| Office of the Speaker |
BUSINESS COMMITTEETUESDAY 4 JULY 2006 MINUTES The meeting began at 12.40 pm Present: The Deputy Speaker, Mr J Wells (Chair) Present (secretariat): Mr A Moir The Clerk 1. Introduction 1.1 The Deputy Speaker conveyed the Speaker’s apologies, advising that she had authorised him to chair the meeting and to make any necessary report to the Secretary of State. 1.2 The Deputy Speaker welcomed Mr McCausland to his first meeting. 2. Minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2006 2.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 27 June were agreed and were signed by the Deputy Speaker. 3. Matters Arising 3.1 Referring to paragraph 3.2 of the minutes of the meeting on 27 June (summer recess), the Deputy Speaker reported that the Secretary of State, in a letter dated 3 July 2006, had directed that the Assembly should rise for summer recess at close of business on Friday, 7 July and should return on Monday, 4 September. 3.2 Referring to paragraph 4.3 of the minutes of the meeting on 27 June (response to the Assembly resolution on industrial rating), the Deputy Speaker again drew members’ attention to the Secretary of State’s letter in which this, and other key issues, were addressed. Mr Dallat considered that there were various ways to achieve the objective of the resolution and indicated that he did not, therefore, accept the Secretary of State’s view that any changes to the policy would require significant spending cuts to frontline services. 3.3 Referring to paragraph 3.1 of the minutes of the meeting on 27 June (establishment of a working group on the economy), the Deputy Speaker reported further on the Secretary of State’s letter of 3 July. Members noted that the Secretary of State had referred the matter of discussion of economic issues to the Preparation for Government Committee (PFGC), under section 1(1) of the 2006 Act, and had directed it, under paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 1 to the Act, to set up a sub-group and report back to the Assembly in September. The Deputy Speaker indicated that these matters would be brought to the next meeting of the PFGC, scheduled for Monday, 10 July 2006. 4. Arrangements for forthcoming plenary meetings 4.1 The Deputy Speaker confirmed that no referral of business for debate had been received from the PFGC. 4.2 There was considerable annoyance and frustration expressed by members that the business put forward to the Secretary of State by the Business Committee over recent weeks had not been referred for debate. 4.3 A proposal was made by the DUP representatives that two motions - a ‘Take Note’ debate relating to the work of the Preparation for Government Committee and the motion on the Review of Public Administration - should be referred to the Secretary of State as business for debate on Friday 7 July 2006. This proposal was not supported by any of the other parties in attendance. Sinn Fein maintained its position of opposing the holding of plenary sessions. 4.4 A proposal by the UUPAG, seconded by the SDLP, that the motion on the Review of Public Administration should be referred to the Secretary of State as business for debate at Friday’s sitting was supported by four of the parties in attendance. 4.5 A debate time of four hours was agreed, with maximum speaking times of 20 minutes for the mover, 15 minutes for winding and 10 minutes for all other speakers. The Deputy Speaker also advised members that two-minutes’ silence would be observed during the sitting as part of the UK-wide commemoration of the first anniversary of the London bombings on 7 July 2005. There was agreement that the Speaker would halt the debate at the appropriate point to allow the period of silence to be observed. 5.1 The Deputy Speaker reported that the Speaker intended to invite Mr Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of the Welsh Assembly Executive, to visit Parliament Buildings, following the summer recess, and to provide an opportunity for him to address Assembly Members in a similar way to that provided during Mr Jack McConnell’s visit. 6. Date, Time and Venue of Next Meeting 6.1 The Deputy Speaker advised members that the Secretary of State’s 3 July letter indicated that there should be plenary debates on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 September. The Business Committee had been asked to advise him, by Wednesday 30 August, of topics which emerge from the PFGC for those debates, and on the sequencing of issues for debate. 6.2 Members agreed to meet on Tuesday, 29 August, at 12.30 in Room 106, Parliament Buildings. The Deputy Speaker brought the meeting to a close at 13.15.
The Speaker |