Minutes of meetings of the All Party Group on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
Information Standards Freedom of Information Response
Our Ref: FOI 14-22
1 March 2022
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”)
I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 15 February 2022 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your request, you asked:
“Can you provide me with minutes of the below meetings of the All Party Group on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics?
13/09/2021 Virtual Meeting
08/02/2021 Virtual Meeting
09/09/2019 Room 29 Parliament Buildings
13/05/2019 Room 29 Parliament Buildings
26/11/2018 Room 30 Parliament Buildings
10/09/2018 Room 29 Parliament Buildings
14/05/2018 Room 30 Parliament Buildings
27/02/2018 Long Gallery Parliament Buildings
19/02/2018 Room 29 Parliament Buildings
11/09/2017 Room 29 Parliament Buildings”
The Assembly Commission does not hold this information.
All Party Groups (APGs) are not formal Assembly groups and their function, including how they operate and conduct their meetings, is generally a matter for the groups themselves (rather than the Assembly Commission). The Rules on All-Party Groups, which were agreed by the Committee for Standards and Privileges in 2010, make this clear (paragraphs 1.2, 1.5 and 5.1). APGs may not draw on the resources of Assembly staff to service meetings, however they can choose to be supported by outside individuals and organisations, including through the provision of permanent secretarial support. It should also be noted that, given the high-level nature of the Rules, there is no requirement for minutes of APGs meetings to be made available or published.
In order to provide advice and assistance under section 16 of the FOIA 2000, any enquiries regarding meetings of individual APGs should be made directly to the Group (see contact information here for the APG on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
You have the right to request a formal review by the Assembly Commission and if you wish to do so, please write to me at the above address. If after such an internal review you are still unhappy with the response, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF who will undertake an independent review.
The Assembly Commission may publish details of your FOI request and our official response within the organisational disclosure log. The request will be completely anonymised and you will not be identified in any way. This is to meet the requirements as laid out by in the agreed publication scheme with the Information Commissioners’ Office.
Yours sincerely
INFORMATION STANDARDS