COMMITTEE FOR EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
WEDNESDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2009
ROOM 30, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Ms Sue Ramsey MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Thomas Buchanan MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Paul Butler MLA
Mr William Irwin MLA
Mrs Claire McGill MLA
Mr David Hilditch MLA
Ms Anna Lo MLA
Mr David McClarty MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
In Attendance:
Mr Peter Hall (Assembly Clerk)
Mrs Sheila Mawhinney (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Mr Nathan McVeigh (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Bill Kinnear (Clerical Officer)
Apologies:
Rev Dr Robert Coulter MLA
The meeting opened at 10. 04 am in closed session
Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
1. Minutes of the meetings held on 18 November 2009
Agreed: The minutes were agreed.
10.06 am Mrs Claire McGill joined the meeting
2. Briefing by Departmental officials on the Review of Teacher Education
Andrew Hamilton, Deputy Secretary, Fergus Devitt, Director of Higher Education, and Patricia McVeigh, Head of Higher Education Policy and Strategic Development Branch, briefed the Committee on the Review of Teacher Education. The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.
10.09 am Mr David Hilditch and Mr William Irwin joined the meeting
3. Primary Legislation: Briefing by Departmental officials on the Employment Bill
The Committee received a briefing from Lynne Taylor, Head of Central Management Branch, Valerie Reilly, Head of Employment Relations Branch and Legislation Branch, and Linda Meldrum, Sectoral Development Branch, on proposed amendments to the Employment Bill . The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.
Agreed: Members agreed to write to NIC-ICTU to urge engagement with the Department on issues surrounding the proposed amendments.
11.15 am Mr Pat Ramsey and Mr William Irwin left the meeting
The meeting moved into public session at 11.17am
4. Matters Arising
- Holyland Action Plan
Members noted the update from the Minister for Employment and Learning on the progress of the Holyland Forum and the implementation of the Action Plan.
- Response on Autism to the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Agreed: Members noted this correspondence and agreed to forward it to the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety
- Further Education since 2002
Members noted the above response from the Department to issues raised by the Committee at a previous meeting.
- Review of the Committee for Finance and Personnel Public Procurement Stakeholder Conference
Members noted the above report and looked forward to the publication of the Inquiry Report.
- Further Education Lecturers’ Pay Award
Agreed: the Committee agreed to forward various pieces of correspondence on this issue to the Department for comment.
- RNIB proposals – DEL response
Agreed: Members agree to forward the Minister’s response, together with responses from the Further Education colleges and universities, to the RNIB for comment.
11.24 am Mr Pat Ramsey rejoined the meeting
5. Briefing by Departmental officials on the December Monitoring Round and Resource Accounts
Andrew Hamilton, Deputy Secretary, and Trevor Connolly, Director of Finance and European Division, briefed members on the Department’s submission for the December Monitoring Round and on the DEL Resource Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2009. The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.
11.50 am Mr William Irwin rejoined the meeting
12.02 pm Mr David McClarty left the meeting
12.07 pm Mr Pat Ramsey and Mr Paul Butler left the meeting
Agreed: Members agreed that officials would provide further clarification on their monitoring round submission.
6. Primary Legislation: Briefing by officials from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Peter Toner and David Millar, officials from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, were joined by Valerie Reilly, Head of Employment Relations Branch and Legislation Branch in the Department for Employment and Learning, to brief the Committee on amendments which the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development proposes to add to the Employment Bill. The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.
12.14 pm Mr William Irwin left the meeting
Agreed: Members agreed to write to the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development to seek its views on the proposed amendments.
7. Chairperson’s Business
Members noted a number of items of correspondence and agreed responses.
8. Departmental Press Notices and Press cuttings
Members noted a number of recent Departmental press notices and other extracts from the local press.
9. Any Other Business
- Northern Ireland Skills Monitoring Survey 2008
The Committee noted the above Report from DEL.
- Forward Work Programme – for information
Members noted the Committee’s Forward Work Programme for the period of December 2009 to March 2010.
10. Date, time and place of next meeting
The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Wednesday, 9 December 2009 in Room 30, Parliament Building.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.26 pm