Schedule 1 - National Policing Improvement Agency
Police and Justice Bill
1:00 pm
James Brokenshire (Hornchurch, Conservative)
The hon. Lady made a strong point. The objects in paragraph 1 are already anodyne and wide in scope. It is interesting to wonder in what circumstances they would need to be altered. Paragraph 46 reserves a wide-ranging power for the Secretary of State effectively driving a coach and horses through all the structures and protections put in place by the other parts of schedule 1. The issue must be addressed.
I am sure we shall hear some warm, cuddly, encouraging noises from the Minister about the use of the powers reserved by paragraph 46, but the provision is wide in scope. It is strange to think that the objects would need to be changed. Surely this is our opportunity—here, at the moment—to examine the objects and ensure that the scope, breadth of operation and function of the agency are as they should be. To reserve powers to restrict them or expand them even further makes our debate difficult, as we are seeking to frame the powers, the structure, the organisation and the operation of the agency. Paragraph 46 says that the whole thing can effectively be changed by the Secretary of State, after consultation with certain agencies, which affords some protection, but the paragraph also appears, on one reading, to perpetuate the view that it reserves power back to the Secretary of State. The centralisation approach is the theme that comes through from the reservation of that power.
I hope that the Minister can reassure us that that is not the intention and that protections will be afforded before that strong and stringent power is operated. I agree with the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone); I am concerned about the continued introduction of such order-making powers by way of primary rather than secondary legislation, without Parliament being able to review the situation properly. There is a need therefore for reassurance about the use of that power and the safeguards that might be put in place to ensure that it is not used aggressively. Will the Minister provide that reassurance?