds for suspicion” depends
“on the circumstances in each case”.
How should an officer faced with an immediate situation actually interpret “reasonable grounds for suspicion”? If they fall foul of what a court later says is not reasonable, are they penalised because of that?
I have just one question for the Minister; I gave her prior notice of it yesterday. For the general benefit of the Committee, can she set out how the new powers sit alongside the powers that exist for the police, in the justice and security Act of 2007, relating to stop and search without reasonable suspicion? I signed a number of authorisations for the use of these powers, so I know how important they are for the police in the exercise of their functions. It would be helpful if the Minister could elucidate a little further how they sit alongside the powers contained in the Terrorism Act.
The fact that we are debating these matters today, with the contributions from the Minister and DUP Members, reminds us of the security backdrop in Northern Ireland. We have been reminded that the threat level is currently classed as “substantial”. It has been reduced from “severe”, to where it was raised after the murderous attack on DCI John Caldwell in February 2023, but it is worth reminding ourselves that the difference between “substantial” and “severe” is one word: “highly”. “Substantial” means that an attack is likely, while “severe” means that an attack is highly likely.
The ongoing threat from terrorism is real. As the Minister made clear at the beginning of her remarks, there remains in Northern Ireland a small group of people who have lethal intent and capability, and who wish to continue to pursue their political objectives by violence. It is essential, therefore, that the PSNI has all the necessary powers available to it in order to combat that ongoing terrorist threat.
I conclude by reiterating our heartfelt thanks for everything that the PSNI does in Northern Ireland and that the security services do. They do a superb job of keeping people safe and secure from terrorism in Northern Ireland and, in so doing, keeping us safe and secure throughout the whole of this United Kingdom. On which note, I strongly welcome the SI; it has our full support.