NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY Tuesday 19 June 2007 Executive Committee Business Private Members’ Business Adjournment The Assembly met at 10.30 am (Mr Speaker in the Chair). Members observed two minutes’ silence. Libraries Bill Second Stage The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr Poots): I beg to move That the Second Stage of the Libraries Bill [NIA 05/07] be agreed. The proposals behind this legislation will advance the process to develop and modernise the public library service. The process began last year, with the publication of ‘Delivering Tomorrow’s Libraries’, which sets out the policy direction for the library service, identifying its core business and its major contribution. The document specifies targeted action to enhance the value of the service and sets out a series of standards against which to measure performance. Most of us have experience of libraries, whether as children or adults or when we take our own children to visit them. The public library is a freely available and enormously significant source of enjoyment, inspiration and independent learning. There is no doubt that libraries have the capacity to empower people and communities. The use of libraries is voluntary, and there are no entry or eligibility requirements. As a business that is concerned not with doing things for people but helping people to do things for themselves, libraries are in a position to combat social exclusion and provide equality of opportunity. Libraries have a particular role in facilitating lifelong learning for those who have missed out on education, and their welcoming and flexible environment provides opportunity for those who are uncomfortable in formal learning situations. However, the role of libraries is not solely concerned with education. They also cater for recreational, cultural and community aspects in meeting modern-day needs. Libraries support social, educational, artistic and economic endeavour and contribute to thriving communities. As such, they are a significant element in the achievement of a range of Government policies and priorities. The Library Service has a good record of reacting to change and responding to new needs. For example, many senior citizens gain their first experience of IT, emailing and the Internet at their local libraries, which accommodate more than 1,000 computer terminals across Northern Ireland. Furthermore, the Library Service has reacted quickly to the needs of recent immigrants by providing books and other materials in their languages. Libraries provide community spaces, learning spaces, locations for cultural events and meeting places. One has only to visit some of the new libraries in Ballymena, Lisburn, Strabane or Cookstown to see examples of modern, accessible public spaces that are visually attractive, functional and efficient. Those libraries have transformed their local communities by providing traditional library services and by introducing space for new activities. I wish to acknowledge the work of library staff in delivering public services over the past three decades. Their contribution increases the effectiveness of libraries through their offering structured advice and guidance. The joint working of those staff across the education and library boards in recent years has demonstrated the value of a single unified service. The Bill will establish a single library service for the whole of Northern Ireland and will streamline the five existing library services, providing a unified seamless service that can ensure equity in delivery and transmission of best practice. The Bill will establish a non-departmental public body (NDPB) at a regional level to deliver that service — a library authority that will be led by a board comprising people who will be selected specifically for their ability to oversee a library service that meets modern needs. We expect efficiencies in the long term due to reductions in management and administration. The protection of staff who transfer from existing bodies to the library authority has been negotiated centrally with the trade unions. All staff will be protected by the provisions of The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). Pension entitlements will also be protected. Those important matters are addressed in schedule 2 to the Bill. During public consultation on the draft legislation, there was strong support in principle for a single library service that would be led by a library authority. Comments were also submitted on certain aspects of the draft legislation. Following that consultation, changes were made to the draft legislation in two areas to reflect the concerns that were raised. The first change related to maintaining public access to core library services that is free at the point of use. That commitment has been made clear in the text of the Bill. The second change was to increase the maximum size of the board to reflect concerns about achieving a quorum and reflecting diversity. Our main objective is to improve the quality of service to the public. Libraries have the potential to make a greater contribution to quality of life and to meeting Government priorities. Ensuring the establishment of the right structure to deliver that potential is crucial. A library service that is delivered by a single body better reflects the multifaceted role of libraries and their wide potential customer base. The library authority will provide a clear central focus for the development and promotion of the new service and will be a better vehicle to establish partnerships for new service delivery at regional and local levels. The Bill represents an innovative proposal, which is unique in the United Kingdom and has generated considerable interest beyond Northern Ireland. I am firmly of the view that the Bill represents the best way to provide the most effective public library service most efficiently. The Chairperson of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr McElduff): Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Cuirim fáilte roimh an díospóireacht ar an Bhille. I welcome this opportunity to address the Assembly. The Committee wishes to place on record its formal concern at the process that was used by the Minister to introduce the Bill to the Assembly. The absence of appropriate notification to the Committee is not acceptable practice and spells out the need for improved communication among the Minister, the Executive and the Assembly on legislation matters. An example of that failure of communication, at best — and perhaps disregard, at worst — was the Minister’s introduction of the Bill at First Stage on Monday 11 June 2007. It was the last item of business and did not appear on the Order Paper. I ask the Minister to explain why he introduced the Bill to the Assembly in that fashion and why the Committee was not consulted about changes to the Bill’s legislative timetable, particularly as those matters have a direct bearing on the Committee’s future work plan. The Committee commented on the Minister’s announcement of the appointment of a chief executive designate to the single library authority, which will be created by the passage of this Bill. The Committee seeks an explanation from the Minister as to the rationale behind the early announcement of an appointment to a body that, as yet, has no legislative base. The Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Mr David McNarry, will develop that point in his contribution. Mr S Wilson: Will the Member give way? Mr McElduff: I will not give way. Thanks all the same, Sammy. The Bill’s key purpose is to provide for the establishment of a library authority to deliver a single public library service for all libraries here. This is an inheritance from the review of public administration (RPA) conducted under direct rule, and it is now the responsibility of this Assembly to decide if that is the most appropriate form of management for our libraries. Three management options have been considered by the Department following the RPA proposal that a new education support body replace the five education and library boards. The first option was that libraries should be the responsibility of local government on the basis of no more than seven local authorities. That was rejected because it was felt that it would fragment the service by increasing five bodies to seven and break up an increasingly unified system in which joint working at regional level has brought benefits. The second option was that the libraries should remain institutionally linked to education delivery. That too was rejected on the basis that libraries have cultural, recreational and community roles as well as an educational one and that the service would benefit from a separate, dedicated managing body. A third option called for a single management body, which, it is said, will promote operational efficiencies in the longer term. I seek an assurance from the Minister that he has not opted for a single library authority solely on the basis of cost and financial efficiencies. The Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure will consider carefully the legislation and examine in detail each clause of the Bill. It is committed to conducting a detailed scrutiny and intends to consult widely and to take evidence from interested parties. Libraries have vital cultural, recreational and community roles and belong to everyone in our society. They are there for everyone to use, irrespective of age, cultural background, or address. The Department indicated to the Committee that it has no plans to change the current Government policy of providing core library services free of charge. However, there is concern that that commitment is not fully reflected in the Bill, and I seek reassurance from the Minister that he has no plans to introduce charging for core library services. He may also wish to consider making that commitment more explicit in the legislation. Core library services elsewhere are provided free of charge, and legislation should not be introduced in the North that could potentially include a loophole that would allow for charging at some date in the future. The Committee expects that any change in the management of libraries will be for the purpose of providing a service that accommodates everyone in society — children, the elderly, families, the visually impaired, speakers of indigenous languages and people newly arrived from other countries. It must be recognised that different groups have different needs and requirements of libraries — for example, in relation to opening hours, library stock and other resources and facilities. Libraries must be accessible if their full potential is to be maximised. 