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COMMITTEE FOR EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING

OFFICIAL REPORT
(Hansard)

Employment (No. 2) Bill

24 November 2010
Members present for all or part of the proceedings:

Mrs Dolores Kelly (Chairperson)
Mr Sydney Anderson
Mr Chris Lyttle
Mrs Claire McGill
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Peter Weir

The Chairperson (Mrs D Kelly):

We now move to our consideration of the draft Committee report on the Employment (No. 2) Bill. I will hand over to the Committee Clerk.

The Committee Clerk:

The nature of the timing with the Bill has meant that we have had to table the report. Please do not be dismayed by the fact that the report appears to be weighty. An awful lot of what has to go into a Bill report is simply a reflection of what the Committee has already decided. The report contains an executive summary that draws together what the Committee has done already. It also has an introduction that sets out what the Department and the Committee have done during the process of the Bill. The report is largely factual and is based on the discussions that have been held. Other parts of the collective Bill report will be made up of appendices that comprise the Hansard reports, the minutes, briefing papers and so on.

The report also contains the issues that the Law Centre and the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) raised, as well as responses from the Department. Those parts are, effectively, almost lifted from what those organisations said. As I said, the bulk of the report consists of that sort of detail and a lot of the points that have to be in it.

Mr Weir:

We have gone through the detail anyway, so is it appropriate to propose that we approve the report en bloc?

Mr P Ramsey:

I second that.

The Chairperson:

We can do that. We seem to have covered the areas that members were concerned about in reflecting the views of the Committee. Are members content to agree the executive summary of the report?

Members indicated assent.

The Chairperson:

Are members content to agree the introduction to the Bill report?

Members indicated assent.

The Chairperson:

Are members content to agree the consideration section of the Bill report?

Members indicated assent.

The Chairperson:

Are members content to agree the section in the report on the clause-by-clause scrutiny of the Bill?

Members indicated assent.

The Chairperson:

Are members content with the Bill report in its entirety and that it be ordered to be printed?

Members indicated assent.

The Committee Clerk:

Are members content to agree to the minutes of this section of the meeting in advance of their inclusion in the report?

Members indicated assent.