Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 (Renewal of Temporary Provisions) Order 2010

My Lords, I, too, thank the Leader of the House for introducing this order. Before I debate its merits or otherwise, I pay tribute, as others have done tonight, to the PSNI and in particular to all officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. We particularly remember Constable Stephen Carroll, who was murdered by dissident republicans in Craigavon on this day in March last year. We place on record our gratitude to the officers of the PSNI, who are doing so much to move policing forward in Northern Ireland in continually difficult circumstances. We remember the Patten report and its recommendation that in order to address the religious imbalances in the police in Northern Ireland, ""an equal number of Protestants and Catholics should be drawn from the pool of qualified candidates … We believe that the ratio of recruits should be kept to 50:50, at least for the ten years of the model"." That was implemented in Section 46 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000. It is worth remembering what the Act said on the matter: ""In making appointments under section 39 on any occasion, the Chief Constable shall appoint from the pool of qualified applicants formed for that purpose by virtue of section 44(5) an even number of persons of whom one half shall be persons who are treated as Roman Catholic and one half shall be persons who are not so treated"." I remember that section well because it was the first time that I ever spoke on Northern Ireland matters in your Lordships’ House. I had come from a background of working with the police in England and Wales, as a member and, latterly, chair of a police authority. I had no idea at all of the differences that I would find in the policing of Northern Ireland. I remember the late and much missed Lord Fitt—Gerry Fitt. He told me in no uncertain terms in this Chamber that I did not have the first idea how Northern Ireland was policed. He soon put me right. I also remember saying at the time that such a move as was being proposed could and should last for as short a time as possible. As we have seen over the intervening years, it has proved to be a difficult issue in Northern Ireland. It was important at the time—and let us not forget that—to get the SDLP to join the Policing Board, but it has also caused great concern among the Protestant community. It even led to a High Court case from a Protestant applicant who, while being included in the pool of qualified candidates, was nevertheless not picked to go forward. The High Court subsequently upheld the 50:50 recruitment policy. The 50:50 recruitment provisions were initially implemented for three years, from 2001 to 2004, and the provisions were renewed in 2004 and 2007 for two further three-year periods. That made a total of nine years altogether. In 2007, these Benches told the Government that we would not support a further extension of three years for this provision, but that we would support an extension of one year, bringing the total length of time during which the provisions have been in place to 10 years. We all want to see adequate representation of the Catholic community in the police, but this selection cannot go on for much longer. It has transformed the number of Catholics who have entered the police service and I hope sincerely that they will continue to join it. However, they still join with some trepidation and they have had to face extraordinarily difficult and sometimes dangerous forces not faced by the range of diversity within policing in other parts of this country. Their bravery in the face of sectarian and thuggish opposition to them taking their rightful place in helping to keep the peace in Northern Ireland for the whole community has been nothing short of heroic and I commend them for that. As we have heard, in 2001 Catholic composition within the police service was 8.3 per cent. On 1 February this year it was 27.88 per cent. That is a quite remarkable turnaround and a major achievement. However, it must not stop there. Northern Ireland is becoming more diverse and we will be watching closely to see how that diversity is mirrored in its police service. In particular, we hope that the increase in the recruitment of female officers, from 13.3 per cent in 2001 to 24.87 per cent today, will continue. The PSNI has worked hard to promote equality and diversity at a wider level and we commend it for this. Its diversity strategy, Policing a Shared Future, is an impressive document, which rightly recognises that, as well as sectarianism, gender and race, the police must also address dependency, political opinion, sexual orientation, domestic violence, age and disability. It is, of course, important for anyone who has suffered from a hate crime to be confident that they can report it to a police service that is committed to promoting equality and diversity. When does the Leader of the House expect the 30 per cent target to be achieved? Will she ensure that, as soon as that happens—even if that falls before the end of one year—she will come before Parliament and remove the stricture on the recruitment process? These Benches are grateful to the Government for holding fast to their commitment that the quotas would be in place only for 10 years, so we are pleased that this will be the last time that we debate this issue. Many good applicants from both communities have been lost to the service because of this provision and we hope sincerely that recruiting can take place from now on in a spirit of openness, trust and clarity and that all the people in Northern Ireland will get behind their police service and support it in the difficult work that it has to do.