Present:
Mrs Dolores Kelly MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Jonathan Bell MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Sydney Anderson MLA
Rev Dr Robert Coulter MLA
Mr Chris Lyttle MLA
Mr John McCallister MLA
Mrs Claire McGill MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Ms Sue Ramsey MLA
Mr Peter Weir MLA

In Attendance:
Mr Peter Hall (Assembly Clerk)
Mrs Sheila Mawhinney (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Miss Pauline Devlin (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Bill Kinnear (Clerical Officer)

Apologies:
Mr Paul Butler MLA

The meeting opened in public session at 10.50 am.

Apologies

Apologies are detailed above.

1. Minutes of the meeting held on 9 February 2011

Agreed: The minutes were agreed.

10.51 am Ms Sue Ramsey joined the meeting
10.52 am Mr John McCallister joined the meeting

2. Briefing from Queen’s University on the impact of the draft budget on Higher Education

Professor Peter Gregson, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tony Gallagher, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Academic Planning, Staffing and External Relations and James O’Kane, Registrar and Chief Operating Officer, briefed the Committee on the university’s response to the DEL draft budget consultation and issues of student finance

11.05 am Mr Chris Lyttle joined the meeting

The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.

11.50 am Mrs Dolores Kelly left the meeting and Mr Jonathan Bell took the chair
11.58 am Mr John McCallister left the meeting
12.02 am Mr Chris Lyttle left the meeting

3. Matters Arising

• LEMIS re-contracting – Minister’s response

Agreed: Members noted the above response and agreed to forward it to the Employment Services Board

• STAR Initiative – Minister’s response

Agreed: The Committee noted information provided by the Department on the STAR Initiative and agreed to forward it to the Finance and Personnel Committee

• Widening Participation – further information from DEL

The Committee noted the Department’s response to queries raised by members following a briefing on Widening Participation.

4. Briefing from the Open University on its work in Northern Ireland

The Committee received a briefing from John D’Arcy, Director, Gary Sloan, Assistant Director, Helen Evans, Staff Tutor for Health and Social Care, and Simon Gregg, Student Services Manager, on the work of the University in Belfast and on its view of the draft Budget.

12.31 pm Mr Sydney Anderson and Mr Pat Ramsey left the meeting
12.36 pm Mrs Dolores Kelly rejoined the meeting and took the Chair.
12.41 pm Mr Peter Weir left the meeting

5. The briefing was followed by a question and answer session, and the OU representatives agreed to provide further information on a number of issues.

Briefing from Student representatives on the updated Stuart report on Variable Fees for Students

Ciarnan Helferty, NUS-USI, Gareth McGreevy, QUB, Adrian Kelly, UU, and Eamonn Walls, St Mary’s College, briefed the Committee on their views on student finance and the wider implications of the Review of Higher Education.

12.51 pm Mr Peter Weir rejoined the meeting
1.39 pm Ms Sue Ramsey left the meeting

The briefing was followed by a question and answer session, and was adjourned to allow the Committee to move to agenda item 6.

6. Correspondence

Members deferred consideration of a number of items of correspondence.

7. Subordinate Legislation

• SL1: The Industrial Court (Constitution) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011

The Committee considered the SL1 proposal, The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2010, and agreed that it was content for the Department to proceed to make the statutory rule

• SL1: The Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 (Commencement Order and Transitional Provision) Order (Northern Ireland) 2011

The Committee noted the above proposal and was content for the Department to lay the Rule.

• SR 2011 No.30: The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2011

The Committee was content to note this Rule, which is not subject to any Assembly procedure.

1.49 pm Mr Peter Weir and Rev Dr Robert Coulter left the meeting

The meeting was inquorate at 1.49 pm, with the all other agenda items being deferred to the meeting on 23 rd February.

Mrs Dolores Kelly
Chairperson, Committee for Employment & Learning
22 February 2011

9 February 11 / Menu