HL Deb 18 January 1984 vol 446 cc1061-5

3.45 p.m.

Viscount Long

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will now repeat a Statement being made in another place by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Statement is as follows:

"In 1981 five people who had held positions of responsibility in homes and hostels for children and young people in Northern Ireland were sentenced to imprisonment for sexual offences against those in their care. Following these convictions the police continued their investigations into a number of outstanding matters and the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary asked Sir George Terry, then Chief Constable of Sussex, to investigate allegations about the way in which the police had conducted their inquiries and to have a general oversight of the continuing investigations.

"The RUC have completed their investigations. Sir George Terry's inquiry has also been completed. He has concluded that the RUC were justified in not mounting a full investigation before they did, in 1980; that there had been no concealment of evidence of a homosexual ring involving residents of the homes or others, nor evidence of homosexual practices by officials or police officers; but that there were shortcomings as regards the administration of the child welfare services. The Director of Public Prosecutions has considered all the papers and concluded that no ground existed which would justify any further prosecutions connected with the affair.

"The convictions in 1981 together with others in 1982 and the events surrounding these cases, have been the subject in Northern Ireland of allegations of misconduct and of widespread disquiet. No other inquiry could be pursued without the risk that it would have rendered further prosecutions impossible. Sir George Terry's inquiry has been thorough, and his conclusions, as they bear on some of the wider allegations, are clear.

"Although the extensive investigations which have been conducted have produced no evidence that would justify my asking the House to approve an inquiry under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921, the House will share my wish to be satisfied that every possible step has been taken to ensure that there is no repetition of these unhappy events. I propose accordingly to establish a public inquiry under the powers contained in Article 54 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972. His Honour Judge Hughes, a retired circuit judge, has agreed to chair this inquiry. The names of the other members of the committee of inquiry will be announced as soon as possible.

"I shall circulate the full terms of reference in the Official Report. They will enable the inquiry to examine the administration of children's homes and young person's hostels whose residents were subjected to homosexual offences which led to convictions or where homosexual misconduct led to disciplinary action against members of staff; the extent to which those responsible for residential care could have prevented the commission of such acts or detected their occurrence; the implications for present procedures and practices within the system of residential care; and to make recommendations with a view to promoting the welfare of such children and young persons and preventing any future malpractices.

"The committee of inquiry will be able to consider what more should be done. It will be for the committee to determine its mode of operations and from whom it will seek evidence. It will be able to sit in public if it wishes. Those who give evidence in good faith will as a matter of law have protection in proceedings for defamation. Although the inquiries by the RUC and Sir George Terry, taken with the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions, mean it is exceedingly unlikely that fresh evidence justifying prosecution will emerge, my right honourable and learned friend the Attorney-General has undertaken to give immunity from prosecution for evidence which would incriminate a witness in respect of offences involving homosexual relations between males and related offences such as counselling, procuring or soliciting. The inquiry will have power to subpoena evidence in Northern Ireland and its report will be published.

"I believe that this inquiry will enable such lessons as there are to be learnt and acted upon, and provide the best basis on which there can be confidence in the future in the provision made in homes and hostels for children and young persons."

That ends the Statement.

Following are the terms of reference:

Following:

  1. (i) the investigations of the Royal Ulster Constabulary into possible homosexual offences related to children's homes and young persons' hostels in Northern Ireland;
  2. (ii) the investigation by the former Chief Constable of Sussex, Sir George Terry CBE, QPM, DL, and the publication of his conclusions and recommendations; and
  3. (iii) the report of the team of child-care experts made available by the Secretary of State for Social Services to consider the ways in which the Department of Health and Social Services 1063 (NI) carries out its role in relation to the supervision and management of homes and hostels for children and young persons;?
the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland, in pursuance of the powers conferred on it by Article 54 of Schedule 8 to the Health and Personal Social Services (NI) Order 1972, hereby appoints the following persons (names of chairman and members) to:
  1. (a) inquire into the administration of children's homes and young persons' hostels whose residents were subjected to homsexual offences which led to convictions by the Courts or where homosexual misconduct led to disciplinary action against members of the staff, and into the extent to which those responsible for the provision of residential care for children and young persons could have prevented the commission of such acts or detected their occurrence at an earlier stage;
  2. (b) consider the implications for present procedures and practices within the system of residential care, including in particular the adequacy and effectiveness of arrangements for the supervision and protection of children and young persons in residential care; and
  3. (c) make recommendations with a view to promoting the welfare of such children and young persons and preventing future malpractice;
and to report thereon to the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, the House will be grateful to the noble Viscount for repeating this very important Statement on a most unhappy affair. There have been three inquiries already, including that of the RUC conducted by Sir George Terry, to which the noble Viscount and the Statement refer, which failed to deal adequately with the matter to satisfy general public concern. The Northern Ireland Assembly expressed the public concern and, as the Statement says, it is vitally important to ensure that the procedures and administration of residential care for children and young people are such that to a great extent, at least, any possible repetition of these incidents is avoided.

