COMMITTEE FOR CULTURE, ARTS AND LEISURE
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
TUESDAY 1 OCTOBER 2002 AT 11:39AM, IN ROOM 144, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Mr J Kelly (Deputy Chairperson)
Dr I Adamson
Mr F Agnew
Mr I Davis
Mr D Hilditch
Mr E McMenamin
Mr M Murphy
Mr J Shannon
Apologies:
Mr E ONeill (Chairperson)
Mr K McCarthy
Mr J Wilson
In attendance:
Ms L Gordon (Clerk)
Mrs L Gregg (Assistant Clerk)
Ms M Higgins (Administrative Support)
Ms H Graham (Administrative Support)
In attendance to brief the Committee on the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure's draft budget 2003-2004 and the Needs and Effectiveness Evaluation: Mrs Carol Moore, Deputy Secretary, and Mr Noel Redmond, Financial Planning and Accountability Branch.
The Deputy Chairperson opened the meeting, in closed session, at 11:39am.
1. Chairperson's business
1.1. It was agreed that today's meeting would be held in closed session to allow for deliberation on the draft Budget and the Needs and Effectiveness Evaluation.
Mr Davis and Mr McMenamin attended the meeting at 11:42am.
1.2. The Deputy Chairperson welcomed the Departmental officials and advised that the Committee's objective was to provide members with an early overview of how the Department has fared in the draft budget 2003 - 2004, prior to the meeting with the Minister later in the month. He added that the Committee was conscious that the Department did well compared to other years, particularly in relation to Sport and the Arts, and that the Minister should be congratulated for making a successful case for additional resources for those areas. However, the Deputy Chairperson noted that the outcome for other spending areas fell short of the bids submitted.
1.3. The Deputy Chairperson asked the Department to take the Committee through each of the spending areas, indicating as precisely as possible at this stage - what the implications would be of the failed bids; how the Department hoped to address the failed bids; and, in those areas where additional resources were received, how the Department intended to allocate them.
1.4. Additionally, the Deputy Chairperson asked the Department to highlight particular areas which emerged from the 'Needs' element of the Needs and Effectiveness Evaluation, as being under-resourced in Northern Ireland.
2. Departmental briefing on the draft Budget 2003-2004 and the Needs and Effectiveness Evaluation
2.1. The Department emphasised, that due to the high level of competition for funding, its main strategy had been to maximise the Department's baseline, as this would ensure continuity of increased resources for future years. Additionally, officials advised that it had taken account of the need to put together selective packages for future Reform and Re-Investment Initiative (RRI), Executive Programme Funds (EPF) and In-Year Monitoring rounds, which were all opportunities to attract additional funding, particularly in relation to capital projects.
2.2. Officials also highlighted that, although the budget position was better than in previous years, the budget was still at draft stage and required good business cases to secure the funding, before decisions on allocations could be made. The Committee was also advised that decisions on current applications for EPFs had been deferred until 17 October 2002 and that next year's had been deferred from April until September. The outcome of the September monitoring was also not yet known.
2.3. The Department advised the Committee that the Needs Assessment had been completed in July 2002 and that the Effectiveness aspect was almost complete. However, new 'Needs' figures had since become available from Great Britain, which had to be taken into account. Members noted that the July figures indicated that a £6.25m gap existed between Northern Ireland and England and Wales. The new figures would clearly have an impact on the position.
Mr Shannon attended the meeting at 11:59am.
The meeting suspended at 12:11pm and reconvened at 12:32pm to permit members to attend to plenary business. Mr Davis and Mr McMenamin did not rejoin the meeting.
2.4. Officials answered members' questions on issues about funding for libraries, sport, languages and culture. It was agreed that the Department would be in a better position to give more detailed answers when the Committee met the Minister later in October 2002, and the outcomes of EPF applications had been clarified.
2.5. It was agreed that the Clerk would provide further copies of the Department's Service Delivery Agreement for members to clarify the work carried out by the various units within DCAL.
3. Minutes of the meeting on 26 September 2002
3.1. The draft Minutes of Proceedings of the meeting on 26 September 2002 were agreed.
4. Matters arising
4.1. There were no matters arising.
5. Any other business
5.1. It was agreed that the Committee office would contact members to confirm their availability to attend the meeting in Londonderry on Thursday 10 October 2002.
6. Date of next meeting
6.1. The next meeting of the Committee will take place at 10:15am on Thursday 3 October 2002 in Room 152.
The Deputy Chairperson brought the meeting to a close at 12:48pm.
John Kelly
Deputy Chairperson