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Northern Ireland Assembly

COMMITTEE ON PROCEDURES

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

WEDNESDAY 30 MAY 2007
ROOM 152, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

Present:
Lord Morrow (Chairperson)
Mr Mervyn Storey (Deputy Chairperson)
Lord Browne
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr David McClarty
Mr Adrian McQuillan
Mr Sean Neeson
Mr Declan O’Loan
Mr Ken Robinson

In attendance:
Alan Patterson (Principal Clerk)
Stella McArdle (Clerk)
Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Linda Hare (Clerical Supervisor)

The meeting opened in public session at 2.00 p.m.

Mr Declan O’Loan arrived at 2.01 p.m.

  1. Apologies

An apology was received from Mr Willie Clarke.

  1. Minutes of the Meeting on 16 May 2007

Members agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 16 May 2007.

  1. Chairperson’s Business

The Chairperson advised Members that he had met with the Chairperson of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee to discuss any potential overlap of work between the two Committees. At that meeting it was agreed that the review of committee systems and structures would rest with the Committee on Procedures. A note of the meeting was tabled for Member’s information.

It was noted that some Member’s were still experiencing difficulties regarding the receipt of their meeting packs. The Clerk agreed to investigate this issue further and update Members at the next meeting. Mr Mervyn Storey and Mr Adrian McQuillan requested that their packs were delivered to their offices in Parliament Buildings on Monday’s.

Action: Clerk

  1. Matters Arising

The Chairperson advised Members that the Bill Office were still taking technical and professional advice from experts in relation to Private Legislation and that this issue is unlikely to be referred to the committee until Summer Recess.

  1. Declarations of Interests

The Chairperson advised that Mr Adrian McQuillan had declared the following interests:

A member of Coleraine Borough Council
A member of Coleraine District Policing Partnership
A member of Moneydig Community Association
A member of Castlerock Community Association
A member of the Orange Lodge
A member of the Apprentice Boys of Derry

The declaration was tabled for Members information.

  1. Amendments to Standing Orders

Members agreed the proposed amendment of Standing Order 53 to bring it into line with other Standing Committees. It was agreed that the Chairperson would write to the Chairperson of the Audit Committee asking them to note the proposed change. It was agreed to defer bringing this proposed amendment to the Assembly until the committee had further amendments to make.

Members agreed with the editorial change to Standing Order 27A, which will now become Standing Order 28. It was agreed to defer the reprinting of Standing Orders to incorporate this change and a number of consequential changes until a later date.

Members were advised that committee staff were currently looking at the redrafting of the Introduction and Operational Guidance Notes contained in Standing Orders. Members would be updated in due course.

  1. Potential Inquiries

Members noted a paper tabled on areas for potential inquiries and agreed to undertake inquiries into Committee Systems and Structures and Electronic Voting immediately, followed by Assembly Questions and Private Legislation. The Clerk agreed to produce the terms of reference for the first two inquiries for the next meeting.

Action: Clerk

  1. Forward Work Programme

The Clerk agreed to update the Forward Work Programme to take account of the inquiries agreed by Members.

Action: Clerk

  1. Correspondence

No correspondence was received.

  1. Any other business

There was no other business.

  1. Date, time and place of next meeting

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 13 June 2007 at 2.00 p.m. in Room 152, Parliament Buildings.

The meeting adjourned at 2.44 p.m.

MERVYN STOREY
Deputy Chairperson, Committee on Procedures

16 May 2007 / MENU / 13 June 2007