COMMITTEE FOR FINANCE AND PERSONNEL
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
WEDNESDAY, 23 April 2008
Room 152, Parliament Buildings
Present:
Mitchel McLaughlin MLA (Chairperson)
Roy Beggs MLA
Dr Stephen Farry MLA
Simon Hamilton MLA
Jennifer McCann MLA
Adrian McQuillan MLA
Declan O’Loan MLA
Dawn Purvis MLA
In Attendance:
Shane McAteer (Assembly Clerk)
Colin Jones (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Paula Sandford (Clerical Supervisor)
Mary Thompson (Clerical Officer)
Apologies:
Fra McCann MLA
Mervyn Storey MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Peter Weir MLA
The meeting commenced at 10.05 am in open session.
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Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
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Draft Minutes of Proceedings of 16 April 2008
Agreed: for publication on the Assembly website.
Dr Farry joined the meeting at 10.05 am.
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Matters Arising
Members noted the outstanding requests for information from the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP).
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Briefing from the Northern Ireland Law Commission
Ms McCann joined the meeting at 10.12 am.
Members were briefed by the following representatives from the Northern Ireland Law Commission: Mr Justice Morgan, Chairperson and Ms Judena Goldring, Chief Executive.
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Subordinate Legislation
The Committee considered proposals for subordinate legislation from DFP in relation to the following:
- Whole of Government Accounts (Designation of Bodies) Order ( Northern Ireland) 2008; and
- Companies (Public Sector Audit) ( Northern Ireland) Order 2008.
Agreed: that the Committee was content with the policy implications of the proposed legislation at this stage.
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Correspondence
The Committee noted the following correspondence:
- DFP: Memorandum on 7 th Report from the Public Accounts Committee in Session 2007/08 – Job Evaluation in the Education and Library Boards;
- DFP: Arrangements for the Investment Conference, together with a press release from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment;
- DFP: Response to the Committee for Education on Lisanelly barracks, Omagh;
Agreed: that the response will be forwarded to the Committee for Education;- Land Registers Northern Ireland: Annual Report and Accounts 2006/07;
- Committee for Education: Non-Teaching Staff Pay Awards;
- Committee for the Environment: New IT Technology;
Agreed: that the correspondence will be forwarded to DFP;- Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment: Request for information on the Minister of Finance and Personnel’s decision not to proceed with mandatory micro-generation in new homes;
Agreed: that information will be forwarded to the Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment as requested and that it will be asked to provide information on the ending of the Reconnect grant.- Equality 2000 Ltd: Invitation to launch of DVD on Issues Facing Disabled People; and
- DFP: Response to the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development on the Assembly Bill to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board.
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Update on the Study of Take - Up of Rate Relief and Disabled Person’s Allowance
Ms Purvis joined the meeting at 10.55 am.
The Committee was briefed by the following officials: Brian McClure, Head of Rating Policy Division, DFP; Duane Farrell, Policy Manger, Help the Aged; Elaine Campbell, Policy Manager, Age Concern and Zoë Anderson, Content Officer, A2B: Access to Benefits.
Agreed: that DFP will provide a written response to issues raised during the briefing, including how the report’s recommendations will be taken forward.
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Evidence Session on Building Regulations (Amendment) Bill 2008 – Association of Building Engineers and Institute of Structural Engineers
Mr Beggs declared an interest as a representative of Carrickfergus Borough Council on the Northern Area Group Building Control Committee.
The Committee took evidence from the following officials: Billy Gillespie, Council Member, Association of Building Engineers; Joseph Birt, Member, Association of Building Engineers and Joe McGlade, Institution of Structural Engineers, Northern Ireland Branch. The session was recorded by Hansard.
Mr Hamilton left the meeting at 12.29pm.
Agreed: that the Association of Building Engineers will provide the wording for its suggested amendments to the Bill.
Members noted submissions from the Sustainable Energy Association, from Northern Ireland Environment Link and DFP’s response to the submission from Building Control NI.
Agreed: that the submissions from the Sustainable Energy Association; Northern Ireland Environment Link; the Association of Building Engineers and the Energy Saving Trust will be forwarded to DFP for comment, along with the official report of today’s evidence.
Agreed: that the Northern Ireland Environment Link will be invited to give oral evidence.
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Committee Work Programme
Members considered the latest draft of the Committee work programme for the period up to summer recess.
Agreed: that representatives from Local Authority Building Control in England will attend to give oral evidence on 30 April in respect of the Building Regulations (Amendment) Bill 2008.
Agreed: that Assembly Research will present a paper on the Reliability and Costs of Renewable Technology on 30 April.
Agreed: that, given the Committee’s heavy schedule for next week, DFP briefings on the Benefits Realisation Taskforce and progress on PEACE II closure and PEACE III funding will be rescheduled. The briefing from the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance on Workplace 2010 and an Assembly Research briefing on a potential Inquiry into budget process and scrutiny will also be rescheduled.
Members noted that, as previously decided by the Committee, officials from other jurisdictions are being invited to brief the Committee on their experiences relating to the relocation of public sector jobs. A briefing from the relevant officials in Scotland had been arranged for 14 May and efforts were continuing to arrange a briefing by representatives from the Republic of Ireland.
Agreed: that the latest draft of the programme will be published on the Assembly website.
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Any Other Business
In response to a query from Ms McCann, members noted that the briefing from DFP and the Special EU Programmes Body on progress relating to PEACE II closure and the distribution of PEACE III funding had been provisionally rescheduled for 7 May.
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Date, Time and Place of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 30 April 2008 at 10.00 am in Room 152, Parliament Buildings.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.43 pm.