Procedure for the Election of a Deputy Speaker, Pocedure for the Election of a Principal Deputy Speaker and All Party Group on Housing

The Business Committee has agreed to table the Election of a Deputy Speaker on:

Monday 19 January 2015

In accordance with Standing Order 5, the election of a Deputy Speaker will follow the procedures set out for the election of Speaker, guided by Assembly precedent and Business Committee decisions.

Procedure for Election of Deputy Speaker

The election will commence after the Motion to suspend Standing Order 20(1) which allows Question Time to be delayed if necessary.

The Speaker will commence by asking for a proposal. Any Member may propose another Member but the proposal must be seconded.

If more than one Member rises to make a proposal, the Speaker will look to the largest party first, in accordance with Assembly precedent. Only a name should be provided at that stage.

The Speaker will then ask for the proposal to be seconded by another Member and if the proposal is not seconded, there is no valid nomination.

Once seconded, the Speaker will verify that the candidate is willing to accept the nomination.

The Speaker will then invite further proposals and proceed through points 2-5 for each. When there are no further proposals, the Speaker will indicate that the time for proposals has passed and a debate may then take place.

Members should indicate their intention to speak to the Business Office or to the table in the usual way. Members may speak for up to 3 minutes and may not speak more than once. There will be no time limit on the debate.

When all who wish to speak have done so, the Speaker will put the question that the candidate first proposed shall be Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. The vote will be on a cross-community basis and any dissenting voices will result in a division.

If the question is not carried, the Speaker will put the question in relation to the next candidate and so on, until a candidate is elected or all nominations are exhausted. Once the Deputy Speaker is elected, all other nominations automatically fall.

There will be no opportunity to speak after a Deputy Speaker has been elected.

Procedure for the
Election of a Principal Deputy Speaker

The Business Committee has agreed to table the Nomination of a Principal Deputy Speaker on:

Monday 19 January 2015

The nomination will be conducted using the procedure set out in Standing Order 5A. Three Deputy Speakers must first have been elected by the Assembly before the nomination process can proceed. This is to ensure that the Assembly has complied with the requirement in Standing Order 5(1) which is mandatory. It is not mandatory to have a Principal Deputy Speaker.

Procedure for Nomination of Principal Deputy Speaker

The nomination process will commence only after the successful election of a third Deputy Speaker.

The Speaker will commence by calling for a nomination. Any Member may nominate one of the three elected Deputy Speakers. There is no requirement for this to be the party nominating officer.

If more than one Member rises to make a nomination, the Speaker will look to the largest party first, in accordance with Assembly precedent. Only a name should be provided at that stage.

There is no requirement for the nomination to be seconded and only one nomination will be accepted and dealt with at a time.

The Deputy Speaker who has been nominated will be asked if he/she is willing to act as Principal Deputy Speaker.

A debate relevant to that nomination may then take place if Members indicate in advance that they wish to speak. Members should indicate their intention to speak to the Business Office or to the table in the usual way. The convention is that no more than one Member from a party will be called to speak on the basis that the debate is about a single nomination only.

Members may speak for up to 3 minutes and may not speak more than once in each debate. There will be no time limit on the debate.

At the end of the debate, the Question will be put on the nomination. Cross-community support is required.

If the first nomination is not approved with cross-community support, the Speaker will call for a further nomination and the process will be repeated.

There will be no opportunity to speak after a nomination is approved by the Assembly.

Summary of key differences between processes:

  • All proposals for Deputy Speaker must be submitted at the start of the process and the debate will relate to all proposals
  • Members may propose any other Member to stand as Deputy Speaker
  • Proposals for Deputy Speaker must be seconded
  • Any Members may speak during the debate for Deputy Speaker
  • Only Deputy Speakers may be nominated for Principal Deputy Speaker
  • Nominations for Principal Deputy Speaker do not need to be seconded
  • A debate on the nomination for a Principal Deputy Speaker will follow each nomination and will relate only to that nomination
  • It is convention that no more than one member from a party speaks during debates on nominations for Principal Deputy Speaker

ALL PARTY GROUP ON HOUSING

A meeting of the All-Party Group on Housing has been arranged to take place on Monday 26th January at 12.30pm in Room 115.

At the first meeting of the All Party Group on Housing members will hear from leading speakers from the housing sector.

John Armstrong from the Construction Employers Federation will look at the private housing sector and the challenges they face at this time.

Cameron Watt from NIFHA will outline the role of the housing associations and their contribution to the sector.

All Members are welcome to attend.

For further information please contact Jackie Erskine at Helm Housing on 028 9032 0485 or email E.Morrow@helmhousing.org

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