COMMITTEE ON PROCEDURES

End of Session Report 2009 - 10

Remit and Powers

The Committee on Procedures is a Standing Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly established in accordance with paragraph 10 of Strand One of the Belfast Agreement and under Assembly Standing Order 54. The Committee has 11 Members including a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson and a quorum of 5.

The Committee has the power to:

• Consider and review on an ongoing basis the Standing Orders and procedures of the Assembly;
• Initiate inquiries and publish reports;
• Update the Standing Orders of the Assembly for punctuation and grammar;
• Republish Standing Orders annually; and
• Call for persons and papers.

Membership

The Committee first met on 16 May 2007.

The membership of the Committee since its establishment on 9 May 2007 has been as follows:

Lord Browne (Chairperson)****
Mr Mervyn Storey (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Billy Leonard**
Lord Morrow
Mr Mickey Brady*
Mr Paul Butler***
Mr David McClarty
Mr Adrian McQuillan
Mr Sean Neeson
Mr Thomas Burns *****
Mr Ken Robinson

* Mr Mickey Brady replaced Mr Willie Clarke from 20 May 2008
** Mr Billy Leonard replaced Mr Francie Brolly from 11 January 2010
*** Mr Paul Butler replaced Mr Raymond McCartney from 19 April 2010
**** Lord Browne replaced Lord Morrow as Chairperson from 13 April 2010
***** Mr Thomas Burns replaced Mr Declan O’Loan from 24 May 2010

End of Session Report

1. This annual report covers the work of the Committee on Procedures from 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2010.

2. Coming into this parliamentary year, the Committee brought forward work matters from the previous year, such as drafting new Standing Orders to deal with policing and justice following the devolution of these powers. Additionally, as part of its commitment to the ongoing review of Standing Orders, the Committee agreed a work programme that included topics such as ‘Public and media access to Assembly proceedings’, ‘Sub judice’ and ‘Standards and Privilege’.

Meetings

3. The Committee met on 12 occasions during the year, 9 meetings were held in public session and 3 were in private/closed session. All meetings were held in Parliament Buildings.

Inquiries

4. The Committee completed its inquiry into Legislative Consent Motions. The report was published on 15 September 2009 and approved by the Assembly on 19 October 2009.

Review of Standing Orders

5. In accordance with its agreed work programme the Committee has reviewed a number of Standing Orders during the year:-

• SO69-70 – Standards and Privilege - Amendments were necessary to allow for the implementation of the recommendations in the report of the Committee on Standards and Privileges and the associated Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members.

• SO9A – Temporary Speaker - This new Standing Order was introduced to make provision for a procedure to ensure that there will always be a member available to chair plenary sittings of the Assembly and to carry out the other related functions when neither the Speaker nor a Deputy Speaker is available.

• SO66- 68 & 74 – Public and Media Access to Assembly proceedings - A review of these Standing Orders was needed to ensure that they are clear and concise and that they accurately reflect the powers of the Speaker and committee chairpersons in relation to the public and the media.

• SO44A, 49A, 49B, 52A – connected to the devolution of

Policing and Justice Powers – The Committee spent a considerable amount of time producing Standing Orders which were needed as a result of the devolution of policing and justice powers. These included Standing Orders on filling the office of Minister of Justice and membership of the Committee for Justice. In addition to these some thirteen minor, technical and consequential amendments needed to be made.

• SO10 – Extending Sitting Time on Mondays . This amendment provides a facility for plenary meetings to continue after seven o’clock on a Monday in exceptional circumstances which could not have been anticipated and when the impact of not continuing the sitting would be significant.

• SO20 – Oral Questions: Additional Slot – An additional time slot for Question Time on a Tuesday has been provided, largely as a result of the Minister of Justice now taking Assembly Questions and the possibility of the Attorney General answering questions in the Chamber.

• Summer Reprint . At its meeting on 4 May 2010 the Committee agreed a number of minor and technical changes to be incorporated into a complete reprint of Standing Orders during the 2010 Summer Recess.

Motions in Plenary

6. Apart from minor and technical changes, amendments to Standing Orders must be agreed by cross-community vote in the Assembly. Consequently, the majority of the Committee’s output must be agreed by the Assembly before implementation.

7. The Committee had 34 motions debated and agreed by the Assembly.

Expenditure

8. Details of the Committee’s expenditure are attached at Annex A.

The Way Forward

9. The Committee has agreed a work programme for the coming session. The programme will include:-

• New Standing Orders relating to Legislative Consent Motions
• New Standing Orders for the non-voting participation of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland in Assembly proceedings
• Review and possible amendment of SO21: Adjournment Debates
• Review and possible amendment of SO33 and SO33(2) Public Bills: Committee Stage

ANNEX A

Committee on Procedures – Expenditure for the period 1 September 2009 – 31 August 2010