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COMMITTEE FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTEnd of Session Report September 2010 - March 2011POWERSThe Committee for Regional Development is a Statutory Departmental Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly established in accordance with paragraphs 8 and 9 of strand one of the Belfast Agreement, section 29 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and under Standing Order 48 of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Committee has a scrutiny, policy development and consultation role with respect to the Department for Regional Development and has a role in the initiation of legislation. The Committee has the power to:
The Committee is appointed at the start of every Assembly, and has power to send for persons, papers and records that are relevant to its inquiries. MEMBERSHIP The Committee has eleven Members, including a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson, with a quorum of five Members. The membership of the Committee since its establishment on 9 May 2007 has been as follows: Mr Fred Cobain (Chairperson) 1 With effect from 15 September 2008 Mr Allan Bresland replaced Mr William Irwin and Mr Alastair Ross replaced Mr Stephen Moutray. 2 With effect from 22 June 2009 Mr Danny Kinahan replaced Mr John McCallister. 3 With effect from 29 June 2009 Mr Tommy Gallagher replaced Mr John Dallat. 4 With effect from 4 July 2009 Miss Michelle McIlveen replaced Mr Jim Wells. 5 With effect from 16 September 2009 Mr Ian McCrea replaced Mr Alastair Ross. 6 With Effect from 13 April 2010 Mr Billy Leonard replaced Mr Raymond McCartney. 7 With effect from 13 April 2010 Mr Brian Wilson ceased to be a Member of the Committee for Regional Development and Mr Trevor Lunn was appointed as a Member of the Committee for Regional Development. 8 With effect from 24 May 2010 Mr Conall McDevitt replaced Mr Tommy Gallagher. 9 With effect from 13 September 2010 Mr Fra McCann replaced Mr Willie Clarke. 10 With effect from 1 November 2010 Mr Billy Armstrong replaced Mr Danny Kinahan. 11 With effect from 15 November 2010 Ms Anna Lo replaced Mr Trevor Lunn. END OF SESSION REPORT FOR 2010-11This report covers the work of the Committee for Regional Development during the parliamentary year from September 2010 to March 2011. The Committee was extremely busy throughout this session. It took forward the Committee Stage of the Transport Bill; considered the Minister’s proposals for accelerated passage of the Water and Sewerage Services Bill; considered 137 proposals to make subordinate legislation and 32 Statutory Rules. The Committee completed and reported on its Sustainable Transport Inquiry. The Committee exercised its scrutiny role in relation to the Department’s spending; engaged with stakeholders and Departmental officials on the Draft Budget 2011-2015; and exercised its scrutiny role in relation to a varied range of the Department’s policies. Members were also involved in 4 engagement events, including the launch of the Consumer Council / YouthAction’s “Transport Matters” research report. The Committee held 29 meetings. The majority of the Committee’s meetings, 27, were open in full or part to the public. Primary Legislation:Transport BillDuring the 2010-11 session the Committee scrutinised and reported on the Committee Stage of the Transport Bill. The main purpose of the Transport Bill is to create an effective, efficient and sustainable public transport system for Northern Ireland that contributes to the Executive’s transportation, environmental, social inclusion and equality objectives. The Bill was introduced in the Assembly on 21 June 2010 and passed Second Stage on 29 June 2010. The Committee published its public call for evidence on 5 July 2010 and concluded its Committee Stage in December 2010. The Bill passed Consideration Stage on 24 January 2011, Further Consideration Stage on 1 February 2011 and Final Stage on 14 February 2011. The Committee made a number of recommendations and the Committee and the Minister co-signed 12 amendments to the Bill, all of which were accepted by the Assembly during Consideration Stage. The Committee also succeeded in having a clause removed from the Bill, a so called Henry VIII clause, as it was of the view that its powers were too wide ranging and not subject to a sufficient level of scrutiny or change by the Assembly. Draft Water and Sewerage Services BillThe purpose of the Draft Water and Sewerage Services Bill is to address issues in relation to regulatory requirements and public expenditure rules in governance arrangements for Northern Ireland Water. The draft Bill would enable the Minister for Regional Development to clarify governance arrangements between the Department for Regional Development and Northern Ireland Water; require the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation to carry out investigations; require amendments to the terms and conditions of Northern Ireland Water’s operating licence ; and replace the Competition Commission as arbitration body for disputed Price Control determinations. The Minister for Regional Development secured agreement from the Executive to draft the Bill in January 2011 and, on 16 February 2011, sought the Committee’s agreement to use the accelerated passage procedure. Following briefing from Departmental officials, the Minister and the Utility Regulator, the Committee decided (by majority vote) that it was not content to support the Minister’s request that this Bill would proceed by accelerated passage procedure; it did not comment on the policy merits of the draft Bill presented to the Committee. Subordinate legislation:The Committee considered 137 proposals to make subordinate legislation and 32 Statutory Rules this during session and took oral evidence from Departmental officials and others where appropriate. Although the Committee was content with the majority of the intended subordinate legislation, arising from its scrutiny the Committee requested written and/or oral briefings from Departmental officials in relation to a number of these proposals before making its decisions on their policy merits. These included: the Trunk Road T8 (A31) (Magherafelt Bypass) Order (Northern