Minutes of Proceedings of the eighth meeting of the Public Accounts Committee held in the Thornhill Suite, Stormont Hotel on Thursday 13th December 2001

Present:
Mr B Bell (Chairman)
Mr Beggs
Mr Carrick
Mr Close
Mr Dallat
Ms Ramsey

Apologies
Ms Armitage
Mr Hilditch
Ms Morrice
Mr McClelland
Mr O'Connor

In Attendance:
Mr M Rickard (Committee Clerk)
Mr J Campbell (Assistant Committee Clerk)
Ms J Duffin

• Introduction

The Chairman commenced proceedings by welcoming Dr Andrew McCormick, the Treasury Officer of Accounts, his deputy Mr Brian Delaney and Mr. John Dowdall, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and his staff to the meeting. He then proceeded to outline the main subjects for discussion as follows:

• The Impact of the Public Accounts Committee on the Role of the Treasury Officer of Accounts

• PAC progress to date

• Media Coverage of the work of the Public Accounts Committee

• Guiding Principles for Study Selection

• Forward Work Programme

Following this introduction, the Chairman turned to the order of business.

• Apologies

Apologies were received from, Ms Armitage, Ms Morrice, Mr Hilditch, Mr McClelland and Mr O'Connor

• Presentation by Dr Andrew McCormick on the Impact of the Public Accounts Committee on his Role as the Treasury Officer of Accounts

Dr McCormick gave the Committee a presentation detailing the main impacts that the Committee has had on his role. He also outlined the impact which it had on Accounting Officers who gave evidence to the Committee during the year. Following the presentation Dr McCormick and Mr Delaney addressed a number of concerns raised by the members.

The Chairman thanked Dr McCormick for his contribution and wished him well in his new post which he will be taking up in January 2002.

• Presentation by Mr John Dowdall on PAC progress to date

Mr Dowdall gave a brief presentation, highlighting the different impacts which the Committee has had on Public Administration in Northern Ireland. These were broken down into the following groupings:

Direct Impacts - where departments responded directly to PAC recommendations

Indirect Impacts - wider recommendations which could impact on other departments

Deterrent Effects

A number of examples of high profile impacts were highlighted. In concluding, Mr Dowdall congratulated the Committee on an excellent term's work and looked forward to working with them in the New Year.

• The Clerk gave a brief address to members proposing guiding principles to be adopted in study selection.

Agreed

The following principles should be used in selecting studies for the Forward Work Programme:

• Maximise the spread of Accounting Officers called to give evidence (including both NDPB and Executive Agency Accounting Officers)
• Prioritise Fraud Cases
• Seek to address areas of Interest to Members
• Select topics arising from financial audit
• Be open to "Good News" Reports

The Committee suspended for lunch at 12:30pm

The Meeting reconvened at 1:30pm

• Media Coverage of PAC Business

The Clerk gave the members an insight into the development of press/media relationships from the Committee's inception. He then set out the methodology which he had employed in order to ensure that Committee reports received blanket coverage on publication.

He requested all members to put forward proposals for enhancement of media coverage, particularly at constituency level and offered Committee staff assistance for any local media coverage dealing with PAC issues.

• Forward Work Programme

A number of suggestions were put forward by the members to be addressed in Evidence Sessions in the New Year.

Agreed

The Forward Work Programme up to June 2002 will be as follows:

1. Post Recess Meeting

Room 152 - 09/01/02 (Wed)

2. Internal Fraud: Local Enterprise Development Unit -

Briefing - Room 152 - 23/01/02 (Wed)

Hearing - Senate Chamber - 30/01/02 (Wed)

3. Water Service: Leakage Management and Water Efficiency -

Briefing - Room 152 - 20/02/02 (Wed)

Hearing - Senate Chamber - 28/02/02 (Thurs)

4. Education & Library Board: Performance Indicators -

Briefing - Room 152 - 17/04/02 (Wed)

Hearing - Senate Chamber - 24/04/02 (Wed)

5. Northern Ireland Tourist Board Accounts 2000-01 -

Accounting Officer, Bruce Robinson, DETI.

Briefing - Room 152 - 22/05/02 (Wed)

Hearing - Senate Chamber - 30/05/02 (Thurs)

6. Community Economic Regeneration Scheme Loans -

Briefing - Room 152 - 19/06/02 (Wed)

Hearing - Senate Chamber - 26/06/02 (Wed)

The meeting was then drawn to a close at 2:15pm.

B Bell
Committee Chairman
9 January 2002