COMMITTEE FOR FINANCE AND PERSONNEL
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
SEVENTY EIGHTH MEETING
TUESDAY, 22 JANUARY 2002
COMMITTEE ROOM 144, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Mr Francie Molloy (Chairman)
Mr James Leslie (Deputy Chairman)
Mr Billy Bell
Mr Seamus Close
Mr Roger Hutchinson
Ms Patricia Lewsley
Mr Maurice Morrow
Mr Peter Weir
In attendance:
Mr Alan Patterson (Principal Clerk)
Ms Sheila Mc Clelland (Clerk)
Mr Joe Sloan (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Shauna Mc Daid (Executive Support)
Mr Jonathan Briggs (Administrative Support)
The Chairman declared the meeting open at 2.40.p.m. The meeting began in closed session.
1. Chairman's business
1.1. The Principal Clerk presented the Committee's briefing papers for the day's business. The Committee discussed the briefing.
2. Apologies.
2.1 Mr Derek Hussey.
The Chairman declared the meeting open to the public at 2.58.p.m.
3. December Monitoring Round Result
3.1. The Minister of Finance and Personnel and Departmental officials, Mr David Sterling and Mr Richard Pengelly attended the meeting. The Minister presented an addendum to his speech in the House that morning, which answered questions raised by Members and provided information on bids not funded by the Executive Committee.
3.2. The Minister briefed the Committee on the Monitoring Round procedures. The Minister also discussed the timing of additional allocations and the advice provided to the Executive Committee to aid decisions on allocations.
Mr Morrow attended the meeting at 3.25 p.m.
3.3. The Minister and his officials answered questions from the Committee in relation to specific bids and surrenders by departments and recovery plans agreed between OFMDFM and departments, which had secured additional resources.
3.4. The Minister advised the Committee that his officials would carry out a review of Monitoring Rounds and historic trends of spending and hoped to present the findings to the Committee before the June Monitoring Round in the 2002/03 financial year.
4. Minutes of Proceedings.
4.1 The Committee considered the Minutes of Proceedings for 15 January 2002.
4.2 Resolved: The Committee agreed the Minutes of Proceedings of 15 January 2002.
5. Matters arising.
5.1. The Committee noted its response to the Minister regarding its consideration of the proposed Marriage Bill.
5.2. The Committee noted its response to the Minister regarding its consideration of the consultation to be undertaken by the Department to amend the Building Regulations in relation to Radon Gas. Mr Close raised an issue regarding Building Regulations unrelated to Radon Gas and agreed to write to the Principal Clerk who would take the matter up with the Department.
5.3. The Committee noted its response to the Minister regarding its consideration of the consultation paper Physical Punishment of Children in the Home.
5.4. The Committee noted the letters requesting advice from the Department of Finance and Personnel on the consultations by the Department of Employment and Learning on Flexible Working and Statutory Backing for Trade Union Learning Representatives.
5.5. The Committee noted its letter to the Department of Finance and Personnel regarding the format of required additional information to be presented to the Committee immediately before and after Monitoring Rounds.
5.6. The Committee noted the response by the Department to Mr Close's constituents in relation to delays in Land Registers.
5.7. The Committee noted its letter to the Department requesting details of caseloads received and cleared by Land Registers for consideration at the next meeting.
5.8. The Committee considered the request by Assembly Research and Library Services to place the research paper on the Barnett Formula on the Assembly's website.
5.9. Resolved: The Committee agreed that the research paper on the Barnett Formula could be placed on the Assembly's website.
Mr Weir left the meeting at 4.05 p.m.
6. Service Delivery Agreements
6.1. Departmental officials Mrs Patricia Gibson, Ms Adrienne Brown and Ms Linda Kirkwood attended the meeting and briefed the Committee on the progress made to produce the Department of Finance and Personnel's Service Delivery Agreement. Officials described difficulties in producing a concise SDA given the constraints of a cross departmental format to SDAs and the difficulty in synthesising inputs across the Department.
6.2. The officials invited comment from the Committee on the content of the draft presented and answered questions regarding the absence of targets and budget figures from the draft and specifically on the absence of a target for the Rates Collection Agency to reduce fraud. Officials assured the Committee that current drafts had many more targets and budgets included.
Mr Hutchinson left the meeting at 4.19 p.m.
6.3. The officials advised the Committee that its comments would be analysed and considered and work would continue on a new draft which would be available for the Committee's consideration in February 2002.
7. Matrimonial Proceedings and Family Law Bill - Policy Document.
7.1. Ms Claire Archbold and Ms Clare Irvine from the Office of Law Reform briefed the Committee on the policy document for the Bill. The officials outlined the differences between the current and proposed legislation and the aims of the new legislation. The Committee was also informed of the main differences between legislation across the UK.
7.2. The officials informed the Committee that the Lord Chancellor's Department was currently exploring issues surrounding the equality of husband and wife under Human Rights legislation to assess its impact on divorce law in the United Kingdom. The Bill had been identified as a suitable vehicle for these changes and this may cause some delay in the introduction of the Bill in the Assembly. The Bill is currently scheduled for introduction this session or by September at the latest. The officials agreed that an advanced copy of the Bill would be provided to the Committee when it was available.
7.3. The Committee considered the briefing received.
7.4. Resolved: That the Committee respond to the Minister that it was content with the briefing received and the pre-legislative scrutiny without prejudice to the Committee Stage of the Bill.
Ms Lewsley left the meeting at 4.47 p.m.
8. Rating Policy Review
8.1. The Committee considered an evaluation by the Clerk of potential specialist advisers to the Committee during its consideration of the Rating Review Policy.
8.2. Resolved: The Committee agreed that the evaluation was satisfactory and that four of the six potential specialist advisers should be interviewed by the Committee's interview panel.
9. Inquiry - Management Of European Union Funding By DFP.
9.1. The Committee considered the draft press notice and programme of work for its Inquiry, which were presented by the Principal Clerk.
9.2. Resolved: The Committee agreed the draft press notice and programme of work for its Inquiry.
10. Correspondence
10.1. The Committee noted correspondence and a press item received regarding absenteeism in Northern Ireland Government Departments.
10.2. The Committee noted a press item regarding the Barnett Formula.
11. Any other Business
11.1 The Committee noted its programme of forthcoming business.
12. Next Meeting
12.1 The next meeting of the Committee was agreed as Tuesday 29 January 2002.
The Chairman declared the meeting closed at 5.08 p.m.
James Leslie
Deputy Chairman