Conclusions and recommendations
1. We
are delighted to welcome the Prime Minister's statement of Monday
8 February 2010, in which he anticipated the devolution of policing
and justice to Northern Ireland by 12 April. (Paragraph 4)
2. The
long process towards the devolution of policing and justice has
required immense reserves of patience from all concerned, as the
comments made to us by representatives of several of the agencies
involved in those matters display. Yet the virtues of patience
will be best rewarded by the successful transfer of those powers,
with cross-community support, for the benefit of all the people
of Northern Ireland. (Paragraph 8)
3. We
are pleased by the unambiguous indications from the Northern Ireland
Policing Board, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern
Ireland and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that a
clear distinction will continue to be drawn between the need to
make the police fully accountable and the requirement that the
Chief Constable be fully operationally independent. (Paragraph
11)
4. It
is not for us to make recommendations to the new Justice Department
in Northern Ireland, but we offer the suggestion that some research
on whether increased engagement is indeed an underlying factor
in the apparent rise of recorded crime and complaint might prove
a useful counterbalance to the negative impression given by the
headline figures on both. (Paragraph 16)
5. We
wish Mr Matt Baggott every success as he reaches the end of his
first six months as Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern
Ireland. We note with approval his desire to concentrate on the
'ordinary' crimes that 'really matter to people'. We note, too,
however, that the dissident terrorist threat has been on a rising
pattern for at least the past year and that continuing to deal
with that threat must remain the major priority of the PSNI. (Paragraph
22)
6. We
commend the Government on setting and keeping to a final deadline,
of February 2010, for an amnesty for the decommissioning of weapons,
and we acknowledge the success achieved in putting beyond use
the weapons held by a substantial number of groupings. No such
programme can remove every illicit weapon from Northern Ireland,
but the careful and patient work of the IICD, the NIO and the
Secretary of State and Minister of State in this respect are gratefully
acknowledged. (Paragraph 24)
7. Finding
a means to reduce the heavy burden of and substantial overspending
carried out by Northern Ireland's legal aid system will be among
the first challenges to face the new Northern Ireland Minister
of Justice. (Paragraph 35)
8. The
need to reduce the proportion of prisoners on remand in Northern
Ireland's prisons, and by extension the delays within the criminal
justice system that are often responsible for keeping them there
longer than is desirable (a matter highlighted in our report on
the Northern Ireland Prison Service), must be among the high-priority
matters to be dealt with by the new Justice Minister after devolution
of policing and justice. (Paragraph 39)
9. It
is to be hoped that a more local focus on the needs of the Northern
Ireland Prison Service will speed the pace of much and long-needed
improvement to the prison estate, particularly at Magilligan and
Maghaberry. We acknowledge that significant steps have been taken
since we reported in 2007-08 on the Prison Service, particularly
in the areas of women prisoners and young offenders. None the
less, much remains to be done, particularly in relation to the
high proportion of prisoners on remand and those who have mental
health issues and personality disorders. This, too, will be among
the major issues facing a new Justice Minister on arrival in office.
(Paragraph 41)
10. We
recommend that the House of Commons Standing Order which sets
out the remit of departmental Select Committees at Westminster,
should be amended to include within the remit of the Northern
Ireland Affairs Committee "the maintenance of relations with
the Northern Ireland Assembly and oversight of the devolution
settlement in Northern Ireland". (Paragraph 49)
11. We
agree with the Northern Ireland Audit Office that the Northern
Ireland Affairs Committee must keep under review in future the
operation of the Organised Crime Task Force in Northern Ireland
in so far as its activities are conducted by bodies which have
UK-wide crime-fighting responsibilities, and we recommend to our
successor Committee that they should do so. (Paragraph 58)
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