Clause 1 - Consultation with Board
Police (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]
10:00 am
Mr Paul Goodman (Wycombe, Conservative)
My hon. Friend perceives my intention absolutely clearly. I shall go a step further. What would happen if not only a minority of members took that view but, for whatever reason—we cannot always be sure about what will happen in such circumstances—a majority of members of the board believed that the Secretary of State had not properly consulted the board with a
''view to obtaining its agreement to the proposed objectives or revision''?
Having said that, I suspect that the right hon. Member for Upper Bann is right to suggest that the proposed revision is purely semantic. If the change is semantic, as other Committee members have said, will the Minister explain why the Chief Constable should not also be consulted with a view to obtaining his agreement to the proposed objectives or revision?
I understand that the Secretary of State would not want to consult
''other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate''
in order to obtain their agreement because that would be excessive. However, it would be reasonable to place the Chief Constable and the board on the same level, as they are under the 2000 Act. I support my hon. Friends' amendments and I hope that the Minister will address my line of inquiry.