Present:
Mr Francie Molloy (Chairman)
Mr Alex Attwood
Mr Billy Bell
Mr Seamus Close
Mr Nigel Dodds MP
Mr Derek Hussey
Ms Patricia Lewsley
Mr Peter Weir

In attendance:
Mr Alan Patterson (Principal Clerk)
Mr Peter Hughes (Clerk)
Ms Sheila Mc Clelland (Clerk)
Mr Joe Sloan (Assistant Clerk)
Ms Sharon Bowman (Executive Support)
Mr Jonathan Briggs (Administrative Support)

1.1. Mr Leslie, Mr Maskey, Mr Robinson.

2.1. Resolved: The Committee agreed the Minutes of Proceedings of 25 September 2001.

3.1. The Committee noted the letter sent to the Minister of Finance and Personnel deferring its deliberation on the important matters in the consultation paper on Physical Punishment of Children until January 2002.

3.2. The Committee noted the letter sent to the Law Reform Advisory Committee on Deeds and Escrows advising it that the Committee would consider the matter again following the consultation exercise.

3.3. The Committee noted the letter sent to the Committee of the Centre in response to the Consultation Paper on Victims Strategy.

3.4. The Committee noted the letter sent to the Committee of the Centre in response to the Consultation Paper on a Commissioner for Children for Northern Ireland.

3.5. The Committee noted the letter sent to the Minister of Finance and Personnel recommending that a nominee from the Federation of Small Business be included in the membership of the Statistics Advisory Committee.

3.6. The Committee noted the Press Notice issued following its meeting with the Minister of Finance and Personnel about the Budget for 2002/03.

3.7. The Committee noted and discussed the response from the Minister of Finance and Personnel in response to its letter about concerns raised by the Law Society on the performance of Land Registers of Northern Ireland.

3.8. Resolved: That the Minister will be asked for monetary values of penalties which can be imposed on or by the Private Sector Partner for contract failure.

3.9. Resolved: That the Minister will be asked for further explanation of how the outstanding workload has increased by 200% since 1996/97 while the annual intake has increased by 50% in the same period and that these responses will be examined when the Committee revisits the issue in December 2001.

4.1. The Committee was briefed by the Principal Clerk about its scrutiny role of the Department of Finance and Personnel's budgets and about its role in co-ordinating a response to the Minister of Finance and Personnel from the Statutory Committee's on the proposals in the Draft Budget.

4.2. The Committee agreed that it would wish to specifically scrutinise Executive Programme Funds (EPF) as part of the Committee's examination of the Draft Budget and to reserve its decision on which other areas to examine.

4.3. The Committee discussed the resources and time required to scrutinise Departmental budgets and bids from DFP and those required to carry out an overarching role to scrutinise bids from all the other Departments. The Committee also discussed the purpose and value of its co-ordinating role and the absence of any statutory power to act as an arbiter of other committee bids.

4.4. Resolved: The Committee agreed to examine Executive Programme Funds as part of its scrutiny of the Draft Budget. The Committee also agreed to produce a co-ordinated response to the Minister of Finance and Personnel on the Draft budget on behalf of the Statutory Committees.

5.1. The Committee received a presentation from officials and members of the Procurement Review Implementation Team, Mr David Ferguson (Chairman), Professor Andrew Erridge (member), Mr Michael Daly and Mr Ralph Walker, on the team's Report to the Minister of Finance and Personnel.

5.2. The Team briefed the Committee and answered questions on the recommendations in the Report specifically on organisational and legal matters.

5.3. The Committee advised the Team that the Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) had raised some concerns about public procurement and the Department's Equality Scheme and that the Committee for Finance and Personnel may wish to meet the Team again following its discussions with CAJ.

6.1. The Committee received a briefing by the Clerk about the issues raised in the consultation document on Audit and Accountability and the proposed timing for the legislative passage of the Bill.

6.2. Resolved: That the Department is requested to brief the Committee on its consultation in late November/early December 2001.

7.1. The Committee was briefed by the Chairman and members of the Government Accommodation Review Team, Mr Richie Warburton, Mr Jim Hamilton, Mr Paul Clarke and Mr Ken Maclean, who also answered questions about the Terms of Reference for the review, the key issues addressed, the progress of the project, the summary of problems arising and the dimension of options identified.

8.1. The Committee was briefed by Departmental officials Mr Richie Warburton and Mr David Stewart on the Department's proposals to make amendments to existing legislation which would extend radon protection measures to the construction of all new domestic buildings in Northern Ireland.

8.2. The officials advised the Committee that a consultation document is being drawn up for approval by the Minister of Finance and Personnel and the Committee for Finance and Personnel. Consultation would involve around 200 targeted bodies.

8.3. The consultation period will end in February 2001 but a further delay in the legislative passage is envisaged by EU involvement. The Department will provide a timetable to the Committee.

8.4. The officials advised the Committee that the amended legislation will also involve changes to Fire and Energy Conservation Regulations but not Asbestos Regulations which are under the remit of the Health and Safety Executive and not the Department of Finance and Personnel.

9.1 .The Committee noted correspondence from the Department of Finance and Personnel regarding the timing for production of initial census results.

9.2. The Committee noted an invitation to discuss its submission to the Committee on Procedures' Inquiry into the Legislative Process in the Assembly.

9.3. Resolved: That the Principal Clerk prepare a briefing for the Chairman who will discuss the Committee for Finance and Personnel's submission with the Committee on Procedures.

9.4. The Committee noted correspondence from the Minister of Employment and Learning on Dispute Resolution, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on the consultation paper for A Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults Bill, the Committee for the Environment on the Report into transport used for children travelling to and from school and Press Releases by the Department of Finance and Personnel.

10.1. The Committee agreed to a request from Research Services for the Paper on the Barnett Formula prepared for the Committee for Finance and Personnel to be published on the Assembly's Intranet

11.3. The Committee noted the response by Transport 2000 to the additional memorandum by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and agreed that both pieces of correspondence are passed to the PPP Working Group set up by the Executive.

12.1. The Committee agreed that members should be canvassed on their availability to consider if a change in meeting day is necessary and / or appropriate.

13.1 The Committee agreed the next meeting as Tuesday, 9 October 2001.

25 September 2001 / Menu / 9 October 2001