NI ministers in appeal for calm

11 July 2011 Last updated at 05:16 GMT Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson have made an appeal for calm over the summer The first and deputy first ministers have appealed for calm ahead of the annual 12 July parades, after disturbances at the weekend.

A number of police officers were injured during rioting in County Antrim at the weekend.

It followed disturbances in Lurgan and Craigavon last week.

First Minister Peter Robinson said that although there were occasions when feelings might run high, "violence and rioting is not the answer".

The ministers said "extensive work" had been undertaken by their office with community leaders in recent weeks to identify and calm potential flashpoints.

Mr Robinson called on "everyone to take a step back and think of the consequences before doing something which you will later regret".

Peaceful summer

"In recent weeks the eyes of the world have focused in on Northern Ireland for both all the right reasons and, unfortunately, all the wrong reasons," he said.

"As a government we are continuing to work hard to create jobs and investment and to build and grow our economy.

"We must not allow the progress that has been made to be thwarted by those who want to drag us back to the past. We are determined to build a better and brighter future for all in Northern Ireland.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said it was "in the interests of everyone" to ensure that Northern Ireland had a "peaceful summer".

He said: "A lot of people have devoted many hours to ensuring that there is a bright future for us and our children.

"As a government we are committed to creating a better future for all. Some recent events do not help.

"Issues surrounding a small number of contentious parades need to be resolved.

"I call on elected representatives, community leaders and indeed everyone in positions of authority within local communities to use their influence wisely this summer."

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Ministers 'overturn' bail ruling

30 June 2011 Last updated at 13:08 GMT Home Secretary Theresa May: "This is a matter of great concern"

Emergency laws will be brought forward to "overturn" a High Court ruling restricting police bail in England and Wales to a maximum of four days.

Policing Minister Nick Herbert told MPs the move was necessary to allow officers to do their jobs without "one hand tied behind their back".

He said there was not enough time to wait for a Supreme Court appeal.

Police had regularly released suspects on bail for weeks, or even months in some cases, while an inquiry continued.

Senior police officers are due to meet Home Secretary Theresa May later on Thursday to discuss the issue.

'Dire' implications

Fresh guidance to police custody officers in England and Wales followed a ruling in the case of murder suspect Paul Hookway - involving Greater Manchester Police - by Mr Justice McCombe in the High Court in May.

It says officers will have to re-arrest suspects in order to detain or question them again beyond the four-day - or 96-hour - period - but may only do so with "new evidence".

Continue reading the main story Danny Shaw Home affairs correspondent

For over 25 years, since the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, it's been customary for officers to release suspects on police bail while they complete their investigations. Sometimes this can take weeks or months.

When the suspect returns to the police station, he or she might be detained for further questioning, rebailed pending additional inquiries, charged or released without action.

The ruling in the Hookway case has thrown this long-established practice into disarray. On the face of it, it means police have four days at most to bring charges - regardless of whether suspects are in custody.

The reality is that in thousands of cases this won't be possible. Police, under the new interpretation of the laws, will be powerless to prevent suspects walking away from a police station, with no conditions attached, unless they can find new evidence to arrest them again.

No wonder the Home Office and senior officers are urgently seeking a remedy.

The Association of Chief Police Officers' (Acpo) lead spokesman on the issue, Essex Chief Constable Jim Barker-McCardle, said there was "chaos and concern out there" after the ruling had "thrown the whole of policing into the air".

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said one senior police figure had described the implications of the court ruling as "dire" as it would have far-reaching effects on serious and complex cases where police needed time to gather evidence and speak to witnesses, such as in rape allegations.

Mr Herbert told the Commons that police "believe that the judgement will have a serious impact on their ability to investigate crime".

"It is likely that in most forces there will not be enough capacity to detain everybody in police cells," he said.

"In other cases it risks impeding the police to such an extent that the investigation will have to be stopped because the detention time has run out.

"The judgement will also affect the ability of the police to enforce bail conditions."

The minister said that with about 80,000 suspects currently on bail, the matter had to be dealt with urgently.

He said the emergency legislation would provide assurance to the police that they could continue to operate on the same basis, regarding bail, as they have for the last 25 years.

But for Labour, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper criticised the government for only dealing with the issue now - despite Home Office officials learning of the Hookway decision in May.

Concern for victims

"There has been considerable chaos in the Home Office around this, not just this week but for the last few weeks," she said.

Continue reading the main story 19 May: Judge rules orally against Greater Manchester Police, overturning 25 years of bail practice. GMP informs officials at Home Office soon after 17 June: Written version of judgement circulated among Home Office officials, Crown Prosecution Service lawyers and police chiefs who debate its implications24 June: Ministers alerted to the full scale of the problem. Association of Chief Police Officers commissions further expert legal advice 30 June: Acpo recommends emergency legislation. Ministers say it will be introduced "as soon as possible""Why is there still no clarity about what this means for the police? Some forces believe it affects custody but not bail conditions, others fear that it means bail conditions no longer apply."

She added: "It is a deeply serious situation for the police, for prosecutions, and particularly for justice for victims."

Mr Herbert said that while the Home Office knew about the judgement last month, the full impact of it only became clear on 17 June.

The ruling was made by the district judge at Salford Magistrates' Court who said the detention clock continued to run while Mr Hookway was on bail.

Mr Hookway was arrested in November and police were given permission to detain him for 36 hours but he was released after 28.

Five months later, police applied to the courts to extend the period of detention from 36 hours to the maximum of 96 hours, but the district judge refused, saying that the 96 hours had expired months ago.

