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24Insert the following new clause—
"PROTECTED DISCLOSURES BY POLICE OFFICERS
(1) After Article 67K of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I.16) insert—
"67KA APPLICATION OF PART VA AND RELATED PROVISIONS TO POLICE
(1) Paragraph (2) applies for the purposes of—
(a) this Part,
(b) Article 70B and Articles 71 and 72 so far as relating to that Article, and
(c) Article 134A and the other provisions of Part XI so far as they relate to the right not to be unfairly dismissed in a case where the dismissal is unfair by virtue of Article 134A.
(2) A person who holds, otherwise than under a contract of employment, the office of constable shall be treated as an employee employed by the relevant officer under a contract of employment; and any reference to a worker being "employed" and to his "employer" shall be construed accordingly.
(3) In this Article "the relevant officer"—
(a) in relation to a police officer, means the Chief Constable;
(b) in relation to a person holding office under section 9(1)(b) of the Police Act 1997 (police members of the National Criminal Intelligence Service) means the Director General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service; and
(c) in relation to any other person holding the office of constable, means the person who has the direction and control of the body of constables in question."
(2) In Article 243(1) of that Order (provisions which do not apply to persons engaged in police service under a contract of employment)—
(a) omit the words "Part VA,";
(b) after "Articles 132" insert ", 134A";
(c) after "Article 132" insert "or 134A".
(3) Article 16 of the Public Interest Disclosure (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1763 (N.I. 17)) (exclusion of police service from provisions about protected disclosures) shall cease to have effect.
(4) Subsections (1) to (3) come into force in accordance with provision made by the Secretary of State by order."
Lord Williams of Mostyn: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 24.
The amendment deals with protected disclosures by police officers. The purpose of this new clause, with consequential amendments revoking provisions in the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and the Public Interest Disclosure (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 in Schedule 3 is to afford protection to police officers who make protected disclosures. The clause has the support of the Chief Constable and the ombudsman.
A "protected disclosure" includes disclosures that a criminal offence has been committed; that a person has failed to comply with a legal obligation; or that there has been a miscarriage of justice.
The purpose of these changes is to ensure that PSNI officers, reserve officers and others holding the office of constable, such as the Harbour Police and the NCIS, will be able to report wrongdoing by other officers with the assurance of the full protection of the law if they are discriminated against. Amendments Nos. 50, 54, 55 and 57 are consequential. I commend the amendments to the House.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 24.—(Lord Williams of Mostyn.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
45Clause 28, page 19, line 19, leave out from beginning to "accordingly" in line 22 and insert "members of the police support staff—
(a) a member of the police support staff must be treated as an employee of the Chief Constable in relation to conduct in reliance or purported reliance on a designation under section 23;
(b) conduct by a member of the police support staff in reliance or purported reliance on a designation under section 23 must be taken to be conduct in the course of that employment;
(c) in the case of a tort, the Chief Constable".
46page 19, line 23, leave out subsection (2).
47Clause 36, page 22, line 18, leave out paragraph (a).
Lord Williams of Mostyn: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 45 to 47.
Clause 28 was added to the Bill by government amendment during our Report stage. It makes provision for the purpose of determining liability for unlawful conduct in the case of conduct by a designated person in purported reliance on that designation.
It was decided in another place that the provision should be refined. At that time the clause provided for the Policing Board to be treated as a joint tortfeasor in the case of action by board employees in reliance on a designation and for the Department of Finance and Personnel to be the joint tortfeasor in the case of civil servants. The preferred position is for the Chief Constable to be responsible as the support staff are under his direction and control. Amendments Nos. 45 and 46 reflect that refinement.
As to Amendment No. 47, at present Clause 36 amends Article 66 of the PACE (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 on codes of practice to allow that the Secretary of State may provide by order for a code of practice to have effect with modifications, although these must be confined to one or more of the following: the effect of the code in relation to an area of Northern Ireland specified in the order; the effect of the code in relation to a period not exceeding two years specified in the order; and the effect of the code in relation to offences or descriptions of offenders specified in the order.
The purpose of the amendment is to remove the possibility of a code of practice being modified under Article 66(6A) so as to apply within a particular area of Northern Ireland. Of course, there is only one police service in Northern Ireland and therefore there is no necessity to stipulate a geographic area.
Amendment No. 53 concerns Schedule 1, which relates to the provisions in Clauses 23 and 24 dealing with the exercise of police powers by designated police support staff and contracted-out staff. The powers are similar to those that have been made available in England and Wales for designated civilians through the Police Reform Act 2002. These provisions were brought forward at the express request of the Chief Constable and with the support of the board.
Part 1 of the schedule includes a range of powers which may be needed to support the work of civilian investigating officers in specialist areas. It covers powers to enter and search premises following arrest, which are particularly relevant to the work of scenes of crimes officers, many of whom are now civilians.
Part 2 covers powers that may be exercised by detention officers at police stations. Part 3 covers escort powers. Part 4 defines the meanings of certain terms used in Schedule 1.
The purpose of the specific amendment is to extend standard safeguards to warrants dealt with by designated persons in gaining access to excluded and special procedure material. I commend the amendments to the House.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 45 to 47.—(Lord Williams of Mostyn.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
53Schedule 1, page 25, line 37, at end insert—
"(ba) Article 17 of that Order (safeguards) has effect in relation to the issue of a warrant under paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to that Order to the designated person as it has effect in relation to the issue of a warrant under that paragraph to a constable;
(bb) Article 18 of that Order (execution of warrants) has effect in relation to a warrant issued under paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to that Order (whether to the designated person or to any other person) as if references in that Article to a constable included references to the designated person;"
Lord Williams of Mostyn: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 53. I have spoken to this amendment.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 53.—(Lord Williams of Mostyn.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
1Clause 1, page 1, line 12, after "Constable", insert—
"(aa) the Ombudsman;
(ab) the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission;
(ac) the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland;"
Lord Williams of Mostyn: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 1.
Amendment No. 3, along with Clauses 1, 2 and 17, deals with the balancing of the tripartite policing relationship between the Policing Board, the Chief Constable and the Secretary of State. In effect, Amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 3 make two changes. Primarily, they require the Secretary of State to carry out wider consultation before determining or revising codes of practice or long-term policing objectives. At the moment he has to consult with the board with a view to obtaining its agreement and with the Chief Constable and such others as he thinks appropriate regarding any proposed code of practice or long-term policing objectives. Under the amendments proposed, these consultation processes would be expanded, making it a statutory requirement that the Secretary of State should also consult with the Police Ombudsman, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
The proposed arrangements do not upset the existing balance. Rather they recognise the valuable contribution and input that the tripartite policing relationship brings about. They simply require the Secretary of State to consult more widely.
The amendments separate out the consultation arrangements for issuing and revising codes of practice from those dealing with setting and revising long-term objectives. Codes of practice are now dealt with under the new clause proposed by Amendment No. 3, while Clause 1 now deals specifically with the consultation arrangements for long-term policing objectives. Amendment No. 2 is a consequential amendment enabling this separation to be made.
Were the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, to be in any lingering doubt, I ask him not to move Amendment No. 1A.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 1.—(Lord Williams of Mostyn.)
On Question, Amendment No. 1 agreed to.
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