COMMITTEE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Minutes of Proceedings

Thursday, 13 january 2011
ROOM 29, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

Present:
Mr Simon Hamilton MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Sydney Anderson MLA
Mrs Mary Bradley MLA
Mr Mickey Brady MLA
Mr Jonathan Craig MLA
Mr Alex Easton MLA
Ms Anna Lo MLA
Mr John McCallister MLA
Mr Fra McCann MLA

In Attendance:
Mr Peter McCallion (Assembly Clerk)
Ms Clairita Frazer (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Mr Stewart Kennedy (Clerical Supervisor)
Ms Allison Ferguson (Clerical Officer)

Apologies:
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín MLA

The meeting began at 9.45am in public session.

6. Departmental Expenditure and Saving Delivery Plans / NIHE Governance Audit – Ministerial briefing

The Minister for Social Development and the following Departmental officials joined the meeting at 10.02am:

Will Haire, Permanent Secretary, DSD; and

Barney McGahan, Deputy Secretary, Resources, Housing & Social Security Group, DSD.

The Minister and officials briefed the Committee, on the Department’s Draft Budget 2011-2015 and updated the Committee on the NIHE Governance Audit . This was followed by a question and answer session.

Mr Easton left the meeting at 10.55am.

Mr McCallister left the meeting at 11.00am.

Mrs Bradley declared an interest as a member of the Outer North Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership at 11.25am.

Mr Craig declared an interest as the Chairperson of the Audit Committee.

The Committee noted a Ministerial undertaking to brief the Committee at a future meeting on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s response during the recent period of adverse weather conditions.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister and the officials for their briefing.

The Minister and officials left the meeting at 12.11pm.

Agreed: The Committee agreed that the Clerk should write to the Department seeking clarification on the issues raised during the briefing including: proposed increases in NIHE rents; possible redundancies at NIHE; Invest to Save proposals to limit the impact of future severe weather events on NIHE tenures; the quantum of the increased contribution which is to be sought from Housing Associations for new house-building; the progress of Housing Associations in securing procurement efficiencies; proposed increased expenditure in respect of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and further detail on the impact of the proposed cuts to Departmental expenditure for 2011-2015.

Agreed: The Committee also agreed to seek written submissions from key stakeholders on the draft budget.

The meeting was suspended at 12.14pm.

FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Minutes of Proceedings

Thursday, 10 February 2011
ROOM 29, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

Present:
Mr Simon Hamilton MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Sydney Anderson MLA
Mrs Mary Bradley MLA
Mr Mickey Brady MLA
Mr Fred Cobain MLA
Mr Jonathan Craig MLA
Mr Alex Easton MLA
Mr Tommy Gallagher MLA
Ms Anna Lo MLA
Mr Fra McCann MLA
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín MLA

In Attendance:
Mr Peter McCallion (Assembly Clerk)
Ms Clairita Frazer (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Mr Stewart Kennedy (Clerical Supervisor)
Ms Allison Ferguson (Clerical Officer)

Apologies:
None

The meeting began at 9.35am in closed session.

3. Draft Budget 2011-2015 consultation

The Committee noted an Assembly Research briefing document on the poorest income quintile in Northern Ireland. The Committee also noted a copy of the PSE UK document entitled: “Response to Northern Ireland’s Draft Budget”.

The following Departmental officials joined the meeting at 9.49am:

Will Haire, Permanent Secretary, DSD;

Barney McGahan, Deputy Secretary, Resources, Housing Social Security Group, DSD;

David Ferguson, Deputy Secretary, Urban Regeneration and Community Development Group, DSD;

Tommy O’Reilly, Chief Executive, Social Security Agency, DSD; and

Catherine McCallum, Acting Head of Child Maintenance Enforcement Division, DSD.

The officials briefed the Committee on the Draft Budget 2011-2015. This was followed by a question and answer session.

Mr Gallagher joined the meeting at 10.10am.

The Chairperson thanked the officials for their briefing.

The officials left the meeting at 11.00am.

Some Members highlighted concerns relating to the proposed number of new social houses to be built in the budget period under the Social Housing Development Programme (SHDP).

Some Members indicated concerns in respect of the viability of the proposed increase in Housing Association contributions to the SHDP as a mechanism for increasing the number of new social houses built in the budget period.

Agreed: The Committee agreed that the Clerk should write to the Department seeking further clarification on these issues and on the strategic use of land as a means of reducing the costs of the SHDP.

Agreed: The Committee further agreed to include reference to these matters in its short report on the Draft Budget 2011-15.