Minutes of Proceedings
Session: 2010/2011
Date: 02 November 2010
Venue: Room 21
The meeting opened at 11.04 am in private session.
The Chair declared the meeting open and pointed out that the meeting was being covered by Hansard.
The Chair extended his thanks to Danny Kennedy in appreciation of his contribution to the Committee over the years. It was agreed that a letter of gratitude would be forwarded to Mr Kennedy in respect of the same.
Agreed: Members agreed that a letter of thanks should be forwarded to Mr Kennedy
1. Apologies
None
2. Minutes of Proceedings of meeting held on 12 October 2010
Members agreed the Minutes of Proceedings of the meeting held on 12 October 2010.
3. Matters arising
None
4. Chairperson’s Business
The Chair referred to the timeline for the Parliamentary Voting and Constituencies Bill which had been raised by Mr. Fred Cobain at the last meeting. A research paper on the Bill and a summary of the timeline were noted.
5. Correspondence
5.1 Outgoing Correspondence
Members noted copies of letters issued by the Chair on 12 th October to independent Members as well as to the Green Party, the Independent Health Coalition and the Alliance Party requesting submissions on the size of the Assembly and Sections 16A-16C of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as amended by the St Andrews Agreement.
5.2 Incoming Correspondence
The Chair referred the Members to submissions received from Dawn Purvis, Brian Wilson, Stephen Farry and Alan McFarland on the above issues.
The Chair advised the Committee that a paper on the issue of cross community voting had been received from a PhD student at Queens University Belfast.
Agreed: It was agreed that this paper would be circulated to the Committee members electronically
6. Consideration of the Party Submissions
There was some general discussion around the party submissions and the Committee’s approach to taking these issues forward.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that Members of the Assembly who are not members of the committee could take part in deliberations on these issues and would be seated at the committee table. It was also agreed that other non-elected representatives of Parties would be allowed to sit in the Public Gallery during closed sessions as observers .
11:07 Alex Maskey joined the meeting
The Chair reminded all participants that the discussions were confidential.
11.23 Raymond McCartney and Paul Givan joined the meeting.
11.24 John O’Dowd left the meeting.
Discussion continued on the way forward.
11.29 Paul Givan left the meeting.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that:
- A bullet pointed synopsis would be prepared for distribution, summarising all party submissions received by the Chair.
- Legal advice would be sought on the role of the Assembly in establishing its own size.
- In order to support the Committee’s consideration of these matters, a research paper would be commissioned outlining possible alternative approaches which apply to Scotland and Wales
- An update on the progress of the Parliamentary Voting and Constituencies Bill would be commissioned.
- The Committee would return to a weekly schedule of meetings
7. Any other Business
None
8. Date, time and place of next meeting
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would take place in Room 21 on 9 November 2010.
The Chairperson closed the meeting at 11.44 am.
