COMMITTEE FOR EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2010
ROOM 30, PARLIAMENT BUILDING
Present:
Ms Sue Ramsey MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Trevor Clarke MLA
Rev Dr Robert Coulter MLA
Mr David Hilditch MLA
Mr William Irwin MLA
Ms Anna Lo MLA
Mr David McClarty MLA
Mrs Claire McGill MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
In Attendance:
Mr Peter Hall (Assembly Clerk)
Mrs Sheila Mawhinney (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Mr Andy Cooper (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Bill Kinnear (Clerical Officer)
Apologies:
Mr Jonathan Bell MLA
Mr Paul Butler MLA
The meeting opened at 10. 03 am in public session
Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
1. Minutes of the meetings held on 3 February 2010
Agreed:The minutes were agreed.
2. Briefing from Disability Action on the Welfare Reform Bill
Monica Wilson, Chief Executive, and Laura McCartney, Employment and Training Support Officer, briefed the Committee on the implications of the Welfare Reform Bill for people with disabilities . The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.
10.06 am Mr William Irwin joined the meeting
10.16 am Mr Trevor Clarke joined the meeting
Agreed: Members agreed to write to the Department, outlining various issues raised by the briefing.
3. Briefing from Barnardo’s on the NEETs Inquiry
Members received a briefing from Margaret Kelly, Assistant Director, and Mary-Anne Webb, Policy and Research Officer, on possible Terms of Reference for the Committee’s inquiry into young people not in education, employment or training. The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.
11.15 am Mr Trevor Clarke left the meeting.
11.20 am Mr William Irwin and Mr Pat Ramsey left the meeting
Agreed: Members agreed to write to the Minister for further details on a scoping study undertaken by the Department on this issue.
Agreed: Members agreed to return to the issue next week and to finalise terms of reference for the Inquiry at that time.
4. Matters Arising
- Steps to Work/ Steps Ahead
Members noted correspondence from the Department in response to issues raised by members at a previous briefing.
- Update on Apprenticeships redundancies
Members noted correspondence from the Department, providing an update on apprentices who have been made redundant.
- ‘Life Chances’ paper from BIPA Committee D
Agreed: Members considered the above paper, and agreed that it should be included as evidence for the Committee’s NEETs inquiry.
- February Monitoring Round
The Committee noted correspondence from the Department in response to queries arising from the previous briefing on this issue.
- Review of HE Strategy – Terms of Reference
Agreed: Members noted correspondence from the Department outlining the terms of reference for the above review, and agreed to return to this issue next week.
11.29 am Mr William Irwin rejoined the meeting.
- Role of DEL in Redundancies
Agreed: Members considered correspondence from the Department clarifying procedures for redundancy situations and agreed to forward this to the Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment.
11.30 am Mr William Irwin left the meeting
11.30 am Mr Pat Ramsey rejoined the meeting
5. Chairperson’s Business
Members noted a number of items of correspondence and agreed responses.
11.31 am Mr David McClarty left the meeting
6. Departmental Press Notices and Press cuttings
Members noted a number of recent Departmental press notices and other extracts from the local press.
7. Any Other Business
- Nortel Redundancies
Agreed: Members considered a memo from the Committee for Finance and Personnel, together with correspondence from Unite the Union, regarding the administration of redundancies at Nortel, and agreed to seek the views of the Department for Employment and Learning on this matter. It was further agreed to keep the Committee for Finance and Personnel updated on the situation.
11.33 am Mr Trevor Clarke rejoined the meeting
- Inquiry into European Issues
Members noted the action points for statutory committees in the above OFMdFM Committee report.
- Forward Work Programme – for information
Members noted the Committee’s Forward Work Programme for the period of January to March 2010.
- QUB/ Stranmillis merger
Members noted that the business case for the proposed merger between Stranmillis University College and Queen’s University has been approved by the Department of Finance and Personnel.
8. Briefing from Departmental officials on Programme-led Apprenticeships
Catherine Bell, Deputy Secretary, and Daryl Young, Skills and Industry Division, briefed the Committee on proposed changes to the Programme-led Apprenticeships scheme . The briefing was followed by a question and answer session
11.40 am Mr William Irwin rejoined the meeting
11.50 am Mr David Hilditch left the meeting
12.12 pm Mr David Hilditch rejoined the meeting
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Sector Skills Councils and the colleges of further education for their views on the changes.
12.18 pm Mr Pat Ramsey left the meeting
The meeting moved into closed session at 12.18 pm
9. Briefing from Departmental officials on Training for Success/ Apprenticeships NI
The Committee were briefed on the way forward for the Training for Success and the Apprenticeships NI programmes by Catherine Bell, Deputy Secretary, and Des Lynas and Daryl Young, Skills and Industry Division.
12.20 pm Mr David McClarty rejoined the meeting
12.21 pm Rev Dr Robert Coulter left the meeting
12.25 pm Mr Trevor Clarke left the meeting
10. Date, time and place of next meeting
The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Wednesday, 17 February 2010 in Room 30, Parliament Building.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.35 pm