10.45 am The creation of a single management body to replace the current five education and library boards requires a geographical spread in the composition of the board. The constitution of the new body should reflect the entire population; urban and rural, and east and west of the Bann. It should also represent people from different cultural backgrounds. Crucially, the body should also include elected representatives to address the democratic deficit. It should also have trade union input. Those with expertise in the management of library services should also be consulted. That will be essential if the new authority is to reflect the aspirations and needs of all of the people. As I understand it, one reason for creating a single library authority is to make the management structures more streamlined. I hope that that streamlining will result in more resources being made available for front-line library services. However, I did not hear such a commitment in the Minister’s opening remarks. Members of the public are concerned about potential library closures, particularly in rural areas. I hope that the new library authority will be able to reassure people that there will be no such closures. Libraries are important tools in targeting social need in rural and urban areas. There are genuine concerns about possible library closures, and the resulting job losses, as has happened with post offices. Libraries, including the mobile library service, are a key connection to the outside world for many people, particularly older people. I therefore seek the Minister’s reassurance that the new legislation will not endanger library services in rural areas. Similarly, people living in other disadvantaged areas may not have access to computers or places for study or homework. Libraries are a vital facility in that regard. They also have a key role to play in literacy and lifelong learning, as the Minister has acknowledged. They provide a place for people outside the mainstream education system to access information and assistance. The new library authority will be a non-departmental public body that will be directly answerable to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). I expect that the Department will closely monitor the new body to ensure that the current standards of service are maintained and improved. I hope that the Minister will reassure the House that that will be case and that the Department will monitor the performance and service standards of the new library authority. The creation of the new authority will result in changes for library staff, who are currently employed by the education and library boards. It is vital that the Department ensures that the experience and skills of the current staff are fully utilised in the new authority and that the transfer is made as smoothly as possible for them. In particular, I am seeking a commitment from the Minister that jobs will be safeguarded and that staff will maintain their current terms and conditions in the new authority. The Department must also ensure that the current stock and archives — a crucial part of our cultural wealth — are protected during the transfer. Those assets should be passed on to generations to come. Every organisation can benefit from independent advice, and libraries are no different. There is concern that the legislation does not contain any provision for the authority to attain expert, independent advice, which is available to libraries elsewhere. We should not be treated any differently. I ask that that aspect be incorporated into the legislation. Go raibh maith agat. Mr Speaker: I call Mr Nelson McCausland. Mr Weir: Hear, hear. Mr Hamilton: Take his temperature. Mr McCausland: The Member’s enthusiasm knows no bounds. [Laughter.] I wish to reflect on a number of aspects of the proposed legislation. It is vital that the membership of the new library authority reflects, and is representative of, Northern Ireland society geographically, culturally and in every way, so that the different sectors in the community are all represented. The make-up of the Equality Commission (ECNI), the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) and the Parades Commission are intended, legislatively, to be representative. However, that is not that case with the current education and library boards, for example. That should be incorporated into the legislation. As the Minister rightly said this morning, the Library Service in Northern Ireland plays a wide range of social, cultural and educational roles, and contributes to the well-being of society in many ways. Therefore, it is particularly important that the Assembly gets this legislation right and ensures the best possible service for the people of Northern Ireland. One argument for introducing the legislation, which was referred to this morning, is that the Library Service would be streamlined and that savings in administration could be reinvested in books. In many ways, that is a plausible and good argument, because there has been an underinvestment in books by library services across Northern Ireland. However, as the Bill proceeds over the coming months, I ask that Members be provided with clear figures on the savings and economies that could be made. There is a definite need for clarity on that issue, because when the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure considered that matter a few weeks ago, no figures were available. Many people will suspect that there will be additional costs in the initial stages. Members will already be aware that the single education authority will not only have a chief executive, but eight deputies. We are therefore moving from a situation in which there are five boards and five chief executives to one in which there will be one chief executive and eight deputies. Therefore, there must be clarity on what savings might be made, and Members need to see those figures. I am confident that the Department will carry out that work over the coming weeks. Although it is necessary to have a governance structure in place when the education and library boards are removed, we may have to re-examine the situation in the longer term, as part of the review of public administration. There have been cases in which good integration of health, council and library services can bring benefits to a community. For example, in my constituency of North Belfast, leisure services — the swimming pool, etc — health centre services and library services are being brought together in the Grove Wellbeing Centre. That centre will provide integrated services and will bring benefits to the whole community through the synergy that it will create. The Assembly should examine similar such opportunities in the longer term. Library services could also be provided in community or leisure facilities. As for the longer-term vision for library services, we will have to revisit that issue through the review of public administration, in particular with respect to local authorities. Community planning will also come into that debate. One aspect of the legislation that concerned me was that, unlike the other countries in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland does not have a national library. It could be argued that Northern Ireland is not large enough to merit a national library. However, there should be some reference in the legislation to the need to provide a regional service. That is important to Northern Ireland, particularly when one considers the archived material in Belfast Central Library, the Linen Hall Library and other libraries. I would like to see a greater focus on that matter and some consideration being given to how information in a readily accessible medium, in book form, could be made available to the public, particularly on the history of Northern Ireland and the history of Ulster. Much of that material is not readily accessible, and it would be good to see legislation that provides for a regional library service. ‘Delivering Tomorrow’s Libraries’ set out a vision for libraries in Northern Ireland. Libraries play an important role in society. As the legislation is taken forward over the coming months, I hope that the matters that have been mentioned, such as the size of the board and clarity about the economies to be made, will be given serious consideration. Mr McNarry: As I do not follow the speeches made by the Minister of Finance’s wife — in case she has said something recently about the Bill — and, in light of the demonstration of personal abuse focused on me by her husband last week, it is important that I declare that some of my contribution on the Libraries Bill includes information taken from a research brief. On a previous occasion, when I spoke on a fisheries issue, I used research, which, unknown to me at the time, was also used by another Member in another place. However, some people have chosen to call that plagiarism. Having put research in its proper perspective, I shall address this Bill. Clear concerns arise from the manner in which the Department has handled the Bill. The Chairman eloquently expressed the wider view of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure on those concerns, and I share his request that the Minister takes note of, and addresses, those concerns. I am sure that I will not live to regret this, but, as this is my first opportunity to address the Minister in the House, I wish him well for his time in office. I compliment him on the freshness that he brings, not only by knowing his brief, but by approaching matters in a cool, calm, collected and constructive listening mode. That said, I strongly encourage many of his more senior colleagues to copy — or plagiarise — his manner of dealing with his brief. However, I am concerned about the Department’s apparent desire to rush this legislation through the House. The Committee Chairman has dealt with the major points arising from that. However, the rush appeared all the more obvious and aroused suspicions — perhaps where none may justifiably exist — when, before the new Minister even had his feet under the table, the Department advertised, interviewed and shortlisted applicants for the position of chief executive of the new library authority. The Minister has been