COMMITTEE FOR FINANCE AND PERSONNEL
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
SEVENTIETH MEETING
TUESDAY, 23 OCTOBER, 2001
COMMITTEE ROOM 144, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Mr Francie Molloy (Chairman)
Mr Alex Attwood
Mr Seamus Close
Ms Patricia Lewsley
Mr Alex Maskey
Mr Peter Weir
In attendance:
Ms Sheila Mc Clelland (Clerk)
Mr Joe Sloan (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Briggs (Administrative Support)
The Chairman declared the meeting open at 2.40.p.m. The meeting was held in open session
1. Apologies.
1.1 Mr James Leslie, Mr Billy Bell and Mr Derek Hussey.
2. Minutes of Proceedings.
2.1 Resolved: The Committee agreed the Minutes of Proceedings of 16 October 2001.
3. Matters arising.
3.1 The Committee noted the letter sent to the Minister of Finance and Personnel on the publication of its Report on the Second Tranche of the Executive Programmes Fund and the letter in response received from the Minister.
3.2. The Committee noted the response received from the Department of Finance and Personnel on how it had addressed the Equality issues raised by the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) in relation to the Department's Review of Public Procurement.
3.3. The Committee recognised that the Review Team had addressed the issues in its Report issued for public consultation and agreed to send the Department's response to the CAJ.
3.4. The Committee noted the timetable for revised legislation on Radon Gas provided by the Department.
3.5. The Committee noted the letter to the Minister in response to the Draft Programme for Government.
3.6. The Committee noted the minute from the Principal Clerk of Committees on changes to procedures for publication of Committee Reports.
3.7. The Committee agreed to write to the Speaker and the Principal Clerk regarding concerns on the confidentiality of Reports which were laid in the Business Office with embargo dates.
4. Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Working Group.
4.1 Departmental officials, Dr Andrew Mc Cormick and Dr Jim Livingstone, briefed the Committee on the remit of the Working Group under the Programme for Government and the key issues of finance arrangements and public and political concerns being considered. The officials answered questions from the Committee.
Mr Attwood attended the meeting at 3.01.pm.
4.2. The officials described the Working Group structure and advised the Committee that trade union representation had been invited as part of a Social Partnership broad based forum but had been declined so far. The Minister of Finance and Personnel had arranged to meet with trade union organisations to resolve the issue on Wednesday 24 October 2001.
Mr Close left the meeting at 3.20 p.m and returned at 3.26 p.m., Ms Lewsley left the meeting at 3.29 p.m and returned at 3.29 p.m, Mr Weir left the meeting at 3.29 and returned at 3.32 p.m. Mr Attwood left the meeting at 3.32 p.m.
4.3. The officials provided a timetable for presentation of the Working Group's Report, including an equality impact assessment, to Ministers by the end of February 2002 and consideration by the Executive in March 2002. The officials described how the Report would be important to the 2002 Spending Review to inform Resource Accounting Budgeting.
4.4. The Committee agreed that it would seek periodic updates on the Working Group's progress.
5. Draft Budget 2002/03
5.1. The Committee was informed that a Take Note debate on the Draft Budget 2002/03 had been scheduled for 5 November 2001. A Committee meeting would take place on Tuesday 6 November 2001.
5.2. The Committee noted submissions by the Committee of the Centre and the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure for its Report on the Draft Budget 2002/03.
5.3. The Committee considered the Minutes of Evidence of its meeting with the Central Finance Group of the Department of Finance and Personnel.
5.4. The Committee agreed the Minutes of Evidence.
5.5. The Committee received a Draft Report on its scrutiny of the Central Finance Group of the Department of Finance and Personnel. This will be further considered at the next meeting.
6. Northern Ireland Civil Service Accommodation Review
6.1. The Committee noted a letter from the NICS Accommodation Review Team requesting a steer from the Committee on three key dimensions identified by the Review Team which impacted heavily on the options for NICS Accommodation.
6.2. The Clerk informed the Committee that the Review Team was considering the introduction of a new stage in their project to produce an Interim Report in November 2001.
6.3. The Committee agreed to defer a decision on the key dimensions until it had sight of the Review Team's Interim Report.
7. New Targetting Social Need (TSN) Action Plan.
7.1.Departmental officials, Miss Adrianne Brown, Mr Stephen Orr and Mr Phillip Angus, attended the meeting and briefed the Committee on the progress made on the objectives and targets in the Department of Finance and Personnel's New TSN Action Plan up to March 2001.
7.2. The officials also briefed the Committee and answered questions on the objectives and targets in the revised Action Plan for the period April 2001 to March 2003.
Ms Lewsley left the meeting at 3.55 p.m and the meeting became inquorate.
The Chairman declared the meeting closed at 3.55 p.m.
Mr James Leslie
Deputy Chairman