We welcome the decision on the proposed inquiry, that it will have power to subpoena witnesses and that it is intended to publish the report. I think it would be wrong at this stage to comment further except to ask two questions. We note that the terms of reference are to be published in the Official Report The terms of reference are the important aspects of this inquiry. Can the noble Viscount say what consultations have been held in determining the terms of reference; and, while we do not want the matter rushed, will his Honour Judge Hughes, who is to chair this inquiry, be given some indication of a time limit by which the Government hope to have the report, so as to deal with any legislation which may be required?

Lord Hampton

My Lords, I, too, should like to thank the noble Viscount for repeating the Statement made by the Secretary of State in the other place. It strikes me as highly disturbing, and there are three questions which immediately occur to me and which I now ask. First, this matter has been going on for some years. Why is it proving so difficult to get at the facts and take the necessary steps to prevent further (as they are termed) unhappy events? Secondly, Sir George Terry carried out a full inquiry for the RUC. Why is it apparently necessary for the Secretary of State to start all over again?

Thirdly, I quote from the Statement: I shall circulate the full terms of reference in the Official Report. They will enable the inquiry to examine the administration of children's homes and young persons' hostels whose residents were subjected to homosexual offences which led to convictions or where homosexual misconduct led to disciplinary action against members of the staff'. Are we to reach the very worrying conclusion that the Kincora affair, as it has come to be known, is very far from being an isolated occurrence and that such abuses are still widespread throughout the Province?

Viscount Long

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Underhill, and to the noble Lord, Lord Hampton, for their interest in this very difficult and very unhappy subject. The noble Lord, Lord Underhill, asked me whether consultations were being held, and about the terms of reference. I have the terms of reference already. The committee will of course be informed of these terms of reference, but as yet the committee has not been appointed, so at the moment only the judge knows.

The noble Lord, Lord Hampton, asked me why there is now to be a second inquiry. If the noble Lord remembers, the Statement referred to Sir George Terry being asked to establish whether officials in public offices and/or police officers were involved. Having considered all the papers, he found there were no grounds. After he completed his investigations it was found by the Public Prosecutor, on the papers submitted to him, that there was no reason for further prosecutions arising from the inquiry under Sir George Terry. This led, therefore, to my right honourable friend the Secretary of State appointing his own inquiry, which is to establish for the long term new ways of ensuring that this will not happen again in these homes and hostels. It led him to appoint a judge and a committee to investigate this matter.

I am afraid that it will take some time before we can establish what has to be done to ensure that this never happens again. The committee will have to investigate the administration of hostels, for instance. It must investigate the staff of the hostels, and the way in which they are appointed and trained, so that this can never happen again. There are in the Province some 60 or more hostels and homes. Out of those 60 or more, only three of four were found to be having problems of this kind, and Kincora was one. The object of the inquiry is, firstly, to investigate whether police officers were involved, and, secondly, to look into the future of these hostels to see that such matters never happen again.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, the Minister did not deal with the question I asked. I was not asking what consultations there had been after the terms of reference had been known, but what consultations had taken place in preparing the terms of reference, because they are most vital. While I agree that we must not rush this inquiry, those who are responsible for the administration will be waiting anxiously for the decision of the inquiry. That is why I asked whether some indication could be given of the date when the Government would like to have the report.

Viscount Long

I cannot answer the second part of the noble Lord's question because I do not know the timing of that. As I understand it now, full consultations were made by the Northern Ireland Office. From there, the terms of reference were established. This is the extent of my knowledge; but if I am wrong I will let the noble Lord know.

Baroness Faithfull

My Lords, may I ask my noble friend the Minister whether the whole spectrum of the child care system will be taken into account in this inquiry? We not only have to consider the situation of what goes on in the children's homes; there is the situation of the stall in touch with the individual children. If you get a good relationship between an outside social worker and the children in the home, it is very surprising if they do not very soon learn these things. Why did they not learn of them on this occasion?

If there were proper supervision from outside the home, and proper support given to the home, these things would have come to light at a very early stage. It is not therefore only what is wrong in the home. In drawing up these terms of reference, did my noble friend the Minister realise that perhaps it is the whole child care structure which has to be looked at in order to prevent such things happening again?

Viscount Long

My Lords, I am most grateful to my noble friend, the noble Baroness, and I know she is a great expert on child welfare. I will read out to my noble friend the terms of reference, subsection (iii), and I hope it takes care of my noble friend's anxieties: The report of the team of child-care experts made available by the Secretary of State for Social Services to consider the ways in which the Department of Health and Social Services (NI) carries out its role in relation to the supervision and management of homes and hostels for children and young persons, That term of reference covers an enormous spectrum.

Lord Mishcon

Does the noble Viscount the Minister agree that a great responsibility rests upon our Parliament in this matter in view of the unhappy situation that Stormont is not sitting? Will he give the House an assurance that all the papers that were made available and all the evidence that was submitted and placed before the Director of Public Prosecutions will be made fully available to this latest inquiry?

Viscount Long

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord. Of course I cannot give an assurance, but I am sure that the facts are there, that the papers will be submitted to this further inquiry.

Lord Mishcon

My Lords, does the noble Viscount the Minister agree that the question is so important that I would hope that he would carry it back to his right honourable friend? Will the noble Viscount take with him the hope that all the papers and documents, quite apart from the facts, are made available to the present inquiry?

Viscount Long

Yes, my Lords, I shall do that and inform my right honourable friend.