in position for only a few weeks. When the Chairperson and I met him, shortly after he had taken up office, he was unaware that the fast-tracking had taken place, and I appreciated his honesty on that. However, in just a few weeks, the Department has moved further, and in some haste, by appointing a chief executive designate. That move was completed before the legislation for a new single authority had passed successfully through the Assembly. Is the Department’s appointment of a chief executive in that manner more evidence of control freakery, or is it presumption? If the latter is the case, it is dangerous to presume that the legislation will pass through the house unopposed and that its passage through the Committee would be a mere formality. Will the Minister clarify that matter for us? I seek a commitment from the Minister that jobs will be safeguarded and staff will maintain their current terms and conditions under the legislation for the new management of libraries, and that library closures will not be used to negate any undertakings that he may give to the House on the safeguards that I am requesting. In conclusion, the legislation requires the authority to provide a public library service; it does not say how — or to what standard — that will be done, other than in clause 2(2)(a), which cites: “library materials sufficient in number, range and quality to meet general requirements of adults and children”. There is no mention of it being either comprehensive or efficient. The Minister must give assurances that library service provision will be comprehensive and efficient and will meet the requirements of adults and children. (Mr Deputy Speaker [Mr McClarty] in the Chair) 11.00 am Mr P Ramsey: I wish to raise concerns about a number of matters. First, like the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Committee, I ask the Minister to clarify how the First Stage of the Bill came to be on the agenda without the approval of the Business Committee. The Committee was taken aback when the Libraries Bill appeared on the Order Paper on Monday 11 June and had no time to prepare for it. The SDLP welcomes the shift of responsibility for the Library Service from the Department of Education to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. Such a move is logical and will enable the service to develop a range of complimentary activities. The SDLP wishes to ensure that, following the establishment of a new library authority, libraries will target their activities at all sections of the community, which should include visitors to Northern Ireland. My party is concerned that such visitors are not being specified as a group to be provided for. Also, we are concerned that ethnic-minority language groups are not mentioned in the Bill. Both groups should be included in the legislation as core groups. The Library Service must be developed and broadened. The existing service is under pressure from cut-price books offered by retailers, and, as the Chairperson of the Committee said, that has led to a serious reduction in borrowing and visits to libraries. I reiterate some points that I made to the Committee about rural proofing. It is important that rural-proofing measures are applied to the Library Service, as they are to any other public service. Social inclusion is an urgent and ongoing concern in many rural areas, and the problem is being exacerbated by the threats to post offices and small rural schools. The SDLP is concerned that library closures in recent years have taken their toll on rural communities, and it is clear that the libraries most at risk are in rural areas. Library services in those areas must be valued as community hubs, and their closure would be contrary to acute social needs. The contribution of rural libraries to local literacy and skills development must be as valued as it is in urban areas, and any future library strategy must include a commitment to protect that provision. Some instances of rural library provision should be valued as examples of good practice. Rural libraries are addressing questions about their viability by targeting local schools. To increase their footfall, they are specifically focusing on child literacy provision. Creativity and best practice such as this should be nurtured, encouraged and rewarded. The SDLP considers the Library Service to be vital. Therefore, the service must be changed and repositioned to reconnect with more people. That repositioning will require new ways to deliver existing services and the addition of new services. That will involve a process of change, which will require leadership. The SDLP wishes libraries, under the new library authority, to improve their traditional roles as centres for the enjoyment of books and borrowing and become centres of excellence for education, providing complimentary ranges of services in which literacy and numeracy are promoted and facilitated in informal and pleasant environments, and where learning is fun. The SDLP wishes libraries to be centres of lifelong learning for adults of all ages and to actively explore possibilities for the greater inclusion of other forms of art and cultural activities. The new library authority must have the freedom to carry out its work, but within the democratic accountability and control that is required. For example, when the new authority drafts its standing orders, it is important that they are presented to the Minister and the Committee for approval. It is important that the Assembly sends a positive message to existing staff. Staff face changes in their employer and in their work practices, and their morale is currently quite poor. They are concerned about the impact on their terms and conditions. It is important that terms and conditions are protected and that new employees are offered the same terms and conditions as existing employees. I urge the Minister to work closely with the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) on the transfer of undertakings to ensure a smooth transition for employees. The Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure intends to invite NIPSA officials to a meeting to discuss their concerns. In order to provide a modern, vibrant and expanded Library Service, working practices will have to change. Old working practices will be conducted in different ways, and there will be new working practices, which may or may not turn out well; that is the nature of change. It is important that the Assembly values staff and urges them to continue to provide a professional service for everyone. Members want to work with library staff and retain their expertise. We also want to lead, promote and improve the Library Service so that by the end of this process, we will have a better service. Members, and the public whom we serve, value the contribution of Library Service staff, and we thank them. I ask the Minister to consider carefully the location of the new library authority. I am sure that he will consider all regions in Northern Ireland, including the north-west. Mr McCarthy: Much of what I intended to say has already been rehearsed by the Chairperson and members of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure. Mr Kennedy: No need to say it again, then. Mr McCarthy: No, absolutely not. However, I want to ask the Minister a question. Is the public library service intended for all citizens, or is it only for people who can use library premises? For instance, what provision is there for hospitals, prisons, residential homes, and so forth? Staff in those institutions do not have specialist library knowledge and will be unaware of the range of available materials. Library provision for such institutions should be a statutory obligation on the service. The schools library service will become the responsibility of the Department of Education. As Members have already said, the centralisation and relocation of that service will have implications for rural primary schools, in that it will cut them off from book and information specialists. Previously, teachers in rural schools, who do not live near bookshops, had access to those specialists. However, they and their pupils will be disadvantaged because they will now not be able to consult specialist library staff whose advice is based on their constant use of information resources. Consideration must be given to the needs of blind or partially sighted people. A framework for their needs should not depend on commercial organisations. Most of the Alliance Party’s concerns have already been voiced during the debate. I await the Minister’s response to those contributions. Lord Browne: I have spent the majority of my working life in the education service, so I am acutely aware of the tangible benefits that libraries provide to education. The local education and library boards are being subsumed into one streamlined authority, so it is natural and, indeed, sensible that the provision of library services should enjoy the same efficiency savings and rationalisation that will ultimately benefit those people who use the facilities and the many others who expect Members to administer public finances in a mature fashion on their behalf. Although I intend to support the Second Stage of the Bill to that end, as a member of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure, I have yet to be totally convinced of the need for a separate autonomous authority specifically for the provision of library services. The Libraries Bill was, of course, introduced by the direct rule Ministers and inherited by my hon Friend the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Mr Poots. However, there will be time in the weeks following the Second Stage of the Bill to deliberate on its contents and effects, and, if necessary, consider local alternatives and other options that would enhance the effect of such legislation. As it stands, schedule 1(2)(1)(b) of the Bill states that the authority should consist of: “not fewer than 7 or more than 14 other members,” — that is, alongside the chairman. Although that number may be correct, unwieldy and cumbersome bodies tend to operate at a much slower pace, as my personal athletic record would attest. [Laughter.] There is no provision in the Bill for a specified number of interested stakeholders or local representatives. Local representatives have built up years of experience serving on education and library boards, which would be of infinite benefit to any such authority and maintain a local dimension