Northern Ireland Assembly Flax Flower Logo

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
IN ROOM 144, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
AT 2.00 PM ON THURSDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2000

1.Chairman's Opening Remarks
2. Minutes of the Last Meeting
3. Matters Arising
4. Subordinate Legislation
5. Urban 11 Programme
6. Budget Proposals
7. Any Other Business
8. Date and Time of Next Meeting

Present:
Mr F Cobain (Chairman)
Ms M Gildernew (Deputy Chairperson)
Sir John Gorman
Mr B Hutchinson
Mr G Kelly
Mr D McClarty
Mr E ONeill
Mr M Robinson
Mr J Tierney
Mr S Wilson

Apologies:
Mr D O'Connor

In Attendance:
Mr G Martin
Mr D Harkin
Mr L Hart
Ms V Surplus

Mr Cobain took the Chair at 2.03 pm.

Private Session

1. Chairman's Opening Remarks

The agenda item relating to the Domestic Energy Efficiency Scheme has been deferred until the meeting scheduled for 28 September, as the relevant Departmental staff were not able to attend today's meeting due to prior commitments.

2. Minutes of the Last Meeting

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed.

3. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising

4. Subordinate Legislation

i. Question put and agreed to:

That the Social Development Committee has considered Statutory Rule No.215 - Social Security and Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and has no objection to the Rule.

ii. Question put and agreed to

That the Social Development Committee has considered Statutory Rule No. 241 - Social Security (Students [Miscellaneous] Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and has no objection to the Rule.

The Clerk issued a paper from the Examiner of Statutory Rules in which he expressed concern about the use of negative and confirmatory procedures in the same Statutory Rule (which is the case with the above Rules).

Agreed: In accordance with advice from the Examiner of Statutory Rules, the Committee will allow the Rules to proceed but the Chairman will express the concern outlined in the Examiner's report of 8 September when the motion is debated in the Assembly.

The Clerk will report immediately the Committee's consideration of the above-mentioned Rules for inclusion in the Assembly's minutes of proceedings.

iii. Agreed: The Committee was content with the Department's proposals for a Statutory Rule in respect of Housing Renovation etc. Grants (Reduction of Grant) (Amendment No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.

Public Session

5. Urban II Programme

Panel Members: Mr Mike Thompson, Director, District Partnership/EU
Ms Bernadette Fullerton, Deputy Principal
Mr Brendan Murtagh, Consultant

The Chairman welcomed the panel to the meeting at 2.12 pm. Mr Thompson apologised on behalf of Dr Harbison, who had had to absent himself at short notice.

Mr Thompson thanked the Committee for the substantial number of practical recommendations contained in its comprehensive submission to the Urban II consultation document, which he assured would be fully factored into the final selection process.

He fully accepted the Committee's criticism about the fact that the report on Urban I had not been published in time to inform the responses to Urban II, and apologised for the unacceptable delay. An assurance was given, though, that the emerging findings from Urban I (now in final draft stage) would be fed in to the decision-making process for Urban II.

Mr Thompson explained that the Urban II document had sought responses to a number of questions that it posed, and that this had elicited 16 responses in total, of which seven could be categorised as being "bids". The full list of respondents is contained in Annex A to the minutes.

The Committee was also critical of the lack of detail in relation to the criteria for selection. Mr Thompson gave an assurance that the criteria for final selection shall be very clear and will be as set out in the European guidelines, keeping true to the concept of targeting social need in areas of multiple deprivation, equality, and the need to provide opportunities for renewal and building infrastructure. However, projects that received funding under Urban I will not be considered under Urban II.

The closing date for proposals by which proposals must reach Brussels is mid November. Mr Thompson stated that his understanding of the procedure now is that the Minister makes a decision on the successful scheme, which then goes before the Executive, and finally the North/South Ministerial Council.

The Chairman thanked the panel and they left the meeting at 2.40 pm.

Private Session

6. Budget Proposals

There was a discussion about the information that the Department had provided in advance of the Minister's attending next week's meeting on budget proposals. The Committee agreed that the figures provided did not allow for detailed comparisons to be made between years and that therefore amplification was needed.

Agreed: The Clerk will write to the Department to request the following details under the headings as set out in Annex B to the Minister's letter of 7 September to the Chairman:

In order to avoid any potential for confusion, the Clerk will put all future requests for information in writing.

7. AOB

i. Mr Wilson raised deep concerns on the following three counts about the procedures in relation to the Committee press conference held on Tuesday, 12 September.

The Chairman apologised for any misunderstanding that Mr Wilson may have felt and gave an assurance that, in future, the Committee's lines of communication would be regularised on such matters.

Agreed: The Clerk will draft a list of Committee procedures to formalise arrangements for consideration at the next meeting.

ii. Agreed: The Clerk will arrange for a presentation from Departmental Officials on the Housing Selection Scheme.

iii. Agreed: The Clerk will write to the Department to request copies of the written submissions that it received on the Street Trading proposals.

8. Date and Time of Next Meeting

The Committee will meet next at 2.00 pm in Room 144, Parliament Buildings on Thursday, 21 September 2000.

The meeting ended at 3.30 pm.

MR F COBAIN
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
September 2000

7 September 2000 / Menu / 21 September 2000