Greater Manchester Police sought a judicial review, but the ruling was upheld at the High Court.

The force will appeal to the Supreme Court on 25 July to have it overturned.

However Ian Kelcey, of the Law Society, said the courts may be sending out a message to the police.

He told BBC News: "Defence solicitors have been extremely concerned over the period of the past few years that bail has extended and extended, and I think this may be a message that's coming out from the courts that enough is enough and you can't just treat it as an ever-extending piece of elastic."

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Ministers 'losing way' on reforms

16 June 2011 Last updated at 19:35 GMT The threat of strike action is weighing heavily on ministers, the CBI believes The coalition is "losing its way" over its promised public sector reforms in the face of union pressure and fears of a public backlash, the CBI has said.

The business group's deputy director general said the planned NHS shake-up had turned into a "debacle".

And Neil Bentley urged ministers to ignore the "forces of inertia" and push on with public sector pension changes.

The PM's spokesman has said the delayed public services reform white paper will be published before the summer recess.

But the criticism from Mr Bentley comes amid reports that the government's blueprint for public sector reform will not be published until the early autumn.

In a speech in Surrey, Mr Bentley praised the government's progress in some areas, saying it had hit targets for efficiency savings, improved government procurement and given a greater role to private firms in its welfare-to-work programmes.

'Losing momentum'

But he said ministers promised a white paper setting out their vision for greater productivity in the public sector in February and - four months on - it was no clearer when this would be delivered.

"After all this time, this ongoing uncertainty - combined with the debacle over NHS reform - clearly calls into question the coalition's commitment to reform," he said.

Continue reading the main story

The coalition gives the impression of having lost its way, uneasy about reforms and unsure how to present them”

End Quote Neil Bentley Deputy director general, CBI The government's rethink on its proposed shake-up of the NHS in England was a "missed opportunity" and would have serious consequences for the health service, he argued.

"We have seen the forces of inertia in the NHS triumph on health reform. Patient services will only be improved if the NHS is opened up to far greater competition and dependence on hospital care is reduced."

Mr Bentley claimed proposed changes to services in local government, policing, probation and other areas were "losing momentum".

Failure to secure greater competition and diversity of provision could hamper the coalition's deficit-cutting strategy, he said, arguing that competitive tendering for public sector contracts could cut costs by up to 30%.

"In most areas we are seeing public services cling onto existing ways of doing things, with vested interests fighting modernisation at every turn and campaigning against change."

"Today, the coalition gives the impression of having lost its way, uneasy about reforms and unsure how to present them."

Pension battle

The government is locked in a fight with public sector unions over changes to pensions.

More than 750,000 workers are set to strike later this month, unhappy about plans to require them to contribute more and work longer before they can collect their pension.

Unions say the retirement income of many low-paid workers will be reduced, contrasting this with what they claim is continuing excess in the banking sector.

But the CBI is challenging ministers - who have warned of the danger of strikes and said they are committed to affordable pension provision - to press ahead with the recommendations in the Hutton report earlier this year.

"The government has to hold its nerve," Mr Bentley said.

"Otherwise the public sector pensions deficit will get even more unaffordable. The private sector has bitten the bullet on this. Now the government as an employer needs to do the same."

The Times reported on Thursday that ministers had delayed the publication of plans to get private and voluntary groups to take over the running of more services - due out next month - amid internal friction over their speed.

This followed leaked documents last month which suggested ministers had decided the "wholesale outsourcing" of public services to the private sector would be politically "unpalatable".

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has said the blueprint would be made public "within months".

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New Stormont ministers announced

16 May 2011 Last updated at 16:05 GMT Ministers were announced at the assembly on Monday Northern Ireland's main parties have announced the names of the ministers in the new NI Assembly.

The DUP's Edwin Poots will be health minister, Sammy Wilson will lead finance, Arlene Foster will be enterprise minister and Nelson McCausland social development minister.

Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd takes on education, Michelle O'Neill agriculture and Caral Ni Chuilin, culture.

Alex Attwood, SDLP, is the new environment minister.

Ulster Unionist Danny Kennedy will be minister for regional development.

Stephen Farry, Alliance Party, is the new minister for employment and learning and his party leader David Ford remains as justice minister.

The DUP nominated Paul Givan for the justice post, however, this was defeated in a vote in the assembly chamber.

Jonathon Bell, DUP, and Martina Anderson, Sinn Fein, are the two new junior ministers.

The DUP also announced that in two years' time, Simon Hamilton will take on the finance portfolio and Jim Wells will take over the health post.

Speaking to BBC Newsline on Monday afternoon, Mr Poots said he would review his predecessor Michael McGimpsey's decision not to proceed with a radiotherapy centre at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry.

"Everything is on the table, nothing is off the table," he said.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said his Sinn Fein colleague John O'Dowd - the new education minister - would "look at all issues, meet all stakeholders, and decide what is the best way forward".

However, he added that education "is going to undergo much needed change in the coming period".

The SDLP's Mr Attwood said he was delighted to accept the environment portfolio.

"Local government, planning, the environment and road safety afford real opportunities to make Northern Ireland a better place to live, work and invest," he said.

Ulster Unionist Mr Kennedy said he was "honoured and humbled" at his appointment as regional development minister.

"I will urgently review the DRD policy set by the previous Sinn Fein minister, who planned to introduce new car-parking charges for towns and villages throughout Northern Ireland," he said.

Mr Farry said he saw his the role at department of employment and learning as helping Northern Ireland's economic regeneration.

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