to a dramatically centralised body. In addition, as we have heard, the trade unions, focused interested bodies and other stakeholders could potentially make a great contribution; however, the legislation does not guarantee a place for those agencies. Neither am I convinced by the argument for separating library services from the provision of education. As some Members pointed out, adults and others with learning difficulties are often sidelined or ignored by education and library boards, which, perhaps, focus more on primary and post-primary provision. That situation highlights the need for greater harmonisation, or, if necessary, an amalgamation of the relevant functions of the Department of Education and the Department for Employment and Learning rather than a separate library authority. The diversity of views in the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure ranges from support for the new authority as outlined in the Bill, to input or even control by local government, or for removing altogether the idea of a separate authority and simply administering libraries through the new education body. In supporting the Second Stage, the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure knows that it must thrash out those issues in the weeks ahead. It is to be hoped that with the agreement of the Minister, the Bill will proceed either intact or amended, having achieved a consensus among Members of the House. Mr Brolly: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I will be brief, because my hon colleague Mr McElduff, speaking as Chairperson of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure, made a comprehensive presentation. It would be remiss of me, and Mr McElduff would be disappointed, if I did not also mention that he played corner-forward for the Tyrone minor county Gaelic football team. Some years ago, a very clever gentleman cynically said: “People who read books do so because they are too lazy to think for themselves.” I disagree; reading encourages people to think. There is no point in reinventing the wheel, so I will simply reinforce the need for libraries and access to books. When William Ewart introduced his Public Libraries Bill to the House of Commons in 1849, he encountered a great deal of opposition from the Conservatives, who argued that the rate-paying middle and upper classes would be paying for a service that would be mainly used by people like us — the working classes. One Member of Parliament argued that: “People have too much knowledge already: it was much easier to manage them twenty years ago; the more education people get, the more difficult they are to manage.” There is no better argument to be made for promoting libraries and for having the very best library authority. 11.15 am Mr McCausland mentioned the obvious necessity that the board in charge of libraries be representative. Before the appointment of that board, which will be made up of a chief executive and eight deputies, it is important that we ascertain that it is totally competent to do the job that it has been employed to do. Prospective board members must display to the interview panel that they know all about the job. It would be a pity if the proposed savings of £0·6million in 2009-10, which are set to double in 2010-11, were to be gobbled up by a chief executive who thought it necessary to employ a consultant as soon as the first difficult question arose. Schedule 2 to the Bill has important implications for education and library boards’ current employees. Contracts are to be transferred from those bodies to the library authority. Dealing with unions and ensuring fair treatment for employees, who have done a very good job up until now, will take up a great deal of time at Committee Stage. Go raibh maith agat. Mr Shannon: Efter 25 yeirs o’ gye bad unner fundin’ an no bein’ leuked aboot, hit’s lang past the tim’ at this Semmelie saen hoo important hit bes tae hae a library system at hes eneuch staff an catter in onie forrit an’ richt thinkin’ society. Tae knaw quhar ye ir heided a boadie furst hes tae ken quhar yin hes bein an this bes sae in Norlin Airlan es we see at the library isnae onie a place fer learnin’ bit bes aboot the celebration o’ heirskeip an’ history forebye. The Libraries Bill – quhar yin authority – at hes the input o’ members o’ the Depairtment o’ Cultur’ Airts an by tim’ wul bae accountable an airted onie aa the bes’ provision o’ services tae ivryboadie in the community. After 25 years of severe underfunding and neglect, it is high time that the Assembly recognised how important it is that any forward-thinking, right-thinking society has a fully staffed, fully financed and fully operational library system. To know where one is going, one must first know where one has been. That is applicable in Northern Ireland, because we recognise the library not only as a place of education but as a place that celebrates culture and history. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure will have input in the library authority, which will be accountable to all members of the community, and dedicated solely to providing the community with superior services. I congratulate the chief executive of the South Eastern Education and Library Board, Irene Knox, on being appointed chief executive designate of the library authority. She is a lady of tremendous experience and ability who will provide the necessary drive and the focus for the new authority. It is of the utmost importance to retain high-quality services at least cost to the public. Understandably, a charge must be levied for certain services, but I stress how important it is that all age groups have free access to books, and to information through the Internet. Our young people are trained in school, but it should be libraries’ priority to train and help the older generation, who can benefit as much — if not more — as our children from the Internet. Training and enhancement of skills for all should be a priority for the new library authority. The library authority must also honour the promises of the previous library-service provider. People from Newtownards and the Ards Peninsula are still trying to squeeze into a tiny building, which has insufficient books and inadequate computer access, even though Newtownards was promised a new library in 2002. I have written to the Minister to ask for an update on the newbuild in Newtownards, as the present library has neither been updated nor refurbished for some 30 years. It remains as it was some time ago. Although the population of Ards has grown, its library has not kept pace with either the demographical trends or the level of building in the town. As far back as 2002, I requested details of the new library for Newtownards from the then Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Michael McGimpsey. He replied that Bangor was second on the Department’s priority list and that Ards was next. In 2003, my colleague Iris Robinson asked a similar question in Westminster and was told that the Department was considering the new library. Here we are four years further on, and there is no sign of a new library for Ards. Work has begun in Bangor, of course, and, therefore, I ask that the new library authority honour the previous arrangements and begin plans for the Newtownards library. It is imperative that the new library authority retain the understanding that Ards will receive a newbuild library. Once again, I have asked a Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to outline the cost, proposed location and likely completion date for the new library. I look forward to the reply. In 2002, it was estimated that the newbuild would cost £2 million. I have no doubt that, as time has marched on, that amount has risen. However, it is for the newly constituted library authority to deliver on the priority list to which the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is working. The new library in Newtownards must be delivered urgently. The new library authority must cater for people with visual disabilities, as, at present, they are not provided with the necessary services. Previous Members who spoke referred to mobile libraries. For some of my constituents, mobile libraries provide their only contact with people outside their own homes. Many people are keen that the service provided by the mobile libraries be not only retained, but enhanced. I request that that be the case, not just for my constituency of Strangford, but for the whole of the Province. I support the Second Stage of the Libraries Bill. It is vital that Members remember what we were told yesterday: consultation, and the opportunity to table amendments to the Bill, can continue until the second or, perhaps, even the third, week of September. Therefore Members have a long time in which to consult on the Bill, table amendments, and ensure that all points of view are taken on board. Everyone should have an interest in our libraries, and it is important that those who do not are encouraged to change. I hope that steps are taken to encourage our society, which was once rich in the gifts of story telling and tales, to discover the joys of our culture and heritage that can be found in the books and other services that the new library authority will provide. I support the Bill. Mr T Clarke: Given the number of Members who have spoken, many of my questions have been asked. Therefore I will not rehearse them. I have concerns about the level of local involvement in the Libraries Bill and that local people might become detached from the process. Therefore will the Minister tell me how local people can ensure that they have input in the decision-making process? For example, will they have a say in the location of new libraries? Is the Minister aware of the timescale for the commencement of building the long-awaited library in Railway Street in Antrim? Mr S Wilson: I am disappointed that the Minister has chosen to introduce the Libraries Bill at this time. The Department seems to want to drive forward decisions before any real consultation has taken place. Whether it is, as was announced this morning, setting a nine-day deadline for the decision on the stadium at the Maze or the premature introduction of the Libraries Bill, we are seeing the dregs of direct rule — Departments think that they can still behave in an unaccountable way. Mr Beggs: Ministers. Mr S Wilson: I will come to that in a moment or two. There is still a Civil Service mentality in Northern