NORTHERN IRELAND DEPARTMENTS (Hansard, 18 November 1998)

§ Mr. Paul Murphy
I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 48, 49, 375 and 376.

§ Mr. Murphy
These amendments deal with the location of prerogative and statutory power after devolution. Amendment No. 47 reflects the interest shown by some parties during the consultation process in creating a Department of the centre, to which several hon. Members have referred, under the joint control of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister. Such a Department has obvious parallels in Whitehall. A similar Department was in existence during previous devolved Administrations in Northern Ireland. Its functions would be entirely for the Northern Ireland parties in the Assembly to determine, but could include both policy co-ordination and statutory functions.
There is no explicit provision for such a Department in the Belfast agreement. Therefore, we have provided for such a Department to be created by an Act of the Assembly. However, if the parties agree on its creation during the shadow phase, the transitional provisions of the Bill will enable it to continue in existence after 1038 devolution. The new clause also ensures that, if such a Department is created, it will not count towards the Bill's maximum of 10 ministerial offices, nor will it count towards d'Hondt.
Amendment No. 48 deals with statutory functions after devolution. During earlier consideration of the Bill in this House, there was some confusion about the scope of clause 18 on the prerogative and other Executive power. The clause gave the impression that the majority of Executive authority in Northern Ireland would be exercised by the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister acting jointly. In fact, of course, the prerogative is only a small part of all Executive power. Accordingly, the new clause deals with the most significant element of Executive authority—statutory power.
Statutory functions in Northern Ireland are generally vested in the Departments, under the control and direction of their Ministers. The new clause makes it clear that that will continue to be the case. Amendment No. 49 recasts clause 18, which deals with prerogative and other Executive powers. Despite the sometimes grand language of the clause, it deals with far less significant functions than those covered by the new clause that precedes it. As the amendment makes clear, the most significant prerogative power exercisable under the clause is the management of the Northern Ireland civil service. Prerogative and other Executive powers also include a series of more minor powers that the Government can exercise in the same way as a normal citizen, such as the power to enter into contracts.
Other than clarifying, in subsection (3), the position with respect to the Northern Ireland civil service, the main significance of the amendment is the ability it gives to Northern Ireland Ministers to exercise prerogative powers directly without being authorised explicitly by the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister. That is important for administrative reasons, since even relatively mundane departmental tasks, such as publishing leaflets, depend to a degree on using prerogative powers, and it would clearly be absurdly cumbersome to require explicit approval for those tasks.
Amendments Nos. 375 and 376 are transitional. They provide that any Department established during the shadow phase under the joint control of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister may carry on after devolution. Amendment No. 378 similarly ensures that prerogative orders made under the 1973 Letters Patent can remain in force after devolution.