Committee on Procedures
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
TUESDAY 19 OCTOBER 2010
ROOM 144, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Lord Browne (Chairperson)
Mr Mervyn Storey MLA (Deputy Chairperson) Thomas Burns MLA
Mr Paul Butler MLA
Mr Billy Leonard MLA
Lord Morrow MLA
Mr Sean Neeson MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
In Attendance:
Mrs Mairead Mageean (Assembly Clerk)
Ms Karagh McGoldrick (Clerical Supervisor)
Ms Linda Hare (Clerical Officer)
Apologies:
Mr Mickey Brady MLA
Mr Adrian McQuillan MLA
The meeting opened at 1.34pm in public session.
1. Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
Lord Morrow joined the meeting at 1.35pm.
2. Draft minutes of meeting on 5th October 2010
Agreed: The minutes were agreed as drafted for publication on the Assembly website.
3. Matters arising
None
Mr Leonard joined the meeting at 1.41pm.
Mr Storey joined the meeting at 1.42pm
4. Inquiry into the participation of the Attorney General in the proceedings of the Assembly
Members considered correspondence from the Committee on Standards and Privileges and from the Committee for the Administration of Justice in relation to the Attorney General.
Agreed: The Committee noted the correspondence.
The Chairperson noted that Party views on the interaction of the Attorney General with the Assembly had not been brought to the meeting. Members were reminded that these views are necessary to inform the inquiry.
Agreed: Party views will be obtained and discussed at the next meeting.
5. Revised Standing Orders on Question Time.
Members considered the draft Standing Orders and associated motions to (i) impose a two minute time limit on Ministers’ responses during Question Time (ii) give discretion to the Speaker in relation to the time limits and (iii) ensure that members ask only one question in their supplementaries.
Agreed: that the draft motions to amend Standing Order 20 should be tabled.
Members discussed the disruption that the timing of Question Time on Tuesdays causes to other items of business.
Agreed: That a draft amendment and motion be brought to the next meeting to change Question Time on Tuesdays from 14.30-15.30 to 14.00-15.00.
6. Options for the production of Standing Orders
The various options available to reduce the cost of producing Standing Orders were discussed.
Agreed:
- that a loose leaf version of Standing Orders should continue to be provided.
- The much cheaper PVC folder be used instead of leather.
- The numbers provided should be reduced to one set per member, one set per Party and provided only to Secretariat staff who use them on a regular basis.
- Hard copies should not be provided to anyone outside the Assembly.
Mr Robinson left the meeting at 1.55pm
7. Ministerial Attendance in the Chamber
Members noted correspondence from the Speaker on the attendance of Ministers in the Chamber.
Agreed: For the next meeting, information on Ministerial availability and attendance and on what happens in other legislatures will be provided to allow members to consider whether a Standing Order is needed to require Ministers to be in the Chamber to respond to business that is relevant to their Departments.
8. Personal Statements - practice elsewhere
Members considered the information provided on how other legislatures deal with Personal Statements.
Agreed: while acknowledging what happens in other areas, members agreed that this does not necessarily meet local needs and requested that options be brought to the next meeting.
9. Correspondence
Agreed: Members noted correspondence from the Public Prosecution Service and agreed to refer the figures on prosecutorial decisions, detailed in the correspondence, to the Justice Committee.
10. Any other business
None
11. Date, time and place of next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 9th November 2010 at 1.30 pm in Room 144 Parliament Buildings.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 2.13pm.
Lord Browne
Chairperson, Committee on Procedures.
9 November 2010
5 October 2010 / Menu |