Ireland. Civil servants and Departments have been used to controlling Ministers like puppets on strings and still think that they can drive through measures that may or may not be good for Northern Ireland or have public support. They are not even prepared to have their proposals tested in the Assembly, which is the forum in which such decisions are meant to be made. As far as the current structure is concerned, I understand what the Minister has said. Although we do not yet know what will happen — as the Minister of Education has not yet announced what she intends to do with education and library boards — the current structure for education could be dismantled by April next year and, if that happens, a structure needs to be put in place for libraries. However, I would have thought that, rather than changing the current structures immediately, we would have had some opportunity to consider alternative temporary measures until we know what will happen under the RPA. The changes proposed in this Bill are linked to decisions on education and local government, but we do not know what those decisions are as yet. Indeed, if anything, this Bill jumps ahead of those aspects of the RPA. I had understood that all parties in the Assembly shared a desire to ensure that, even if the RPA process has to be lengthened out a little, it leaves us with a structure of government in Northern Ireland that provides for more efficient delivery of services and stops the uncertainty for a long time to come. In his opening remarks, the Minister said that he had had to make some quick decisions — whether those decisions needed to be taken as quickly as possible is a matter of debate — but that we would be able to revisit the issue. However, that is not what the explanatory and financial memorandum to the Bill indicates. The memorandum states that the Bill will put in place: “the framework for the direction of the library service over the next ten years”. That does not strike me as an interim measure that could be easily changed or revisited, either during the RPA process or at some point subsequent to that. Another point that I want to make concerns the appointment that the Minister and his Department — and, again, they are not unique in this — have made. I make no comment on the person who has been appointed, but am concerned by the fact that, before the Bill was introduced and before the Assembly had had an opportunity to comment on the proposed structure, a person had already been appointed to head that structure. The Department of Education has done that as well. Eventually, the Minister of Education will introduce a Bill to determine what kind of structure we should have for education — and that structure will, supposedly, be for debate in this Assembly. If the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure thinks that I am being hard on him, he should wait until I deal with the Minister of Education — Mr McElduff: Will the Member give way? Mr S Wilson: No. I offered to make a helpful intervention during the speech of the Member opposite. I am always happy to give way, but I like to see some reciprocation and, without that, I will not give way. The same thing is happening in education, where a chief executive designate has been put in place before we even know what the structure will be. We need to escape from that. If this Assembly and its Committees are to have any genuine input into policy in Northern Ireland, we must have an opportunity to discuss these issues properly, not within a framework of tight legislation with decisions already made and people already appointed. 11.30 am There appears to be a belief in the Assembly that we should try to get decision-making down as close to communities as possible — and that may affect debate on a whole range of other issues as well, including education and local government. Perhaps that belief is coloured by the fact that most Members have also served on local councils, and having served in local government for 20-odd years, I think that that is good. Sometimes councils can be frustrating places, and the decisions that are taken can be bad — just as they can be elsewhere — but at least they are taken at a local level. This Bill will ensure that decisions about what is a basic service will be taken at a regional level, and not at a local level. Mr McNarry: Control freaks. Mr S Wilson: It is not a case of control freakery. It is something that originated during direct rule: civil servants hoped that they would never have to have any interface with local politicians, which can sometimes be a bit uncomfortable. There will be inefficiencies if decisions are taken away from local areas, and I will give an example of that. The Member for North Belfast Nelson McCausland referred to the Grove Wellbeing Centre. When the decision had to be made about putting health and library facilities in one centre — which made sense, as it brought leisure facilities together, and there were certain economies of scale — Belfast City Council had to deal, not with a regional authority, but with the Belfast Education and Library Board. It was a different authority, but at least it was operating in the same geographical area. However, it took two and a half years to get a decision on whether the Belfast Education and Library Board could buy into the library facilities. One reason for the delay was that the Belfast Board had a certain path for its capital spending programme, and Belfast City Council had a different path for its capital spending programme. Belfast City Council had £15 million to spend on a well-being centre, and the Belfast Board had other priorities. It took two and a half years to bring those two things together and make a decision. If Members believe that libraries are part of leisure, and that local councils will be delivering leisure, then it makes sense to have the decision-making process all under the one roof. The Minister talked about efficiency, and Sinn Féin, wrongly, rubbished it. Sinn Féin’s view on the whole question of efficiency is that things should not be done in order to save money; that that should not be a factor that counts in this decision. Mr McElduff: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Mr S Wilson: I doubt whether the Member is making a point of order. Mr Deputy Speaker: Point of order. Mr McElduff: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I want to clarify that when I spoke to the House this morning, I was doing so in my capacity as the Chairperson of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure — Mr Deputy Speaker: That is not a point of order, Mr McElduff. Mr S Wilson: I did not think that it would be a point of order, and I am glad that you intervened quickly, Mr Deputy Speaker. I know that Sinn Féin does not care too much about spending taxpayers’ money. Its control of the purse strings, and its unending demands for spending, in local government show that Sinn Féin is not a good custodian of public money. The Minister is right. If efficiencies can be generated, then that should be one of the factors involved in deciding whether to have a single authority or devolve matters locally. It is only one factor, but it is an important one. The explanatory and financial memorandum, however, gives no indication as to whether savings will be generated. There is an indication that there will be upfront costs and that, indeed, in the first year it might cost more — actually, that will also apply to a lot of the other reorganisations. Based on the memorandum, it is impossible to make a judgement as to whether there will be savings. It states: “There is no separate accounting process within the Education and Library Boards … part of corporate services … therefore the existing libraries budget within DCAL covers direct costs only.” Members do not actually know, therefore, the total cost of delivering the Library Service under the existing boards. How, then, can we know whether there are going to be overall savings? That is something that we should know before we make a final decision on the Bill. The other thing that I have noticed is that upfront costs have been identified already. New premises are mentioned. Again, Members must ask whether, if we went down the road of keeping libraries within the education and skills authority — if that is set up — we would need separate premises. Would we need separate premises if the service were given to local councils? Would there not then be certain costs that could be shared, rather than setting up a brand new structure for libraries? My last point is on accountability. Under schedule 1 to the Bill, the Department may appoint up to 14 members to the library authority. The Bill does not say whether those 14 members will include any public representatives; therefore, the quango that will be set up will be able to delegate decision-making to committees and to officers — a further remove from accountability. Decisions have to be made about the types of services, the costs of services, the opening hours of libraries, the location of libraries, and everything else, and I am not sure that those are the kinds of decisions that we want to give to a quango in an era when we want to involve local people more. Those are all issues that need to be addressed. I hope that those issues will be teased out during the debate on the Bill and that there will be a close scrutiny of all of those kinds of points. I regret that this has been rushed to the Assembly in the way that it has. I understand that, to a certain extent, it is an inheritance from direct rule. Nevertheless, there are ways in which the process could have been slowed down. The message must be sent very clearly from the Assembly today to Government Departments that the period of un-scrutinised Government, which happened during direct rule, is over. Assembly Members will want to have their input and to ensure that, whatever decisions are made about future structures in Northern Ireland, there are clear opportunities for Members to do so. In the Education Committee, I have already encountered people who have come along and been asked awkward questions and have then gone back to their various bodies and said: “That crowd there — sure, they know nothing. Did you hear the questions that they were asking?” Just because the questions were awkward does not mean that they should not have been asked. For a long time, those professionals have not had any scrutiny. Perhaps sometimes Members do ask stupid