PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Draft Terrorism Act 2000 (Alterations to the Search Powers Code for Northern Ireland) Order 2024 - 19 November 2024 (Commons/General Committees)

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Terrorism Act 2000 (Alterations to the Search Powers Code for Northern Ireland) Order 2024.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer, and I am grateful to the Committee for being here to consider this instrument. The order was laid before Parliament on 15 October 2024.

The UK, and Northern Ireland in particular, knows all too well the human cost of terrorism. This week sees the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham pub bombings. 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. However, despite the work of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other security services, we know that there is a small minority that continues to want to cause harm. It is important that the PSNI has the tools it needs to allow it to continue to keep people safe. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our former and current police officers and members of the security services, who work so hard and with such courage to keep us 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, which are used to supervise terrorist and terrorist-risk offenders on licence in the community. In response to recommendations made by Jonathan Hall KC following that review, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, hereafter referred to as the 2022 Act, established three new powers for counter-terrorism policing: a personal search power, a premises search power and a power of urgent arrest. Those powers were established in 2022.

The order relates to the new power of personal search, the creation of which was also recommended by the “Fishmongers’ Hall Inquests: Prevention of future deaths” report. That power, which came into force on 28 June 2022, was inserted into the Terrorism Act 2000 in section 43C by the 2022 Act and applies UK-wide. 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”, hereafter referred to as the code. 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 search under sections 43, 43A, 43C and 47A of, and schedule 6B to, the Terrorism Act 2000, and protection to persons being searched.

I would like to start by assuring hon. Members 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 and relate mainly to technical matters. They are intended to provide guidance to the Police Service of Northern Ireland on the search powers in the Terrorism Act 2000. The equivalent code of practice for police in England, Wales and Scotland was updated in 2022. The changes to the Northern Ireland code will align with the code of practice for England, Wales and Scotland, but will not mirror it exactly due to jurisdictional differences.

The revised code builds on work started by previous Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office. I will outline the main revisions. 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 to officers from police services in England, Wales and Scotland when operating in Northern Ireland, not only on the use of sections 43, 43A and 47A of, and schedule 6B to, the Terrorism Act 2000, as outlined in the original code of practice, but on the use of 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 wish to reassure hon. Members that this power applies only to those who have been convicted and for whom, when released, it was deemed appropriate to have this licence condition included as part of the conditions of their release. Even when the power is included as a licence condition, in order 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 they have access to legally, whether or not that 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 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 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 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.

Also added to the NI code is an explanation of when the search condition can be added to a licence, specifically to help to manage the risk posed by terrorist offenders on licence who are assessed to be a high or very high risk to the public.

Finally, the code as amended contains some language and formatting differences from the code for Great Britain. However, the purpose and key content of the code remains the same. These differences reflect the devolution of policing and justice functions in Northern Ireland and subsequent differences in approach adopted in different jurisdictions. For example, the code for Great Britain contains an explanation of the basis upon which an offender is to be released on licence, whereas the revised code for Northern Ireland outlines the roles of both the Parole Commission and the Department of Justice in the process.

The Government ran a 12-week public consultation on the proposed amendments to the code of practice, which closed in January 2024. 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, which were duly considered, with a number being accepted. The full details of those suggestions were published in the consultation response document on the NIO webpages in March 2024.

I hope that hon. Members will agree that, while 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 stop-and-search powers in the Terrorism Act.

This 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 security partners. We must ensure that they have the right and appropriate tools in order to continue to do this.

I know that hon. Members will join me in welcoming the increased additional security funding that will 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, ensures 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 to 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 hon. Members will support these alterations to the code of practice.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising those important points about how the code of practice will be put into operation, as well as the wider points about the policing context in Northern Ireland. I also thank other hon. Members for their support.

In terms of intimate search, it is really important to maintain the confidence of the police and for the public to know that there are regulations governing the powers. This is an operational matter; how that is conducted will be up to police officers, but they will know about the very clear limits set on what clothing can be taken off and in which places this can be carried out—I can write to the hon. Gentleman with more detail on these issues.

The code will continue to be reviewed, as all operational matters are. This will now be an operational matter for the Chief Constable in Northern Ireland, but as Ministers we will continue to take a keen interest in the ages and ethnicity of the people that the power is used with. I have been asking questions about all those issues, and we will continue to do so, because it is really important that the powers are used within those confines—they need to be used—and that they are well used, but also that the public have confidence in them and how they are used.

Finally on policing, the Government absolutely recognise the difficult financial position that the PSNI faces, including in terms of police numbers. Policing is largely a devolved matter, as the hon. Gentleman will know, and it is for the Chief Constable to look at additional police numbers, as an operational matter. However, last week’s Budget delivered a record £18.2 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive in 2025-26. This was the largest settlement in real terms in the history of devolution, in recognition of the unique security situation in Northern Ireland. The Government are also making additional security funding payments, but it is up to the Chief Constable as to how he will use them when it comes to additional police numbers. The report on paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland—an additional area of concern—was published in 2015 and was intended to inform ongoing cross-party talks. This remains an area that we are closely watching for any additional funding needed.

To conclude, this statutory instrument is largely technical, but it is important to policing in Northern Ireland, to help the police continue to keep people safe and to have the confidence of everyone across all communities in Northern Ireland. The Government are committed to ensuring that the people of Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the UK, are safe. I therefore commend the order to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.