PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE PROGRAMME FOR GOVERNMENT
Minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 15 January 2007 in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.
In the Chair: Francie Molloy
Present: Jeffrey Donaldson MP
Mark Durkan MP
Sir Reg Empey
Arlene Foster
Michelle Gildernew MP
Derek Hussey
Conor Murphy MP
Edwin Poots
Margaret Ritchie
Caitriona Ruane
In Attendance: Debbie Pritchard (Principal Clerk)
Damien Martin (Assembly Clerk)
Jim Beatty (Assistant Clerk)
Pauline Hunter (Clerical Officer)
Observing: Brian Barrington (SDLP Researcher)
Richard Bullick (DUP Researcher)
Emma Lyttle (DUP Researcher)
The meeting commenced at 1.07pm.
1. Apologies
Gerry Adams MP (Mr Murphy MP attended as the SF representative in place of Mr Adams MP.)
David McClarty (Mr Hussey attended as the UUP representative in place of Mr McClarty.)
Martin McGuinness MP (Ms Ruane attended as SF representative in place of Mr McGuinness MP.)
Ian Paisley Jnr (Mr Poots attended as the DUP representative in place of Mr Paisley.)
Peter Robinson MP (Ms Foster attended as the DUP representative in place of Mr Robinson MP.)
2. Previous Minutes
The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting of 8 January 2007.
3. Matters Arising
(a) Freedom of Information
Hugh Widdis (Legal Adviser) and Mairead Mageean (Head of Information) joined the meeting at 1.09pm.
The Committee discussed the legal advice and guidance provided in relation to the recent request for information. Members failed to reach consensus on the basis on which the information is held. Sinn Fein, the SDLP and UUP considered that the information was being held on behalf of an incoming Executive; the DUP considered that it was held by the Committee on its own behalf.
Mr Widdis and Ms Mageean left the meeting at 1.38pm.
(b) Report from the sub-group on Workplace 2010 and public sector jobs location
John Torney (Principal Clerk) joined the meeting at 1.38pm.
The Committee discussed the report from the sub-group which included the changes agreed at last week’s meeting.
Ms Gildernew MP and Ms Ruane left the meeting at 1.40pm.
Ms Foster left the meeting at 1.46pm.
The Chairperson proposed that the Committee should accept the report and write to the Secretary of State setting out its view that: -
(a) no decision should be made on advancing the Workplace 2010 contract until the concerns expressed by the Committee in its report have been considered;
(b) it does not accept that the proposed consultation on Guiding Principles for the Location of Public Sector Jobs should be confined to the Review of Public Administration consequentials or that Workplace 2010 should be excluded from this consultation; and
(c) the approach being taken to the implementation of Workplace 2010 has the potential to lead to the closure of government offices in non-urban areas, which might in effect result in the centralisation of public sector jobs.
There was consensus and the proposal was agreed.
The Committee considered a draft motion for debate in Plenary endorsing the findings and conclusions set out in the Report. Sir Reg Empey proposed that the motion should be agreed. There was consensus and the proposal was agreed.
Following discussion, the Chairperson proposed that the report should be published. There was consensus and the proposal was agreed.
Mr Torney left the meeting at 2.05pm.
4. Consideration of the submissions on the Lifetime Opportunities Strategy
Kevin Shiels (Assembly Clerk), Robert Barry (Senior Researcher) and Marie Austin (Assistant Clerk) joined the meeting at 2.06pm.)
The Committee considered the analysis of the submissions from respondents and identified a number of additional aspects of the strategy that should be enhanced.
Ms Gildernew MP and Ms Ruane rejoined the meeting at 2.09pm.
Mr Donaldson proposed that each party should submit a short paper on those issues which it would like included in the paper to the Committee. There was consensus and it was agreed that the party papers should be sent to the Committee Clerk by close of play on Tuesday, 16 January 2007.
Mr Donaldson MP and Sir Reg Empey left the meeting at 2.28pm.
Mr Barry left the meeting at 2.40pm.
5. Consideration of the submissions relating to victims and survivors
Eileen Regan (Senior Researcher) joined the meeting at 2.41pm.
The Committee considered the analysis of the submissions from respondents.
The Chairperson proposed that each party should submit a short paper on those issues which it would like included in the paper to the Committee. There was consensus and it was agreed that the party papers should be sent to the Committee Clerk by close of play on Tuesday, 16 January 2007.
Mr Shiels, Ms Austin and Ms Regan left the meeting 2.49pm.
6. Draft Policing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007
The Chairperson proposed that the Committee should:
- note the transcript of the sub-group evidence session with Paul Goggins MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, and agree to forward this to the Secretary of State as a record of the consideration of the Order; and
- agree that the Hansard of the evidence session with Mr Goggins and his response to the Committee should be placed in the Assembly Library and published on the Transitional Assembly’s internet site.
There was consensus and the proposal was agreed.
7. Responses from the Secretary of State to the Committee on the Preparation for Government on the economic challenges facing Northern Ireland.
The Committee noted the responses to the Second and Third reports of the Committee on the Preparation for Government on the economic challenges facing Northern Ireland and that the sub-group on Economic Issues was taking evidence from the Minister of State, David Hanson on these on 18 January 2007.
8. Letter from the Secretary of State on the provision of information to the Committee and its sub-groups
The Committee noted the response from the Secretary of State.
Sir Reg Empey rejoined the meeting at 2.54pm.
9. AOB
(a) Request from the sub-group on Policing and Justice to have the Hansard of its discussions with the Secretary of State published
The Chairperson proposed that the Committee agree to the request from the Chairperson of the sub-group on Policing and Justice to authorise the publication of the transcript of the evidence session with the Secretary of State on 9 January 2007 as soon as it is finalised. There was consensus and the proposal was agreed.
(b) Press Release
The Chairperson proposed that the draft Press Release should be issued. There was consensus and the proposal was agreed.
(c) Proposed meeting with representatives of the Irish Government and HM Treasury
At its meeting on 8 January 2007 the Committee agreed to write to the Irish Government to request a joint meeting with representatives of the Irish Government and HM Treasury to discuss areas of overlap between the proposed financial packages, including proposals for match funding from HM Treasury. It was agreed that, if possible, the meeting should take place before dissolution.
10. Next Meetings
The Committee will next meet at 1.00pm on Monday, 22 January 2007 in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.
The Committee will meet at 1.30pm on Tuesday, 23 January 2007 in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.
The meeting adjourned at 2.53pm.