questions — there is a learning curve for us — but that is what democracy is all about, and that is what we should be standing up for in this House today. Mr Poots: On the whole, it has been a useful and informative debate, and I thank Members for their contributions. Most of the points that have been raised I can cover now; if there any that I am not able to, I will write to the Members involved. The Chairperson of the Committee of Culture, Arts and Leisure, along with Mr Brolly and Mr Ramsey, made a point about the introduction of the Libraries Bill to the Assembly. That process reflected the Executive’s wish that, when devolution returned, Bills be should be brought to the Assembly for early consideration. My Department thought it timely to introduce the Bill. The First and Second Stages were introduced in a form intended to assist the House in allowing the matter to go to Committee and to allow the Committee to get its teeth into the issues. Next week, I represent my Department at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, and will, therefore, be unavailable. That is why the Libraries Bill was introduced in that way — it was not a Machiavellian exercise, and there was no sleight of hand. My intention was to get the Bill onto the table before the summer recess to allow the researchers to start on their work and the Committee to address the issues. I look forward to the Committee process. By introducing the Libraries Bill in that way, the Committee will have not only its full 30 days but the possibility of an extension to that time, should that be considered necessary. Making haste now will allow Committee members to take their time in considering the real issues, and the Committee’s scrutiny of the Bill will benefit. My officials briefed the Committee in advance of the Bill’s introduction. I will work closely with it in developing the Bill and in considering proposed amendments. I shall be surprised if none is proposed. Mr McElduff raised the issue of library closures. Over the past few years, several libraries have closed; however, over the course of time, populations and people’s needs change. Library services have to adapt to those circumstances. I do not anticipate a significant number of library closures, but I cannot state categorically that no libraries will close. I do not have a crystal ball and cannot look into the future. Ultimately, the wish is to improve library provision, increase library service and make it more readily available to the public. My Department will take that role. The Libraries Bill offers an exciting way forward. Library services will no longer be a poor relation, or an after-thought, among the responsibilities of an education and library board; rather, the proposed Northern Ireland libraries authority will drive them forward. The authority will be exclusively committed to meeting the needs of those members of the public who use library services, and will compete for the finance to deliver library service. That commitment will be to the benefit of library users. Mr McElduff mentioned the issue of opening hours. People want public services to be available when they are free to make use of them, and when they can do so as families. Libraries must, therefore, be open in the evenings and at weekends. My Department has set targets to ensure that opening hours are extended beyond the working day to accommodate local need. I welcome Mr McNarry’s return to terra firma. [Laughter]. I thank him for his kind remarks. However, as his speech progressed, I began to think he was again going into orbit. I thank him, nonetheless. With regard to the appointment of the chief executive designate of the proposed Northern Ireland library authority, I declare again that there has been no sleight of hand. The post of chief executive designate is a secondment, and the position will not become permanent before the Libraries Bill has become law. Mr McNarry: Will the Minister clarify that statement? I understand that the position of chief executive designate is a secondment. Is it therefore true that the appointee will be chief executive of an education and library board that will become defunct? How long will the secondment last? 11.45 am Mr Poots: The chief executive designate is the current chief executive of the South Eastern Education and Library Board. If the House should reject the idea of establishing a single library authority, the secondment would end immediately. The chief executive designate will carry out the professional arrangements for establishing a library authority by March 2008. It is important to recognise that, come March 2008, the education and library boards will cease to exist. If, for some reason, the boards happen to survive beyond March 2008, we are prepared for that situation. However, if the boards do not survive, and we have not done what is required of us and taken care of arrangements for libraries, there will be no organisation with the competence to deal with library services. It is therefore essential that we put the wheels in motion to establish a single library authority. That is not to presume that the House will automatically follow. The Department requires the House to make the decision to proceed with a single library authority before the post of chief executive can become permanent. The chief executive designate has accepted the position on the understanding that it is a designate position and a secondment and the post cannot become permanent until the House decides to approve the establishment of a single library authority. I trust that that clears up the matter. Mr McElduff and Mr P Ramsey mentioned employment and staff contracts. Employment contracts will transfer to the new employers, and contractual terms will be agreed under the TUPE regulations. In addition, contracts may only be varied subject to constraints specified in those regulations. The TUPE regulations provide only limited protections for pensions. As public-sector pensions are an important part of the remuneration package, it was considered important to provide additional protections for them. The Libraries Bill does that, so it is actually more helpful to staff than the TUPE regulations. Mr McCausland raised a number of issues. He mentioned the joint provision of services at the Grove Wellbeing Centre, which is under development in north Belfast. Library services are being delivered alongside other public services in many other places, too. They can add to health and education services and retail outlets. I would like to expand that approach in other areas. We will continue to give full consideration to useful partnerships that can improve the accessibility of libraries for the public. Mr McCausland also mentioned that we do not have a national library, and I will consider that matter in due course. Start-up costs have been estimated at £67,000, and the Department has the funding for that. Mr McNarry mentioned delivery standards. The first set of public standards for Northern Ireland was published in the document ‘Delivering Tomorrow’s Libraries’, which was launched last July. Those standards include maintaining expenditure and stock and improving opening hours and accessibility. Library service performance will be monitored against those standards, and my Department will publish reports on how the service is meeting them. Mr McElduff and Mr Shannon raised the issue of charges. There are no plans to introduce charges for core library services, and I want to put that into context. At the moment, there are charges for some library services; for example, users will incur charges for the late return of books or for photocopying documents. However, there are no charges for core services, nor will there be. I want to make it clear that core services will continue to be provided free to the public at the point of delivery. There will be no charges for those services unless approved by the Department under a particular scheme. Several Members, including Mr Ramsey, referred to services in rural areas. There are clearly difficulties in delivering any public service to an area where the population is dispersed. Library services are provided in some of those areas through mobile libraries when it is not viable to provide such areas with a purpose-built library. To ensure that local library services are maintained, ‘Delivering Tomorrow’s Libraries’ requires that 85% of households should have access to a library building or have a regular mobile library stop within two miles. Mr McCarthy asked about library services for schools, which will continue to be the responsibility of the Department of Education. The chief executive designate of the library authority and the Education and Skills Authority will consider the best way of ensuring that all parties work closely together for the mutual benefit of all services. Lord Browne raised the matter of appointments to the board. Board members will be appointed on merit, in line with the code of practice that has been issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. I do not see any need for a large number of board members, and the plan for between seven and 14 members is in line with recommended good practice. I am happy to consider the views of the Assembly, and of the Committee in particular, on nominated places. The democratic involvement of people at a level at which local accountability can be introduced is important, if not crucial, and that is something that we are happy to consider. On options for library services, Lord Browne raised their remaining within the education authorities. Libraries have cultural, recreational and community roles, as well as an educational one, and they also have a wider customer base than schools. Moreover, they play a significant role in providing informal learning opportunities. Delivery alongside schools does not reflect that wider and more informal role. There is some evidence to suggest that the junior status of libraries in the education and libraries boards has not been to their benefit and to the benefit of their customers. For example, there has been an historic lower level of library use in Northern Ireland than in other parts of the United Kingdom. Earlier, I stressed that libraries could make a better case for themselves under their own authority, because they would be wholly committed to the delivery of library services. A number of Members raised the need to protect the interests of staff. The policy objectives behind schedule 