Arrangements for submission of Amendments to Legislation and Publication of Legislative Documents
* Please note that this All Party Notice contains links to the Assembly intranet which cannot be accessed externally
As a result of the exceptional circumstances arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to ensure that the minimum necessary staff come to Parliament Buildings, the Bill Office have put in place the following temporary procedures for the submission of amendments to legislation and the publication of legislative documents.
Submission of Amendments to Bills
1. All amendments must be submitted in writing and sent to the Bill Office email: billoffice@niassembly.gov.uk
2. If possible, Members, or their pre-agreed authorised person, should submit their amendments on a Bill Amendment Form. A copy of the form is attached to this document and is also available on Assist: http://assist.assemblyni.gov.uk/business-areas/bill-office/
3. Members, or their pre-agreed authorised person, will no longer be required to sign all amendments but they must be submitted from an official Assembly email account or an email address previously authenticated by the Bill Office.
4. An email will be issued by the Bill Office to the sponsoring Member and their authorised person, if one has been used, acknowledging receipt of such amendments.
5. On receipt of amendments, the Bill Office will undertake a preliminary review and will subsequently contact the Member to discuss the amendment(s) tabled, including the timing for publication in a Notice of Amendments.
6. A copy of the Guidance for Members on Amendments to Bills- Rules and Admissibility and the Technical Framing of Amendments to Bills can be found on Assist: http://assist.assemblyni.gov.uk/business-areas/bill-office/
Publication of Amendments
7. Amendments tabled to a bill will be circulated by email to all Members and are also published on the Assembly website under the heading ‘Notice of Amendments’.
Publication of Legislative Documents
8. Members will no longer receive paper copies of Bill Office documents, instead these will be circulated by email to all Members. Examples of legislative documents which will now be circulated by email and published on the website include:
a) Bills (at the different legislative stages) and the accompanying Explanatory and Financial Memorandum.
b) Notice of Amendments
c) Marshalled Lists at Consideration and Further Consideration Stages
d) Grouping Lists at Consideration and Further Consideration Stages
9. Copies of all legislative documents will be published on the Assembly’s website.
10. These are temporary arrangements which have been put in place to ensure continuity of Bill Office services during this challenging time.
11. The Bill Office will be happy to provide assistance to all Members and Party Staff and can be contacted via email: billoffice@niassembly.gov.uk