Ireland) 2010; the A5/A8 Road Schemes; the Cycle Racing on Roads (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010; the Sunninghill Gardens, Belfast (Stopping-Up) Order (Northern Ireland) 2010; Directive 2008/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on Road Infrastructure Safety Management; and the Rail Passenger Rights and Obligations (Exemptions) Regulations 2011. Inquiries: Inquiry into Sustainable Transport in Northern Ireland Budget scrutiny:During this session, the Committee undertook detailed scrutiny and provided feedback to the Minister on the Department’s quarterly monitoring round returns. As has been the case throughout this mandate, Members remain concerned that funding levels for structural road maintenance are seriously inadequate. The Committee took forward extensive scrutiny of the Department for Regional Development’s proposed spending and savings plans throughout January 2011 and provided its interim response to the Committee for Finance and Personnel on 31 January 2011. Identified as key issues in the Department’s proposed spending and savings plans were:
Following submission of its interim response, the Committee continued its work with the Department and key stakeholders and published a report to the Assembly on the Department for Regional Development’s Spending and Saving Proposals 2011-2015, on 2 March 2011. Performance ScrutinyThroughout this and previous sessions, the Committee for Regional Development continued to scrutinise the Department for Regional Development on its performance. Aside from the quarterly monitoring round returns, as detailed above, this scrutiny has focussed on 3 main areas: q uarterly monitoring of DRD’s achievements against its PSA targets and Efficiency Delivery Plan, the DRD Equality Unit’s Quarterly Progress Reports, and quarterly updates on lands identified for abandonment and disposal . The q uarterly monitoring of PSA targets and Efficiency Delivery Plan provides the Committee with detailed information on progress towards achieving its PSA targets with regard to road infrastructure, the strategic road network, promoting use of public transport, improving the governance and commercial competitiveness of trust ports, promoting safer roads and maintaining and improving the water and sewerage services infrastructure. The Equality Unit Quarterly Progress Reports provide the Committee with an appraisal of progress on fulfilling the Department’s statutory obligations on equality of opportunity and good relations, and progress on the other activities being taken forward by the Equality Unit, including progress on Equality Impact Assessments and major screening exercises, as well as the screening out of policies in terms of EQIAs. The quarterly updates on lands identified for abandonment and disposal provide the Committee with the current position on all of the Department’s abandonments and disposals and Members use these updates as a means to track progress and to raise issues of concern. Policy Scrutiny:During this session the Committee considered a number of important policy areas. Procurement governance issues in Northern Ireland Water, and the water crisis that resulted from the severe winter weather over the 2010 Christmas period, were major areas of work for the Committee during this session. The Committee worked with the Public Accounts Committee to ensure that the issues of performance and procurement governance of Northern Ireland Water were appropriately scrutinised by that Committee. The Regional Development Committee also heard evidence from all of the stakeholders involved with regard to the water crisis and ensured that the concerns of members and stakeholders were appropriately addressed. The current Regional Development Strategy (RDS), produced in 2001, is in the process of being revised to reflect changed social, economic and spatial planning circumstances in Northern Ireland. This revision is being addressed through 2 mechanisms: a 5-year and a 10-year review. The 5-year review took place in 2008 and the 10-year review is now at the public consultation stage. On 9 February 2011 , the Committee received a Departmental briefing on the Department’s approach to the public consultation on the Review of the Regional Development Strategy . As the consultation closes after the end of the current mandate, the Committee has recommended, in its End of Mandate Report, that the incoming Committee for Regional Development scrutinises in detail the findings of the public consultation and works with the Department for Regional Development as the revised RDS is developed and implemented. The Committee also wrote to the Department highlighting its concern that the planned spending and savings in the Department’s Draft Budget did not reflect the aspirations in the Review of the Regional Development Strategy, and that the Revised RDS would remain an aspiration unless both resources and political will were behind its vision. Members received Departmental briefing on the Department’s Draft Disability Action Plan and, on 15 September 2010, provided a substantive response to the Department on the content of the draft action plan. The Committee received briefing on 22 September 2010 in relation to Roads Service’s proposals to reorganise its section offices and Members discussed at length the implications of the proposals on local people and businesses in those areas affected by the proposals. The Departmental proposals to take forward the A5 and A8 Road Schemes were scrutinised in detail by the Committee during this session and the need for the scheme, its potential benefits and the costs implications on the Department’s capital budget, during a time of extensive cuts to departmental budgets, remain a major concern to the Committee. These issues were explored at length by the Committee and the concerns are detailed in the Committee’s submission to the Finance and Personnel Committee and in the Committee’s report on the Draft Budget. The Committee received a number of briefings and scrutinised the Department’s proposals for, and public consultations on, its Review of Financial Assistance for Domestic Properties Not Served by a Water Main and the Water Resource Management Plans. The Committee received