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Lords Amendments
1.--(1) Proceedings on Consideration of Lords Amendments to the Bill shall be completed at today's sitting.
(2) If not previously concluded, they shall be brought to a conclusion at Ten o'clock.
2.--(1) This paragraph applies for the purpose of bringing proceedings on the Bill to a conclusion in accordance with paragraph 1.
(2) The Speaker shall first put forthwith any Question which has been proposed from the chair and not yet decided.
(3) If that Question is for the amendment of a Lords Amendment, the Speaker shall then put forthwith--
(a) a single Question on any further amendments of the Lords Amendment moved by a Minister of the Crown, and
(b) the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, That this House agrees or disagrees with the Lords in the Amendment or (as the case may be) in the Amendment as amended.
(4) The Speaker shall then put forthwith--
(a) a single Question on any amendments moved by a Minister of the Crown to a Lords Amendment, and
(b) the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown that this House agrees or disagrees with the Lords in the Amendment or (as the case may be) in the Amendment as amended.
(5) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, That this House disagrees with the Lords in a Lords Amendment.
(6) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question, That this House agrees with the Lords in all the remaining Lords Amendments.
(7) As soon as the House has agreed or disagreed with the Lords in any of their Amendments, or disposed of an amendment relevant to a Lords Amendment which has been disagreed to, the Speaker shall put forthwith a single Question on any amendments moved by a Minister of the Crown relevant to the Lords Amendment.
Subsequent stages
3.--(1) The Speaker shall put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown for the consideration forthwith of any further Message from the Lords on the Bill.
(2) The proceedings on any further Message from the Lords shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.
4.--(1) This paragraph applies for the purpose of bringing proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with paragraph 3.
(2) The Speaker shall first put forthwith any Question which has been proposed from the chair and not yet decided.
(3) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown which is related to the Question already proposed from the chair.
(4) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown on or relevant to any of the remaining items in the Lords Message.
(5) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question, That this House agrees with the Lords in all the remaining Lords Proposals.
Reasons Committee
5. The Speaker shall put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown for the appointment, nomination and quorum of a Committee to draw up Reasons and the appointment of its chairman.
6.--(1) The Committee shall report before the conclusion of the sitting at which it is appointed.
(2) Proceedings in the Committee shall, if not previously brought to a conclusion, be brought to a conclusion 30 minutes after their commencement.
(3) For the purpose of bringing any proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with sub-paragraph (2), the chairman shall--
(a) first put forthwith any Question which has been proposed from the chair and not yet been decided, and
(b) then put forthwith successively Questions on Motions which may be made by a Minister of the Crown for assigning a Reason for disagreeing with the Lords in any of their Amendments.
(4) The proceedings of the Committee shall be reported without any further Question being put.
Miscellaneous
7. The following paragraphs apply to--
(a) proceedings on Consideration of Lords Amendments to the Bill.
(b) proceedings on any further Message from the Lords on the Bill, and
(c) proceedings on the appointment, nomination and quorum of a Committee to draw up Reasons (and the appointment of its chairman) and the report of such a Committee.
8. Standing Order No. 15(1) (Exempted business) shall apply to the proceedings.
9. The proceedings shall not be interrupted under any Standing Order relating to the sittings of the House.
10. No dilatory Motion with respect to, or in the course of, the proceedings shall be made except by a Minister of the Crown; and the Question on any such Motion shall be put forthwith.
11.--(1) If on a day on which any of the proceedings to which paragraph 7 applies take place a Motion for the adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 24 (Adjournment on specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration) would stand over to Seven o'clock--
(a) that Motion stands over until the conclusion of any of the proceedings which are to be brought to a conclusion at or before that time, and
(b) the bringing to a conclusion of any of the proceedings which are to be brought to a conclusion after that time shall be postponed for a period of time equal to the duration of the proceedings on that Motion.
(2) If a Motion for the adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 24 stands over from an earlier day to such a day, the bringing to a conclusion of the proceedings on that day is postponed for a period of time equal to the duration of the proceedings on that Motion.
12. If the House is adjourned, or the sitting is suspended, before the expiry of the period at the end of which any of the proceedings are to be brought to a conclusion under this order, no notice shall be required of a Motion made at the next sitting by a Minister of the Crown for varying or supplementing the provisions of this Order.
21 Nov 2000 : Column 201
Orders of the Day
Police (Northern Ireland) Bill
Clause 3
Lords amendment: No. 1, in page 2, line 35, after ("police") insert
("and of district policing partnerships")
5.4 pm
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Peter Mandelson): I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord): With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 2, 95, 96, 114 and 119.
Mr. Mandelson: I am delighted to speak first in the debate on this group of amendments on the Policing Board, which is at the heart of the landmark new beginning that we are making in policing in Northern Ireland. For the first time in Northern Ireland's history, both traditions and every party can take an equal share in the responsibility for and the ownership of policing. As a result, policing will be more effective and will be representative of the community as a whole, with equal recruitment of Protestants and Catholics, which is a truly radical departure.
Patten recommended that an entirely new Policing Board, with the essential element of a majority elected membership, should be created to replace the present Police Authority for Northern Ireland. The Government are implementing the Patten recommendations on composition and the board's powers. Indeed, in relation to the board's best value role, the Government have decided to go beyond Patten and strengthen its powers even more. The board will offer greater accountability and transparency in its role than any comparable police body in the UK, the Irish Republic, Europe or North America.
I have taken steps to set up the board in shadow form by January. The deadline for applications for independent members is tomorrow, and I have notified the four main parties in the Executive that I wish to have the nominations for political members of the board by early December. I want a strong, representative board which, in its initial shadow form, will put crucial jigsaw pieces in place during the creation of the new police service.
Patten made clear in recommendation 113 that all community leaders, including political party leaders and local councillors, should encourage members of their side of the community to join the police. I wish to reiterate that recommendation in relation to the board, which should be clear enough encouragement. However, in case it is not, I pray in aid the Good Friday agreement which, in the section on policing and justice, stated that the police
- arrangements should be unambiguously accepted and actively supported by the entire community.
The Ulster Unionist party argued in Committee that the board should be obliged to assess both public satisfaction with district policing partnerships and the effectiveness of those partnerships. Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 will do that. Amendments Nos. 95 and 96 make related changes to clause 55, which deals with the board's obligations to report on its assessments of satisfaction and effectiveness. Amendment No. 114 commences on Royal Assent the provisions enabling the shadow Policing Board to be appointed. Given that that process is under way, the Government think it sensible to amend the Bill in that way, rather than make a separate commencement order shortly after Royal Assent.
The House amended paragraph 4(5) of schedule 1 to make provision for a member of a direct rule board--which would be constituted during a period of direct rule from Westminster--to be removed if, before his appointment, he had failed to disclose to the Secretary of State a conviction, or if he were convicted of a criminal offence committed after the date of his appointment. We wished to make a similar amendment to the removal provision for a board established during devolution, and amendment No. 119 does that. On that basis, I commend the amendments to the House.
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