2(4) were agreed with the Public Service Commission and the trade unions. That demonstrates the commitment to staff and to their interests. Mr Shannon raised the issue of Newtownards Library. It is unusual for Mr Shannon to be parochial, but I will forgive him in this instance. [Laughter.] The South Eastern Education and Library Board is revising an economic appraisal and considering the cost and option of delivering a replacement library on the site of the old Castle Gardens Primary School. The board anticipates that that appraisal will be submitted to the Department by the end of June 2007, and, subject to consideration and approval by my Department and by the Department of Finance and Personnel, it should be possible for construction to commence on the site in about a year to 15 months. That is to allow for detailed design work, the planning application and the approval process, so if the planning process is held up, do not blame this Minister. I also agree with Mr Shannon about the importance of the mobile library service for meeting the needs of people in rural areas and of people who have difficulty in gaining access to those services in other ways. Trevor Clarke referred to local accountability, and I trust that I went some way towards dealing with that matter when discussing the library authority’s membership. Ultimately, the library authority will be accountable to my Department, to whoever the Minister happens to be of the Department, and to the Assembly Committee of the day. Democratic accountability will not be lost as a result of the Bill. I make it clear to the House that the Assembly will have control over the library authority, its operation and its chief executive. Members should bear in mind that all matters relating to the authority will come before the Minister and, ultimately, the House. Mr Trevor Clarke mentioned the newbuild library in Antrim. Subject to approval, it is anticipated that work on the site will begin in November or December this year. I thank the Member for attending this debate, and for his interest in the new library and his ongoing work in relation to it. My colleague Sammy Wilson was the last Member to speak in the debate, and he raised a number of issues. Prior to its introduction, there was a consultation process on the Libraries Bill. Of the 24 consultation responses received, only one consultee suggested that library functions would be better served by local authorities. The RPA considered that increasing the number of education and library boards from five to seven would make the system more unwieldy. Similarly, if the Assembly were to opt for 11 or 15 councils in Northern Ireland, that would be akin to moving from the ridiculous to the ludicrous. While I certainly would not recommend that route, I shall, however, be in the hands of the House on whatever decision is taken. Mr Wilson also mentioned the mentality of the Civil Service. The main difficulties that I have had with the mentality of the Civil Service, especially when the Assembly was suspended, were its inability to make decisions, its tendency to be risk-averse and its apparent lack of courage to make decisions. I assure the Member that my courage will not be found lacking when difficult decisions have to be made. I will not make decisions as a puppet of a civil servant. Decisions will be made based on evidence that I, as Minister, will receive. Sammy Wilson suggested that the Department should have considered other alternatives. I have not heard any alternatives. Neither have I heard an alterative on the other subject that he mentioned — I have been waiting for two and a half years for an alternative on that issue, so setting a deadline now might not be a bad thing, as it might concentrate minds. However, I cannot afford to wait two and a half years for an alternative to the new library authority, because something must be in place by March, otherwise there will be no library service. I will not wait for two and a half years for alternatives from anyone else. I also remind Members that the explanatory and financial memorandum is not part of the legislation, and we are dealing only with the Bill. New premises are usually located wherever the Government have an existing stock of premises, and, under the RPA, premises will become available for library headquarters. If no premises are available — and if Sammy Wilson is ruling out east Antrim as the potential location for the headquarters of the new library service — that will be noted. [Laughter.] I thank Members for their contributions, and I look forward to working with the Committee on the Bill. Question put and agreed to. Resolved: That the Second Stage of the Libraries Bill [NIA 5/07] be agreed. Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill Second Stage The Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Mr McGimpsey): I beg to move That the Second Stage of the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill [NIA 2/07] be agreed. The Bill amends the provisions of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 in relation to the regulation of the four family practitioner services: general practitioners; opticians; pharmacists; and dentists. It sets out a legislative base for new contracts for dental practitioner services 12.00 noon The Bill allows for greater protection of patients and equality among practitioners providing treatment to them. The health and social services boards and Health Service tribunals have a role to play, and the measures included in the Bill will strengthen their roles further. The Bill also amends the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and makes provision to permit smoking by performers taking part in performances if artistic integrity so requires. The measures will also help Northern Ireland to retain parity with rest of the UK as far as possible. The draft Bill has been the subject of a wide-ranging consultation exercise, and I am pleased to say that respondents were generally in favour of the new policies. The main provisions will allow for the implementation of a new contract for the provision of dental services by general dental practitioners that will underpin a modernised, high-quality dental service provided through real contracts between health and social services boards and general dental practices. There is consensus that the current contractual arrangements for Health Service dentists no longer meet the needs of dentists or patients. Many Health Service dentists are particularly unhappy with the current fee-per-item payment, a system that focuses on treatment carried out rather than on preventative measures. General dental practitioners do a valuable job and it is our intention to involve them in the wider process of Health Service modernisation including pay reform, improving working lives, lifelong skills improvement and clinical governance. The new primary dental service will improve the working lives of dentists by reducing the treadmill effect. It will allow them to provide accessible, good-quality, patient-focused care. The primary dental-care strategy, which was developed with input from all stakeholders, was published in November 2006. I have accepted that strategy as the blueprint for the new service, subject to adequate piloting. The clauses relating to dental services in the Bill will provide the legislative framework to deliver the new arrangements. Dentists will receive a guaranteed regular income that will reward them for their time rather than for the volume of work they produce. Dentists are under no obligation to treat Health Service patients, but under the new legislation, services will be commissioned locally to meet requirements, and access to Health Service dental treatment will be integral to that. The new commissioning powers given to health and social services boards will ensure better access to Health Service dentistry and place greater emphasis on prevention than the current contract permits. That alternative approach will put in place a regional contract with local flexibilities that will deliver an improved patient experience, greater clinical consistency, and clarity between private and Health Service care. To improve the safety and protection of patients, the Bill will extend the powers of the health and social services boards to allow them to directly suspend a practitioner. That will apply to the four family-practitioner services: general practitioners, opticians, pharmacists and dentists. Suspension could take place, pending, for instance, referral to the Health Service tribunal, the outcome of a court case, or a hearing by a professional regulatory body. There will be no right of appeal against a board’s decision to suspend. Suspension in such circumstances will be classed as a neutral act: not a disciplinary sanction. The intention is that the power will protect the interests of patients, staff and the practitioner who is suspended. Suspension is a temporary measure. It does not imply guilt and will be a neutral act during an investigation. It will be important to a board that the person who takes the decision to suspend a practitioner is able to substantiate that decision. Currently a practitioner may continue to treat patients while a court case is being decided, but boards will be able to take fast and effective action when concerns about a practitioner are raised. The Bill will also enable a board to allow a practitioner to practise as long as he or she agrees to be bound by specific conditions. Those powers will now extend to all practitioners, including locums, deputies and employees. The Bill also extends the powers of the Health Service tribunal, allowing it to deal with a practitioner who has been referred because of inappropriate professional or personal conduct, and to categories of persons subject to the tribunal’s jurisdiction to incorporate all practitioners, including those who assist with the provision of services. This Bill as it stands includes an exemption for performers from the smoke-free legislation. Clause 15 of the Bill would amend The Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 by providing a power to exempt by regulation from smoke-free provision smoking by a performer in a performance in which the artistic integrity of the performance makes it appropriate to smoke. The previous Administration inserted that clause in the original Order in Council at Westminster. The Order was subsequently translated into the Assembly Bill that is now before