House Of Commons Speech

I beg to move that this Committee has considered the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, a draft of which was laid before this House on 19 December 2002.

The draft Order establishes an important new public office – that of Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland, whose main aim will be to safeguard and promote the rights and best interests of children and young people in that jurisdiction. Other jurisdictions in the UK have considered this issue, and Wales was in fact the first to appoint a Commissioner for Children in 2001. A Bill to establish a Scottish Commissioner is being considered by the Scottish Parliament.

This is the most important piece of Northern Ireland legislation affecting children and young people since the children Order of 1995. It is a watershed in society's attitudes to children and young people, marking the point at which we move beyond the traditional, but narrow, focus on welfare, to a broader, more rounded appreciation of the importance of children's rights and best interests.

It will place Northern Ireland at the leading edge of international best practice in safeguarding and promoting the rights and interests of children and young people.

I should now like to outline briefly the provisions in the Order.

The Draft Order has 27 Articles and three Schedules. Articles 1 to 4 deal with the title and commencement as well as the general interpretation and the interpretation of the phrases “child or young person” and “relevant authority”. These provisions set out a comprehensive role and remit, encompassing young people from birth up to the age of 18, or 21 if they are disabled or care-leavers.

The remit will include every public authority whose activities affect children, in devolved and non-devolved matters, including juvenile justice.

Articles 5 and 6 establish the Office of the Commissioner for Children and Young People and set out the principal aim of the Office, which will be to safeguard and promote the rights and best interests of children and young persons. The term ‘rights' is not defined in the Bill, but will include all the rights recognised by the law of Northern Ireland.

Article 6 also sets out a number of guiding principles for the Commissioner. The Article makes it clear that, in deciding whether or how to act in relation to a particular child, the best interests of that child is to be the Commissioner's main consideration.

Articles 7 to 15 set out the functions (duties and powers) of the Commissioner. They allow for a comprehensive, wide-ranging set of functions, more extensive than any exercised by any comparable body that we are aware of. These include:

·promoting the rights and best interests of children and young people:

·acting as a watchdog on public authorities: and

·ombudsman and advocacy functions.

This set of functions will give the Commissioner the flexibility needed to ensure that the rights and best interests of children and young people are properly considered in situations ranging from individual cases to the development of policy and legislation. As a measure of the importance that we attach to these functions, many are proposed as statutory duties of the Commissioner rather than merely optional functions.

The Order sets out the powers at the Commissioner's disposal, and once again these are comprehensive.

This includes provision for three different types of investigation:

·the first type is informal general investigations (Article 8). These can be used in relation to any of the Commissioner's functions, but there are no set procedures or associated formal powers to enter premises or obtain evidence;

·the second category concerns investigations of the adequacy and effectiveness of the law and practice relating to children's rights and welfare; or of the adequacy and effectiveness of services ( Article 7 and Schedule 3) or general reviews of arrangements for advocacy, complaints, inspection or whistle-blowing relating to authorities that are not the responsibility of the devolved administration ( Article 9) . These authorities are listed in Part II of Schedule 1 to the Order. This intermediate type of investigation has set procedures, but few associated formal powers;

·Articles 16 to 23 provide for the third type of investigation. These relate to the investigation of complaints, or the review of arrangements for complaints, inspection, whistle-blowing or advocacy, either in relation to individual cases or general reviews where they relate to authorities which are the responsibility of the devolved administration. These authorities are listed in Part I of Schedule 1 to the Order. There are set procedures; formal powers of entry and evidence gathering; sanctions to deal with obstruction; and safeguards on the disclosure of information.

Article 24 provides for reviews of the Order and Articles 25 to 27 deal with supplementary matters such as privilege and application of the Order to relevant authorities with mixed functions and in relation to matters arising before commencement. Schedule 1 further defines the term ‘relevant authorities'. Schedule 2 provides for the staffing, funding and other procedural arrangements and Schedule 3 sets out the procedures in relation to investigations under Article 7(2) and (3) and 9(6).

Mr Chairman, the draft Order is based very closely on the Bill that reached Committee stage in the Assembly prior to suspension. A number of changes have been made in response to suggestions that had been put forward by the Assembly Committee that had been scrutinising the Bill, and which had been agreed by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister prior to suspension. Examples include:

·the broadening of the definition of ‘parent' (Article 2) to include all those with parental responsibility; and

·the inclusion in Article 7(1)(b) of a requirement for the Commissioner to promote respect among children and young persons for the rights of others.

With one exception, any other changes to the original Bill are of a minor and technical nature, and do not alter the intended effect of the provisions.

The exception, Mr Chairman, is a somewhat complex, but significant point, and I ask for the Committee's indulgence as I explain it. We have removed provisions that would have prevented the Commissioner from acting firstly as an ombudsman in relation to an individual case and then subsequently as an advocate on behalf of the child or young person involved. These provisions were inserted in order to ensure that there is no breach of natural justice in the exercise of the Commissioner's powers. However, on examination, I concluded that they were, in fact, unduly restrictive, and I decided to remove them.

I am confident that this change would meet with the approval of the Assembly and the Executive. I should also emphasise that the Order still contains provisions to prevent the Commissioner from acting firstly as an advocate and subsequently as an ombudsman in relation to a particular case. This is because the ombudsman role is, by definition, impartial, whilst the advocate role on behalf of a child clearly is not. Therefore, the exercise of the two roles in that order in relation to an individual case would be a clear breach of natural justice.

The draft Order is complex, but this reflects the care taken to ensure that the Commissioner has the full range of tools necessary to do the job effectively, it also reflects many of the comments received on consultation. Over 300 responses (many of which were group responses) were received with virtually all enthusiastically welcoming this initiative. We believe that the Office of Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland, will place Northern Ireland at the leading edge of international best practice in this area and that the children of Northern Ireland deserve no less.

I beg to move.