Draft Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020
(4 years ago)
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The Chair
Before we begin our proceedings, will any colleague who intends to speak ensure that Hansard gets their speech?
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr Robin Walker)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.
The regulations, which were laid before the House on 22 October, are needed to implement requirements of the Northern Ireland protocol, which, as hon. Members will be aware, was designed as a way of implementing the needs of the UK upon its exit from the EU in a way that works for Northern Ireland and, in particular, for maintaining the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, the gains of the peace process, and the delicate balance within the community. The regulations implement niche aspects, under annex 2 of the protocol, relating to explosive precursors and firearms.
I will give some background. In early 2019, the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service made the Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the purpose of which was to ensure that a number of existing security-related regulatory regimes continued to operate in substantially the same manner as before exit day. As a result of the protocol, and in advance of the end of the transition period, some further amendments are needed. These are included in the statutory instrument before the Committee. They cover only explosive precursors and firearms, and will ensure that Northern Ireland continues to implement European Union law on those two matters, as a consequence of the protocol.
It is important to point out that the impact of the SI will not be the same on both matters. On explosive precursors, the impact of the regulations will be that licences issued by the Home Office to allow members of the public in Great Britain to acquire, import, possess or use explosive precursors will no longer be valid in Northern Ireland. That is because the Northern Ireland explosive precursors licensing regime will continue to be aligned with EU regulations, as required by the protocol. Members of the public based in Great Britain who wish to acquire, import, possess or use explosive precursors in Northern Ireland will need a separate licence from the Northern Ireland Office, which already issues such licences for individuals resident in Northern Ireland.
I emphasise that this change will affect only the small number of Great Britain-based licence holders who also wish to acquire, import, possess or use explosive precursors in Northern Ireland. They are mainly hobbyists who, for example, make use of those substances to propel model planes. The SI has no impact on current Northern Ireland-based licence holders or on businesses. The Home Office will be issuing letters to current Great Britain-based licence holders to make them aware of the change, and public guidance on the gov.uk website will be updated.
In line with the UK Government’s objective of ensuring preparedness for 1 January 2021, we have included the provision on firearms, which are largely a devolved matter, with the consent of the Northern Ireland Justice Minister. The regulations mean that Northern Ireland will continue to issue and recognise the European firearms pass, a form of passport allowing lawful travel with a legal firearm across the EU and Northern Ireland. That will not be the case in Great Britain. Again, that is a requirement of the protocol to provide for Northern Ireland to remain aligned with the EU weapons directive, which sets minimum standards for civilian firearms acquisition and possession.
The Home Office has already written to relevant stakeholders, such as shooting associations, making it clear that residents of Great Britain will no longer be able to use or apply for the European firearms pass to travel with their legal firearm. That correspondence also makes it clear that residents of Northern Ireland will still be able to request a European firearms pass and use it to take a lawfully owned firearm to an EU country, including Ireland, after the end of the transition period.
The Committee will appreciate that none of this is a new concept or policy. The draft regulations are representative of the legislative building blocks necessary to ensure readiness at the end of the transition period. They apply to the niche and already tightly regulated area of explosive precursors and firearms, and they will have no impact on business.
Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)
I do not wish to detain the Committee longer than necessary, because the Labour party clearly supports the statutory instrument, which ensures that the existing regulatory regime continues to operate in substantially the same manner as before the end of the transition period.
I know that the Northern Ireland Justice Minister, Naomi Long, has consented to the devolved aspects of the SI being legislated for in Westminster, as the Minister said. However, given that the SI and the provisions in the protocol will require separate licences to be issued by the NIO to individuals in Great Britain for possession or use of explosive precursors, will the Minister outline how the NIO intends to ensure the ongoing continuity of those licences as regulations from the EU change over time? The impact of Northern Ireland aligning with a certain set of single market rules and regulations is not limited to explosive precursors but applies to all product requirements and safety, so it would be helpful to understand the NIO’s thinking on how the inevitable changes to these regulations and others will be monitored and implemented under the protocol.
Democratic input from representatives in Northern Ireland must be actively sought and understood in Westminster for that monitoring and implementation to be effective. Today’s regulations may be niche, with minimal impact on businesses and communities, but tomorrow’s almost certainly will not be, with much broader implications. Is it clear to the Minister what would happen if, for example, an Executive Minister refused for devolved aspects to be legislated for in Westminster? What will the process for democratic engagement and input into those decisions look like? Has he considered whether joint committees between Westminster and Stormont might be an effective way forward for the ongoing scrutiny of such regulations?
These regulations might represent the necessary legislative building blocks to ensure readiness at the end of the transition period in a niche area of security co-operation, but in other areas of security co-operation there is simply nothing of the same readiness, as the Minister knows. I would be grateful to him if he provided the Committee an update, perhaps in writing, on security concerns on data adequacy arrangements for policing co-operation, access to SIS II—the Schengen information system—European arrest warrants, ECRIS—the European criminal records information system—and Europol, all of which are necessary for ongoing security co-operation with Northern Ireland after the transition period. I will not detain the Committee any longer; the Opposition give our unqualified support for the SI.
Mr Walker
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her support and for her brief speech. To reiterate, neither the provisions on explosive precursors nor those on the European firearms pass will impact on business or trade. The changes will affect only members of the public. As she mentioned, we have worked closely with colleagues at the Department of Justice and will continue to talk to and engage with them. She spoke about joint committees for scrutiny and arrangements of that nature. I am not aware of any discussions about that, but we certainly continue to engage regularly with Departments in the Executive, and I think it is important that she does.
The hon. Lady spoke about the wider security issues. She may or may not know that later this week I will give evidence to the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs for its inquiry into precisely those issues, so I commend that evidence session to her and to the Committee. As she said, licences for explosive precursors in Northern Ireland are issued by the Northern Ireland Office, while licences in Great Britain are issued by the Home Office. We will continue to work carefully to ensure that that process is managed properly, in consultation, as she said, with our colleagues in the Executive and the Department of Justice.
Question put and agreed to.