A breakdown of the names and associated political parties of the MLA's who voted to reduce the number of days on which the Union Flag is to fly on government buildings in Northern Ireland

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our Ref: FOI 21-22

1 April 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 22 March 2022 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your request, you asked:

“I would request a breakdown of the names & associated political parties of the MLA's who voted on Monday 21st March 2022 to reduce the number of days on which the Union Flag is to fly on government buildings in Northern Ireland.

The information should also include -

The total number of MLA's in attendance for the vote

How each MLA voted i.e. aye or nay

The total number of MLA's that were entitled to vote

The quorum of MLA's required for a sitting of the Assembly.”

On Monday 21 March 2022, the Assembly expressed its views on the changes proposed by the Secretary of State to the Flags Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000, as set out in the draft Flags (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022.

All Members were entitled to vote on this motion, except the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, Roy Beggs, who chaired the debate.  A quorum of the Assembly is 10 Members. Please find attached this link to the Official Report (Hansard) of the debate on this motion.  This includes the oral vote.

As the question was decided on an oral vote, there was no division and the Official Report does not record the names of the MLAs in attendance for this vote.  

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

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