COMMITTEE FOR FINANCE AND PERSONNEL
Minutes of Proceedings
WEDNESDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2008
Room 152, Parliament Buildings
Present: Mitchel McLaughlin MLA (Chairperson)
Simon Hamilton MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Roy Beggs MLA
Dr Stephen Farry MLA
Fra McCann MLA
Jennifer McCann MLA
Declan O’Loan MLA
Ian Paisley Jnr MLA
Dawn Purvis MLA
Peter Weir MLA
In Attendance: Shane McAteer (Assembly Clerk)
Colin Jones (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Paula Sandford (Clerical Supervisor)
Chris McCreery (Clerical Officer)
Apologies: Adrian McQuillan MLA
The meeting commenced at 10.02 am in open session.
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Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
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Draft Minutes of Proceedings of 17 September 2008
Agreed: for publication on the Assembly website.
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Matters Arising
Agreed : that the session on the proposed amendments to the domestic rating system will be covered by Hansard and the finalised transcript published on the website.
The Committee noted the outstanding requests for information from the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP).
Ms McCann joined the meeting at 10.15 am.
Mr McCann joined the meeting at 10.15 am.
Mr Paisley joined the meeting at 10.16 am.
Members considered the response from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the potential impact of its current scrutiny of Land and Property Services on the work of the Committee for Finance and Personnel (CFP).
Agreed : that further liaison was necessary with PAC to establish the scope for flexibility in the application of the current protocol to ensure that the scrutiny work of CFP is not restricted unnecessarily.
Members noted details of a recent Northern Ireland Audit Office Report on Shared Services for Efficiency.
Members noted transport arrangements for next week’s meeting at the Metro Centre.
The Chairperson thanked Mr Beggs for his contribution to the work of the Committee as he would be leaving the Committee next week, subject to a motion being approved in plenary.
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Presumption of Death Bill Committee Stage – Evidence from DFP
The Committee took evidence from Oswyn Paulin, Departmental Solicitor and Head of the Government Legal Service and Neil Lambe, Principal Legal Officer, Civil Law Reform Division, Departmental Solicitor, DFP. The session was recorded by Hansard.
Agreed : that DFP officials will provide written clarification to issues raised during the evidence session.
Members noted that the closing date for written submissions on the Bill was 15 October and that the Committee will continue its scrutiny of the Bill after that date.
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Report on Public Consultations on Amendments to Domestic Rating System – Evidence from DFP
The Committee took evidence from Brian McClure, Head of Rating Policy Division and Veronica Holland, Rating Policy Division, on the responses to DFP’s public consultations on the following policy proposals:
- deferment scheme for home owning pensioners;
- reducing maximum capital value; and
- rating of empty homes.
The session was recorded by Hansard.
Dr Farry and Mr Weir declared an interest as members of North Down Borough Council.
Mr Hamilton declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.
Mr Beggs declared an interest as a member of Carrickfergus Borough Council.
Agreed : that DFP officials will provide written clarification to issues raised during the evidence session.
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Briefing from the Construction Industry Forum for Northern Ireland on the Role of the Forum and the Slowdown in the Construction Industry
The Committee was briefed by Gordon Best, Chairperson, Construction Industry Group for Northern Ireland; Ciarán Fox, Executive Secretary, Construction Industry Forum for Northern Ireland; Des Armstrong, Director of Central Procurement Directorate, DFP and Mike Kiddle, Regional Organiser of the Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians.
Ms Purvis left the meeting at 1.03 pm.
Mr Beggs left the meeting at 1.13 pm.
Agreed : that the Committee will return to this item at its next meeting to discuss the best way forward on the issues raised by the Forum.
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Correspondence
The Committee noted the following correspondence:
- DFP: response to Committee queries on domestic revaluation and the eligibility of equestrian sports for rate relief.
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Committee Work Programme
Members considered the draft Committee work programme from September 2008.
Agreed: that the work programme will be published on the Assembly website.
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Any Other Business
None.
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Date, Time and Place of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 1 October 2008 at 10.00 am in the Metro Building, Belfast.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.17 pm.
Mitchel McLaughlin, Chairperson,
Committee for Finance and Personnel.
1 October 2008