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 David McClarty 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)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.00 am.

Apologies

There were no apologies tendered for the meeting

1. Minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2010

Agreed: The minutes were agreed.

2. Briefing from the Law Centre (NI) on the Employment (No.2) Bill and related issues

Liz Griffiths, Policy Officer, and Karen Mercer and Daire Murphy, both Employment Advisers, briefed the Committee on the measures considered necessary by the Law Centre (NI) to address workplace disputes, including those already included in the provisions of the Employment (No.2) Bill. The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.

10.30 am Mr Chris Lyttle joined the meeting

3. Student Loans (Amendment) Bill

The Committee considered the Committee Report on the Student Loans (Amendment) Bill.

10.33 am Ms Sue Ramsey left the meeting

Agreed: Members agreed the Executive Summary, paragraphs 1 to 5 of the report

Agreed: Members agreed the Introduction, paragraphs 6 to 16 of the report

Agreed: Members agreed the Consideration of the Bill, paragraphs 17 to 23 of the report

Agreed: Members agreed the Clause by Clause Scrutiny of the Bill, paragraphs 24 to 28 of the report

Agreed: Members were content that the report should be printed and that the required extract of the minutes should be attached unapproved.

10.35 am Mr Peter Weir joined the meeting

4. Matters Arising

• Minister’s Response to Committee Queries

Agreed: Members considered the above correspondence and agreed to write to the Department for further clarification.

10.38 am Mr Peter Weir left the meeting

• Success through Skills 2

Agreed: The Committee considered a summary of responses to the above consultation received by the Department and agreed to draft a response for the next meeting

• EC Consultation on the Rights of the Child

Agreed: Members considered a response from the Department on the above consultation and agreed to forward it to the OFMDFM Committee as previously requested

• Premature Retirement Compensation for FE College Lecturers

10.50 am Mr Peter Weir rejoined the meeting

Agreed: The Committee considered an update from the Minister on the above issue and agreed to request further information.

• Strategy for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration

Members noted a response from the Community Relations Council to the OFMDFM consultation on the above strategy

• Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) (Amendment) Order (NI) 2010

Members noted correspondence on the above Statutory Rule from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to the Minister for Employment and Learning, which was copied to the Committee.

5. Chairperson’s Business

The Chairperson provided a brief outline of her attendance at informal meetings and events, and drew members’ attention to various invitations received

6. Departmental Press Notices

Members noted a number of recent Departmental and other press releases

7. Any Other Business

• Draft End of Session Report 2009-2010

Agreed : The Committee considered the draft End of Session report for 2009-2010 and agreed that it should be published on the website

• Annual Report of the Certification Officer for Northern Ireland

Members noted the above Report

• Forward Work Programme – for information

Agreed : Members noted the Committee’s Forward Work Programme for November and December 2010, and agreed to cancel the Committee meeting on 8 December 2010 to facilitate a study visit to the Automotive Academy.

11.06 am Mr Pat Ramsey left the meeting

11.10 am The meeting was suspended for a short break

11.18 am The meeting resumed in closed session

8. Browne and Stuart Reviews into Student Fees and Finance

11.20 am Mr Pat Ramsey rejoined the meeting

11.45 am Mr Pat Ramsey left the meeting

The Committee considered the above reports and received a briefing from Assembly Research on the most significant aspects of both Reviews

9. Date, time and place of next meeting

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Wednesday, 10 November 2010 at 10.00 am in Room 29, Parliament Building

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 11.51 pm

Mrs Dolores Kelly
Chairperson, Committee for Employment & Learning
10 November 2010

02 November 10 / Menu