COMMITTEE ON PROCEDURES
Minutes of Proceedings
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Room 152, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Lord Morrow (Chairperson)
Mr Mickey Brady
Lord Wallace Browne
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr David McClarty
Mr Adrian McQuillan
Mr Declan O’Loan
Mr Ken Robinson
In Attendance:
Ms Stella McArdle (Assembly Clerk)
Mr Jim Beatty (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Ms Linda Hare (Clerical Supervisor)
Ms Claire Cassidy (Assembly Research)
Apologies:
Mr Mervyn Storey (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly
Mr Sean Neeson
The meeting opened at 2.01 pm in public session.
1. Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
2. Draft minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2008
Agreed: The draft minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2008 were agreed.
3. Matters Arising
(a) Abstentions – Members noted that no responses had been received to the letter sent to Party Whips on 13 November 2008.
Agreed: The Committee agreed not to progressing further work on abstentions but to revisit the issue, if necessary.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to progress SO 27.(b) Attendance – Members noted the correspondence from the Chairpersons Liaison Group on publication of information on attendance.
4. Inquiry into Assembly Questions
The Speaker, William Hay MLA, accompanied by John Stewart, Director of Clerking and Reporting and Mairead Mageean, Assembly Business Clerk, joined the meeting at 2.06pm, made a presentation on Question Time and responded to queries from members.
Mr McCartney joined the meeting at 2.07pm.
The Speaker left the meeting at 2.35pm.
Joe Cassells, Paul Mills and John McManus, officials from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, joined the meeting at 2.40pm and provided evidence on the processes within the Department for handling Assembly Questions. They then answered questions from the members.
The officials left the meeting at 3.00pm.
Robson Davison, John Leonard, Graeme McFarland and David Savage, officials from the Department of Education, joined the meeting at 3.01pm and provided evidence on the processes within the Department for handling Assembly Questions. They then answered questions from the members.
Mr McClarty left the meeting at 3.11pm.
The officials left the meeting at 3.35pm.
The Committee was briefed by Assembly Research on the results of the surveys on Assembly Questions.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that, based on the evidence to date, the Clerk should prepare an issues paper for discussion at the meeting on 3 December 2008.
5. Amendments to Standing Orders
Members considered amendments to the draft of Standing Orders for Joint Committees.
Agreed: The Committee agreed a number of changes to the proposed draft.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward the amended draft to the Chairpersons Liaison Group for comment before putting a motion to the Assembly.
Mr McCartney left the meeting at 4.16pm.
6. Frequency of Meetings
Members discussed the frequency of future Committee meetings.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to revisit this item at the next meeting.
7. Any Other Business
Agreed: Members agreed that the Chairperson should issue Christmas cards on behalf of the Committee.
8. Date, time and place of next meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 3 December 2008 at 2.00 pm in Room 152 Parliament Buildings to discuss the issues paper on the Inquiry into Question Time and the frequency of meetings only.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 4.23 pm.