Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

HL Deb 23 February 1995 vol 561 cc1283-5

5.28 p.m.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Baroness Denton of Wakefield) rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 9th February be approved.

The noble Baroness said: My Lords, the draft Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 deals primarily with amendments to the existing legislation relating to the operation of local government in Northern Ireland. The reasons for promoting the amendments are varied. Some will strengthen the powers and responsibilities of district councils, some will remove ambiguity from existing provisions and some will bring the legislation in Northern Ireland into line with the equivalent provisions in Great Britain.

While I do not propose to comment on each individual article, I will draw your Lordships' attention to a number of provisions. Article 3 deals with vacation of office because of non-attendance at council meetings. The existing legislation is somewhat defective in two respects. First, it is silent as to when the period of absence commences. Secondly, it is ambiguous about the types of meeting which constitute a meeting of the council. The new order now provides that the period commences from the date of the last meeting attended and clearly specifies which meetings count towards attendance.

Article 4 deals with the appointment and qualifications of council officers and proposes two changes to the existing legislation. The department is relaxing its approval role in respect of the terms and conditions of service for a clerk of a council and certain other officers. This is considered appropriate in view of the role and influence now exercised by the Local Government Staff Commission for Northern Ireland on staffing matters in councils and the existence of fair employment and equal opportunity legislation.

The department also proposes to change the procedure whereby it designates posts, qualifications and how vacancies are advertised. By being able to "determine" on these matters, rather than having to "prescribe" by regulation, the department would have at its disposal a more appropriate administrative procedure to enable it to respond quickly to councils' proposals.

Article 10 relates to entertainments licences. Northern Ireland, like Great Britain, suffers from rave parties where drugs are peddled. Local residents are caused annoyance and distress by these events, which go on late into the night or into the early hours of the morning. District councils have asked for stronger measures to combat unwanted rave parties. The current maximum penalty for breaching the licensing regulations is a £5,000 fine. This is not considered to be a sufficient deterrent to promoters of these very lucrative events. The amendment would allow the maximum penalty to be increased to a £20,000 fine and/or six months' imprisonment for certain types of offence.

Finally, Article 11 relates to street names. Under legislation made in 1949, councils in Northern Ireland may erect street nameplates only in English. In December 1992, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland gave a commitment to remove this prohibition so that councils could, for example, erect a nameplate in Irish in addition to the one in English. This is in line with the Government's policy of encouraging greater appreciation of cultural identity in Northern Ireland. The order gives effect to this commitment. However, before deciding to erect the second nameplate, a council must have regard to any views expressed by the occupiers of premises in the street concerned.

These are straightforward amendments. I beg to move.

Moved, That the draft order laid before th House on 9th February be approved.—(Baroness Denton of Wakefield.)

Lord Williams of Mostyn

My Lords, we are meeting when the hopes of so many people are fixed on the prospect of a brighter future. However, we still need to carry out our task of scrutiny and questioning. In respect of all the orders on the Order Paper tonight, I recognise the burden that the Minister has had during the past weeks and I am content for her to write in answer to specific questions that I have not had the opportunity to discuss with her in the usual way. I have one or two short questions relating to this order.

As regards Article 4, I am puzzled about why the words "may be prescribed" are to be substituted by "the department may determine". A more important question relates to Article 8, which deals with public appeals. If public appeals are to be the subject of contributions of public funds, what is the intention? For example, will it cover the use of public money for banners, posters and demonstrations, as is said to have happened previously? Will it cover public donations for demonstrations against the framework document? If not —and I assume that the answer must be no—will there be operative effective guidelines or limits?

I should be grateful for an explanation about the thinking and purpose behind Article 7. We on this side of the House welcome the philosophy behind Article 11. It empowers a public authority to provide bilingual street signs where that is thought appropriate. There is no clear indication as to how the views of residents are to be ascertained and we would welcome guidance on that matter. Generally, it appears to be a fulfilment of our obligations to encourage regional and minority languages. I am extremely pleased to hear that the Government's policy is to give a general encouragement to the Irish language. I bear in mind that past encouragement of the Welsh language, although it has been rather niggardly, has been most welcome.

Baroness Denton of Wakefield

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his kindness in indicating that we have in Northern Ireland been busy in the past few weeks. I must pay tribute to my colleagues who have been exceptionally busy and, we hope, to good effect. I am grateful for the noble Lord's recognition of that. I shall endeavour to answer his questions but I shall be happy to write to him if he considers that necessary.

For the sake of simplification, we are changing to determining rather than prescribing. It is easier to designate officers or qualifications than to prescribe them by making regulations. Discussions can then take place between government and council officials and we believe that they will be able to move more quickly.

In order to avoid the fear that the noble Lord indicated, contributions to public appeals are being restricted to persons or bodies specified in the order. It will assist councils when dealing with the many requests for contributions they receive. It also brings councils in Northern Ireland into line with legislation in Great Britain.

The possibility of prohibiting political contributions was examined but had to be rejected because of the diverse meaning that could be attached to "political". As in the Local Government Act 1972, an appeal may be made by the Lord Mayor of London, the chairman of a principal council or by a committee of which any of those persons is a member. That makes it possible for substantial contributions to be made to charities, usually made by somebody taking office for the period of a year.

It is considered that councils using their local knowledge can best decide how to have regard to the views of occupiers when considering whether to erect a second nameplate. We believe that to impose requirements as to how a council should undertake that task could prove unduly restrictive and bureaucratic and is best dealt with in relation to specific local circumstances.

I hope that I have been able to satisfy the noble Lord on these matters. I commend the order to your Lordships.

On Question, Motion agreed to.