Committee on Standards and Privileges

END OF SESSION REPORT

This is the end of session report of the Committee on Standards and Privileges of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1 September 2010 to 24 March 2011.

Remit:

The Committee on Standards and Privileges 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 No. 57.

Powers:

The Committee has power:

• to consider specific matters relating to privilege referred to it by the Assembly;
• to oversee the work of the Assembly Clerk of Standards;
• to examine the arrangement for the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the Register of Members’ Interests and any other registers of interest established by the Assembly, and to review from time to time the form and content of those registers;
• to consider any specific complaints made in relation to the registering or declaring of interests referred to it;
• to consider any matter relating to the conduct of Members, including specific complaints in relation to alleged breaches of any code of conduct to which the Assembly has agreed and which have been drawn to the Committee’s attention;
• to recommend any modifications to any Assembly code of conduct as may from time to time appear to be necessary.
• 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 enquiries.

Membership:

The membership of the Committee at 24 March 2011 was as follows:

Mr Declan O’Loan (Chairperson) 6, 11, 12
Mr Willie Clarke (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Sydney Anderson 13
Mr Billy Armstrong 16
Mr Micky Brady
Rev Dr Robert Coulter
Mr Paul Frew 8, 14
Mr Paul Maskey 3, 4
Mr Ian McCrea 5,7,15
Mr Alastair Ross 1
Mr Brian Wilson

1 Mr Alastair Ross replaced Mr Adrian McQuillan with effect from 29 May 2007
2 With effect from 21 January 2008 Mr Willie Clarke replaced Mr Gerry McHugh as Deputy Chairperson
3 With effect from 28 January 2008 Mrs Claire McGill replaced Mr Gerry McHugh
4 With effect from 20 May Mr Paul Maskey replaced Ms Claire McGill
5 With effect from 15 September 2008 Mr Jonathan Craig replaced Mr Alex Easton
6 With effect from 3 July 2009 Mr Declan O'Loan replaced Mrs Carmel Hanna as Chairperson
7With effect from 14 September 2009 Mr Trevor Clarke replaced Mr Jonathan Craig
8With effect from 14 September 2009 Mr Thomas Buchanan replaced Mr David Hilditch
9With effect from 11 January 2010 Mr Billy Leonard replaced Mr Francie Brolly
10 On 19 April 2010 Mr Mickey Brady replaced Mr Billy Leonard as a Member of the Committee
11 From 28 May 2010 Mr Pat Ramsey replaced Mr Declan O'Loan as Chairperson of the Committee for Standards and Privileges
12 With Effect from 25th June 2010 Mr Declan O'Loan replaced Mr Pat Ramsey as Chairperson 
13 With effect from 13th September 2010 Mr Sydney Anderson replaced Mr Allan Bresland as a member of the Committee
14 With effect from 13th September 2010 Mr Paul Frew replaced Mr Thomas Buchanan as a member of the Committee
15 With effect from 13th September 2010 Mr Ian McCrea replaced Mr Trevor Clarke as a member of the Committee
16 With effect from 1st November 2010 Mr Billy Armstrong replaced Mr George

The Register of Members’ Interests

1. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has responsibility for examining the arrangements for the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the Register of Members’ Interests and any other registers of interest established by the Assembly, and to review from time to time the form and content of those registers. Four updated versions of the register were published on the Assembly website during this session.

Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill

2. The Committee Inquiry on enforcing the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members and the Appointment of an Assembly Commissioner for Standards which was carried out in the last session concluded that the role and powers of the Assembly Commissioner for Standards should be set out on a statutory basis. During this session the Committee has focussed on preparing legislation to give effect to this.

Part 2 of the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill which provides for the appointment of an Assembly Commissioner of Standards. The Bill was introduced to the Assembly on Monday 15 November, with its second stage debated on Tuesday 23 November. An Ad Hoc Committee was established to carry out detailed investigation of the Bill and report to the Assembly. Following Consideration Stage and Further Consideration Stage the bill passed its Final Stage on 1 st March 2011. Royal Assent is due to be granted at the end of March 2011.

All-Party Groups

4. During this session two new All- Party Groups were approved by the Committee: the All-Party Group on Co-operatives and Mutuals and the All-Party Group on UNSCR 1325 Women, Peace and Security.

Complaints against Members

5. During the 2010/2011 session Dr Tom Frawley continued to act as Interim Assembly Commissioner for Standards. In this role he carried out independent investigations into complaints against Members and reported back to the Committee.

6. The Commissioner received one complaint during this session which was found to be inadmissible. In addition to this, the Interim Commissioner had four cases to investigate which had been carried over from the previous session. Of these four cases, two were suspended pending the outcome of PSNI investigations and other legal proceedings and have remained so during this session. The other two cases were found to be inadmissible.

Meetings

7. The Committee held 8 meetings during this session. Of these 3 were held in open session and 5 were held in part closed session.