Clause 47 - Further provisions about functions
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill
10:00 am
Mr Des Browne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
I am grateful for the support for my resistance to the amendment. I say to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight, and I am not inviting him to intervene, that I did not understand his allusion to trousers, but perhaps he will explain it to me later. I may be developing a habit of misinterpreting contributions from the Opposition.
As the title of part 3 suggests, the institution is new. The level of scrutiny necessary for any organisation on the list, which may be expanded, will depend on the organisation. It may be appropriate for one organisation at a particular stage of development to have annual inspections, but inappropriate for another. Clause 47 will grant flexibility to the chief inspector, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to produce a programme of inspection that reflects the level of involvement that an inspector must have with any specified organisation. The clause provides for the approval of the programme of inspection through
consultation with the Secretary of State, and for the possibility, to which I have already alluded, that the list from the review of the organisations that need to be inspected is not exhaustive. For example, the powers that are exercised by Consignia, to which the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) referred, have a potential impact on the criminal justice system. The period between inspections will be determined by experience, consultation and the body of knowledge that will be built up in the inspectorate.
At this stage, it would not be helpful to require all such organisations to be inspected annually. That would be a disproportionate level of inspection for some, if not all, and would generate an unrealistic programme of work for the body. I urge the hon. Gentleman to withdraw the amendment.