Ministerial briefing on the public consultation to introduce a bilingual traffic signs in English and either Irish or Ulster-Scots for the specific purpose of promoting minority languages and took the opportunity to question the Minister in detail about the proposals and to raise issues of concern. Given the concerns expressed by Members following the winter freezes of 2009-10 and 2010-11, the Committee received a number of briefings, including one joint briefing with NILGA, on Roads Service’s policy for the gritting of footpaths during winter months. The Committee also made recommendations and suggestions as to how the development of a policy could be taken forward to ensure that lines of responsibility are clearly defined and that safety concerns for pedestrians in towns are addressed. As well as scrutinising the policies of the Department for Regional Development, the Committee also provided input to the Department of the Environment’s Review of Operator Licensing, having received evidence from the Community Transport Association (CTA) on the impact of the proposals contained in the review. Members shared the views of the CTA on the potential impact that the review would have on the more vulnerable groupings in society, particularly the elderly and those living in rural areas. Engagement:The Committee for Regional Development held a number of successful stakeholder engagement events during this session. These included:
The information provided during the event formed the basis of the Committee’s oral evidence on the Bill and was incorporated into the Committee’s report to the Assembly on the Transport Bill. Feedback from witnesses and Members who participated in this event was very positive, and the Committee has adopted this approach as a more effective model of stakeholder engagement.
The event included a drama presentation of the conclusions and recommendations of the report, performed by the young people who carried out the research and produced the report. It was attended by a total of 90 individuals, comprising 59 young people together with representatives from 14 stakeholder organisations, the Department for Regional Development, Department of the Environment and the Northern Ireland Assembly Youth Panel. It provided the young people with the opportunity to meaningfully engage with Members of the Committee, to put across their views to key stakeholders and policymakers in the Transport sector, and to seek to influence the development of transport policy in the future. As a result of the event, a Committee report was produced and submitted to the Minister for Regional Development and Translink for response. Members were particularly pleased to receive positive responses and action, both from the Minister for Regional Development and Translink, on the young people’s recommendations. For example, Translink is engaging with the Consumer Council and YouthAction to pilot a Young Person’s Card for discounted rail and bus travel for young people aged between 16 and 23 years, and preparing a business case for provision of wi-fi on selected services. In addition the Department has offered to engage with the authors of the “Transport Matters” report in the development of the Regional Transportation Strategy. The Committee’s agreed its report for publication on 16 March 2011 which is available on the Assembly website.
Because of the extremely short timeframe afforded to committees of the Assembly to effectively scrutinise the Draft Budget proposals from their respective departments, the Regional Development Committee decided that the most efficient means by which to bring together the views of key stakeholder organisations would be to host a plenary-style evidence gathering event. The objective of the event was to provide key stakeholders with the opportunity to share their views and opinions on the Department’s budget proposals with the Committee and to provide Members with the opportunity to question stakeholders.
The event was attended by 30 individuals from 15 organisations, including the Department for Regional Development. A Hansard report of the event was produced that aided the Committee in its deliberations in advance of the Budget debate in the Assembly in March 2011. It also provided a sound basis, together with evidence received from the Department and other stakeholders during Committee meetings, on which to produce a response to the Finance and Personnel Committee for incorporation into that committee’s report on the Executive’s Draft Budget, and inform the Committee’s report to the Assembly on DRD’s spending and saving proposals for 2011-15. The report to the Assembly was published on 2 March 2011 and forwarded the Regional Development Minister for response.
As the Committee brought its work for the 2007-2011 Assembly mandate to a close, Members decided to host a stakeholder engagement event to discuss the key challenges and issues that have been considered by the Committee throughout the mandate and that an incoming Committee may wish to consider in the new mandate. The discussions focused on the major gains that have been achieved over recent years; opportunities that were missed; the key strategic challenges that lie ahead; and how best to address these challenges. These discussions were based around 3 broad themes: Networks and Gateways; Accessibility and Sustainable Transport; and Water and Sewerage Services. The event, on 23 February 2011, was attended by 32 individuals from 22 organisations and resulted in a report to the Assembly. The Committee considered and agreed its report, at its meeting of 16 March 2011, for publication on the Assembly website and for recommendation to the incoming Committee in the new mandate. The report was also a key resource for Members in developing the Committee’s Legacy Report. Reports from the Committee’s events can be found at: http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/regional/2007mandate/regionalreport_07.htm . Committee MotionsThe Committee agreed a motion to extend the Committee Stage of the Transport Bill to enable the Committee to complete comprehensive and thorough scrutiny of the Bill. On 27 September 2010, the Assembly agreed to extend the Committee Stage of the Bill to 17 December 2010. |
