(Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
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House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill Second Report of Session 2012–13 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 20 March 2013 HC 1003 Published on 25 March 2013 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £20.00 Northern Ireland Affairs Committee The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Northern Ireland Office (but excluding individual cases and advice given by the Crown Solicitor); and other matters within the responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (but excluding the expenditure, administration and policy of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Northern Ireland and the drafting of legislation by the Office of the Legislative Counsel). Current membership Mr Laurence Robertson MP (Conservative, Tewkesbury) (Chair) Mr David Anderson MP (Labour, Blaydon) Mr Joe Benton MP (Labour, Bootle) Oliver Colvile MP (Conservative, Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) Mr Stephen Hepburn MP (Labour, Jarrow) Lady Hermon MP (Independent, North Down) Kate Hoey MP (Labour, Vauxhall) Naomi Long MP (Alliance, Belfast East) Jack Lopresti MP (Conservative, Filton and Bradley Stoke) Dr Alasdair McDonnell MP (SDLP, Belfast South) Nigel Mills MP (Conservative, Amber Valley) Ian Paisley MP (DUP, North Antrim) Andrew Percy MP (Conservative, Brigg and Goole) David Simpson MP (DUP, Upper Bann) Powers The committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/niacom. Current Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Mike Clark (Clerk), Duma Langton (Inquiry Manager), Emma Fitzsimons (Legal Specialist), Fiona Nash (Assistant Policy Analyst), Edward Faulkner (Senior Committee Assistant), Ravi Abhayaratne (Committee Support Assistant) and Jessica Bridges-Palmer (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 2173; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 Background to the inquiry 5 Information provided by the Government 5 2 The clauses in the draft Bill 6 Political donations and loans 6 Background 6 Prospective changes made by the draft Bill 6 Broad-based support for the principle of transparency 7 Transparency in practice: conflicting evidence on security to donors 8 Assessment of Risk to Donors 11 Donations and loans made during the prescribed period 12 Donations from individuals and bodies resident outside the UK 12 Dual Mandates 14 The rationale for change 14 The impact of double-jobbing 14 Maintaining relations with Westminster 15 The position of the House of Lords 16 The position of the Irish Oireachtas 18 The position of the European Parliament 20 The position of Scotland and Wales 21 The Justice Minister 21 Broad support for the proposals 22 Incorporating the Justice portfolio in “full” D’Hondt? 23 Scope for a “plan B” 24 Electoral Registration and Administration 25 Equality duties 28 Regulation of Biometric Data 28 3 Matters still under consideration 30 Assembly size, length of term and future election dates 30 Size of the Assembly 30 Length of Assembly terms and future election dates 33 Length of current Assembly term 33 Moving to five year fixed terms on a permanent basis 34 Concurrent Elections 35 Government and Opposition 38 Devolution of responsibility for Arms-Length Bodies 39 4 Treatment of the Bill in the House 43 Conclusions and recommendations 44 2 Draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill Formal Minutes 49 Witnesses 50 List of printed written evidence 51 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 52 Draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 3 Summary In the fifteen years since the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement was signed, tremendous progress has been made in Northern Ireland; the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive are now responsible for many matters previously the responsibility of the UK Parliament and HM Government. The draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill represents the Government’s continued commitment to strengthen the effectiveness of the devolved institutions. The Government’s stated intention is not to reopen the 1998 Agreement, or the terms of the devolution settlement, but rather to introduce a limited number of reforms. For the first time, the pre-legislative scrutiny process has been applied to a Northern Ireland Bill; we hope that this sets a welcome precedent, as we consider such a procedure improves the quality of any legislation. We were asked to undertake that scrutiny and, in our Report, we consider the clauses of the draft Bill in detail, as well as other matters noted by the Government as still under consideration for inclusion in the substantive Bill. Transparency Full transparency of political donations and loans should be the norm, and only be derogated from in exceptional circumstances. We have not had sufficient evidence to justify the current position and therefore recommend that from October 2014 all donations over £7,500 in Northern Ireland should be made public as in Great Britain. We also recommend that that the Secretary of State should seek appropriate security advice before modifying the current confidentiality arrangements. The Government should use new powers during the period between introduction of the Bill and October 2014 to publish anonymised data, collected by the Electoral Commission, which will provide a fuller account of political funding in NI and assist in the scrutiny of the Secretary of State’s decision to increase transparency. We recommend that the Secretary of State includes in the Bill provisions to close the current loophole by which overseas donations can be made via the Republic of Ireland to parties operating in Northern Ireland. Dual mandates We support the prohibition of dual mandates, but such a prohibition must be applied consistently across the United Kingdom and end dual mandates in all of the devolved legislatures with respect to both Houses of Parliament, both Houses of the Oireachtas and the European and Commonwealth Parliaments. The Justice Minister The Justice portfolio remains particularly sensitive, and the retention of a cross- community vote on the appointment of the Justice Minister is therefore advisable. We welcome the provisions within the draft Bill which provide the Justice Minister with security of tenure. 4 Draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill We are concerned, however, by the absence of a mechanism which would secure the appointment of the Justice Minister in situations where political agreement between parties cannot be reached. The Government should devise a mechanism which would enable the Justice Minister, and the rest of the Executive, to be appointed. Public authorities The Government must provide an assurance that the power of partial designation for equality duties on public authorities is not used to alter the duties of public authorities already fully designated and the Government should outline the limited purposes for which this power will be exercised, and consider what, if any safeguards, should accompany it. Matters still under consideration Membership of the NI Assembly is too large, particularly when compared to both devolved legislatures in Scotland and in Wales. The Government should continue to seek a consensus with the political parties to bring about a reduction in Assembly size. A challenge for the Assembly is to make governance more effective. The Assembly itself is considering how procedural changes might enhance its effectiveness. Any substantial change towards the formation of an “official opposition” must be guided by the fundamental principles in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. There is a lack of detail provided in the Government’s proposal to devolve responsibility for arms-length bodies; the Government should consult fully on this matter before relevant provisions are included in the substantive Bill. The Government should ensure that any proposal that affects responsibility for the NI Human Rights Commission must be compliant with the Paris Principles. If the Government does seek to devolve responsibility, it must be to the Northern Ireland Assembly, rather than the Executive, and any change should not affect the NIHRC’s ability to scrutinise non-devolved matters. Draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 5 1 Introduction Background to the inquiry 1. The draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill was published on 11 February 20131 and is the first draft Bill relating to Northern Ireland that has been subject to pre-legislative scrutiny. We welcome the Government’s decision to follow the pre- legislative scrutiny process, as it offers the opportunity to improve the quality of the Bill before it is introduced in the House.2 2. The draft Bill