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30 June 2009

PRESS RELEASE

AC07/08/09

NEXT STEP FROM ASSEMBLY TO INCREASE TRANSPARENCY

At its meeting last night (29 June) the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission confirmed that all details of MLAs’ expenses from April 2003 onwards will be available online by the end of November 2009. This is a further step in the Assembly Commission’s efforts to increase the level of information about MLAs’ expenses in the public domain.

Yesterday’s decision follows the Assembly Commission’s meeting on 18 June where it considered how information on MLAs’ expenses claimed before April 2009 could be made available using existing financial and IT systems.

When the Commission met on 21 May to consider the Senior Salaries Review Body report, it agreed to publish the details of all MLAs’ transactions for the 2009-2010 financial year from September 2009 onwards.

The Speaker, William Hay MLA, said:“Since the restoration of devolution, the Assembly has been taking steps to progressively put more information on MLA expenses into the public domain. This move is the latest in our efforts to do that. People want and deserve to know how their money is being spent. We must do all we can to make transparency the norm, not the exception.”

ENDS

Susie Brown
Head of Communications
Northern Ireland Assembly
Phone: 9052 1161 or 07776 198226
E-mail: susie.brown@niassembly.gov.uk

Notes to editors

1. In June 2007 the Assembly Commission formally engaged with the SSRB and agreed terms of reference for a review of MLAs’ pay, pensions and allowances. The SSRB is a wholly independent body which provides advice on salaries and allowances for senior staff in the public sector, including the senior civil service, the judiciary and to legislatures, including Westminster and the Devolved Institutions.

2. Trevor Reaney, Clerk to the Assembly/Director General will be available to brief the media at 11.00am in the Private Dining Room, Parliament Buildings, Stormont.