COMMITTEE FOR EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
WEDNESDAY, 3 MARCH 2010
ROOM 30, PARLIAMENT BUILDING
Present:
Mr David Hilditch MLA (Acting Chairperson)
Mr Jonathan Bell MLA
Rev Dr Robert Coulter MLA
Mr William Irwin 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 Paul Butler MLA
Ms Anna Lo MLA
Mr David McClarty MLA
Ms Sue Ramsey MLA (Chairperson)
The meeting opened at 10. 05 am in public session
Election of Chairperson
In the absence of the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson, Mr Pat Ramsey moved the motion, “That Mr David Hilditch do take the chair of the committee”. The motion was seconded by Mrs Claire McGill.
Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
1. Minutes of the meetings held on 24 February 2010
Agreed: The minutes were agreed.
10.08 Mr Jonathan Bell joined the meeting
2. Briefing from ANIC on the economic challenges facing FE Colleges.
John D’Arcy, Chief Executive, together with Ken Webb, Principal and Chief Executive of the South-Eastern Regional College, and Trevor Neilands, Director and Chief Executive of the Northern Regional College, briefed the Committee on the current economics challenges facing colleges of further education. This was followed by Geraldine Boden, a training support officer and ‘Enterprise Champion’, and Brendan Clelland, a former student, who gave the Committee a personal insight into the impact of further education. The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.
10.39 am Mr William Irwin left the meeting
3. Briefing from the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster on issues facing young people in rural areas.
Members received a briefing from Martyn Blair, Chair of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster Rural Affairs Committee, and Joe Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer, on issues facing young people in rural areas who are not in education, employment or training, as part of the Committee’s inquiry into NEETs. The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.
4. Matters Arising
- STEM recommendations – Minister’s response.
Agreed : Members noted the response from the Minister to the Committee’s position with regard to the recommendations of the STEM Review panel, and agreed to forward this correspondence to all stakeholders who provided responses on the Review.
- Additional Statutory Leave
Agreed : Members considered comments from NIC-ICTU on increasing statutory leave entitlement and agreed to endorse the Departmental recommendations.
- Workforce Future Skills Analysis
Members noted the report of the Southern Workforce Development Forum analysing future skills needs.
- Holyland Action Plan
The Committee welcomed the establishment of a draft interagency Saint Patrick’s Day Action plan for the Holyland area of Belfast.
5. Subordinate Legislation
- The Education (Students Loans) (Repayment) (Amendment) Regulations ( Northern Ireland) 2010
Agreed : The Committee considered the above SL1 and agreed to defer further consideration until the National Union of Students were given an opportunity for comment.
- The Employment Rights (Revision of Limits) Order ( Northern Ireland ) 2010
Members noted the above proposal to make a Statutory Rule.
6. Chairperson’s Business
Members noted a number of items of correspondence and agreed responses.
7. Departmental Press Notices and Press cuttings
Members noted a number of recent Departmental press notices and other extracts from the local press.
8. Any Other Business
- Widening Participation in Higher Education strategy
Agreed : Members noted an update from the Department on the above strategy and agreed to request a briefing on this at a future date.
- ‘Doubleband’ Filming
Members noted proposed filming of a documentary about the work of the Assembly by Doubleband Films.
- Forward Work Programme – for information
Members noted the Committee’s Forward Work Programme for the period of March to June 2010.
The meeting moved into closed session at 11.40 am.
9. Briefing from Departmental officials on a Scoping Study for NEETs
Members were briefed by Dr Linda Bradley and June Ingram, Strategy and Employment Relations Division, on the scoping study currently being carried by the Department on young people not in education, employment or training.
12.12 pm Mr David Hilditch left the meeting.
12.20 pm Mr Pat Ramsey left the meeting.
12.35 pm Rev Dr Robert Coulter left the meeting.
10. Date, time and place of next meeting
The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 in the Council Chamber, Queen’s University, Belfast.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.36 pm