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ASSEMBLY AND EXECUTIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
TUESDAY, 26 MAY 2009
ROOM 144, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

Present:
Mr Jimmy Spratt (Chairperson)
Mr Raymond McCartney (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Alex Attwood
Mr Simon Hamilton
Mrs Carmel Hanna
Mr Danny Kennedy
Mr Alan McFarland
Mr John O’Dowd

In Attendance:
Mr Stephen Graham (Assembly Clerk)
Mr Oliver Bellew (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Miss Tara McKee (Clerical Supervisor)
Miss Paula McManus (Clerical Officer)
Mr Victor Hewitt (Specialist Adviser)

Apologies:
Mr Alex Maskey
Mr Nelson McCausland

The meeting opened at11.05am in closed session.

1. Apologies

Apologies are detailed above.

2. Chairperson’s business

The Chairperson advised Members that Baroness Scotland could not commit to a meeting with the Committee until after 1 June 2009.

3. Minutes of Proceedings of meeting held on 19 May 2009

Members agreed the Minutes of Proceedings of the meeting held on 19 May 2009.

11.03am Mrs Hanna joined the meeting

4. Matters arising

4.1 The respective political parties indicated the following Members would to travel to Westminster and Edinburgh as part of the Committee’s visits to other legislatures:

Mr Jimmy Spratt (Chairperson)
Mr Raymond McCartney (Deputy Chairperson)
Mrs Carmel Hanna
Mr Danny Kennedy
Mr Alex Maskey
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Ian Paisley Jnr

Agreed: The Committee agreed that the Committee Clerk should make the necessary flight and hotel reservations.

4.2 Invite from the Clerk of the Justice Committee in Edinburgh

The Clerk informed Members of an invitation from the Clerk of the Justice Committee in Edinburgh to provide the Committee with a tour of the Scottish Parliament, and to attend a plenary session on Thursday 18 June 2009, when a piece of emergency legislation is due to go through the House.

Agreed: Members agreed in principle, to accept the invitation.

5. Presentation by the Specialist Adviser

Members considered a separate pack containing a summary paper prepared by the Specialist Adviser, on ‘budgetary pressures’, based on the responses from the organisations providing the range of policing and justice services.

11.11am Mr Hewitt joined the meeting

The Chairperson welcomed Mr Hewitt to the meeting, and invited him to brief the Committee on the summary paper.

11.13am Mr Hamilton joined the meeting
11.15 Mr Attwood joined the meeting

This was followed by a question and answer session.

The session was recorded by Hansard.

Agreed: The Committee agreed that the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson should seek an urgent meeting with the First Minister and the deputy First Minister to discuss, and agree, the terms of, and arrangements for, the proposed meeting, in closed session, on 9 June 2009, and the mutual sharing of information.

The Chairperson thanked the Specialist Adviser for the presentation.

12.03pm Mr Hewitt left the meeting
12.06pm The meeting opened in public session

6. Devolution of Policing and Justice Matters

Committee Briefing Paper 11/08/09 – Eleventh Revision – Consideration of the Category Two List of Issues

In relation to the issue of the devolution of policing and justice matters, the Chairperson declared the following interests:

Members indicated that they had nothing further to report in relation to the Category Two List of Issues.

Agreed: Members agreed to return to the Category Two List of Issues at the next meeting of the Committee.

7. Date, time and place of next meeting

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, 9 June 2009 at 11.00am, in Room 21, Parliament Buildings, initially in closed session.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.09 pm.

Mr Jimmy Spratt
Chairperson, Assembly and Executive Review Committee
9 th June 2009.

19 May 09 / MENU