Members. To avoid any delay in introducing the Bill’s important provisions, which, as I have just outlined, will increase patients’ safety, I agreed that the proposed amendment in clause 15 could remain in the Bill at least until it could be debated in the Assembly. I have considered the theatrical profession’s arguments in favour of the exemption. Those arguments were based on the premise that to outlaw actual smoking would severely compromise a production’s artistic integrity. I have also listened carefully to representations from health professionals and others on the exemption. Those representations focused largely on concerns that such an exemption would undermine the rationale behind the introduction of the smoke-free legislation; namely, the protection of public health. On the subject of artistic licence, the Lone Ranger, for example, managed to rule the wild west without firing real bullets. Those who have portrayed Julius Caesar on stage and screen have cause to be grateful that the assassination scene did not require them to shed real blood for the sake of their art. Actual smoking is not essential in order to protect the integrity of a particular performance. Even if it were, however, the argument that artistic integrity would be compromised does not outweigh the public-health argument. I am therefore minded to table an amendment to the Bill to remove clause 15. Some Members: Hear, hear. Mr McGimpsey: I recommend the Bill to the Assembly, as I believe that it provides the opportunity to strengthen the quality of primary-care services in Northern Ireland by introducing measures that will enhance patients’ safety and will provide new arrangements for commissioning general dental services and contracting with general dental practitioners. However, as I have said, I will not support the exemption to the smoke-free legislation for performers and others. The Chairperson of the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Mrs I Robinson): The Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is relatively short, but it certainly lives up to its title. One might say that it does exactly what it says on the tin. As the Minister has already explained, the Bill contains several separate and unconnected measures, three of which I shall deal with briefly. The first relates to measures aimed at enhancing public safety that have already been implemented in England, Scotland and Wales. As the Minister has said, the introduction of those measures arose out of concerns about the case of Dr Harold Shipman. Dr Shipman, as Members will know, was jailed for life in 2000 for the murder of 15 of his patients. He was subsequently found to have been responsible for more than 200 murders. Part of the Bill’s provisions seems to be aimed at ensuring that a similar case cannot ever happen again. I have some concerns that, although those public-safety measures were introduced in the rest of the United Kingdom some time ago, they were not introduced in Northern Ireland much earlier. The Bill will give health and social services boards the power to suspend a range of family practitioners — GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacists — pending a hearing by a professional regulatory body, a court case or the Health Service tribunal. During the Committee’s initial consideration of those provisions, some members expressed concern that, although such a suspension by a board would be described as a neutral act, pending the outcome of any inquiry, the public would not perceive it as such. As a result, the good name and reputation of a practitioner would risk being seriously and irrevocably damaged. Other Members of the Committee may wish to elaborate on that matter and more fully explore that concern during the Committee Stage of the Bill. The availability of dental services is a further concern. The relevant provisions of the Bill are intended to give the health and social care trusts the tools to deal with those areas where patients find it difficult to register with a Health Service dentist. An increasing number of dentists no longer offer Health Service treatment and provide only private dental treatment. It is widely recognised that Northern Ireland has the worst dental health in the United Kingdom, and that has been the case for a considerable time. Last week, the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride, briefed the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety on public health services. His report highlights the scale of the problem, which is particularly bad for children from the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland. The Committee was told that, compared to the UK average, 12-year-olds in Northern Ireland have almost three times the level of decay for their age group. That is an issue that can and must be tackled. I support the Health Bill if its provisions will help in even a small way. I welcome the decision by the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to drop the clause that exempts performers from the smoking ban. The Committee had not yet taken a position on that exemption, but I had intended to highlight the strong opposition that has already been voiced by some Committee Members during an initial briefing by the Department of Health. Removing the exemption for performers is correct because there is no more suitable group to provide appropriate props. Last Thursday, during an evidence session of the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety on public health issues, the Chief Medical Officer pointed out that the recent introduction of a smoking ban in work places was a major step forward, but that much more needed to be done. He also reminded us that smoking claims the lives of approximately 2,300 people a year in Northern Ireland, which is a damning and shocking statistic. I welcome the smoking ban in workplaces. Any relaxation of the ban would send the wrong message. Commenting on the proposed exemption for performers, the Chief Medical Officer told the Committee: “From a public health perspective, which is the only perspective from which I, as Chief Medical Officer, can comment, I could not support the introduction of such a provision.” He also referred to dangers to the actors and audiences involved in the performances, and the message that that would send to the wider public. In the light of the advice from the Chief Medical Officer, I am not surprised that the Minister of Health has rethought the matter, and that is welcome. When the Department of Health undertook a public consultation on the exemption of performers from the smoking ban earlier in the year, there were 26 responses, of which 22 were strongly opposed to the exemption. That only four responses — three from organisations and one from an individual — supported the exemption makes its own case. I welcome the Minister’s change of heart, and his commitment to remove that clause from the Bill at Consideration Stage. Aside from that clause, I support the general provisions of the Bill. Ms Ní Chuilín: Go raibh maith agat. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. My comments will be made without prejudice to the possibility of tabling an amendment at a later stage. Members agree that transparency is good for health professionals and their patients. There are concerns about the potential misinterpretation of ambiguities in the legislation. Everyone agrees that regulation is the right way forward, but the manner in which that regulation is carried out may lead to lobbying from groups of doctors and their representatives. There are concerns regarding the principle of ensuring that professional regulation and workplace regulation connect in a manner that is respectful to distinct but complementary roles. 12.15 pm Doctors are working under pressure and are delivering healthcare in difficult circumstances. However, they would welcome particular aspects of regulation. For doctors, personal regulation is about putting patients first, which is an ethos that is enshrined in medical practice. Team-based regulation is about the performance of the team and risk-management strategies for patient care. Workplace regulation is about governance and performance-management systems. Professional regulation includes ongoing work on standards, education and regulation licensing to include revalidation and fitness of practice procedures. If all those items could be included in the Bill’s explanatory and financial memorandum, the potential for misinterpretation would be reduced. I am delighted that the Minister is going to table an amendment to remove clause 15 from the Bill, as the argument about artistic integrity is not valid. I am sure that many Members have been lobbied by various health promotion charities, such as Action Cancer and the Ulster Cancer Foundation, and the families of people who have died as a result of disease caused by smoking. I hope that the proposed removal of clause 15 from the Bill is a good-news story that will be reported by the media, because it is an action that puts the needs of people first. I am also glad that there has been adherence to the smoking ban, and that the first opportunity for an amendment to dilute it has been resisted. I have no major concerns with the Bill. However, as I have said, Members will be examining it again and will be making further representations at Committee Stage. I welcome the opportunity to comment on the Bill, and I appreciate the remarks of the Chairperson of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure. Go raibh maith agat. Rev Dr Robert Coulter: I welcome the Minister’s comments regarding artistic integrity and smoking. I cannot see the logic of keeping that particular part of the Bill, and I am glad that the Minister has made it clear that it will not be retained. When a precedent like that is set, through pressure from a particular section of the community, it encourages others to seek other changes in the legislation. I fully support the Minister’s intention to remove the clause relating to smoking from the Bill. Recently, when speaking in the debate on junior doctors, I emphasised how important it is that the medical profession regulates itself. I am deeply suspicious of doctors being regulated by anyone other than fellow doctors, and I will set my face against administrators regulating doctors. The medical profession has regulated itself successfully for many hundreds of years, with few notable exceptions. I am concerned that there are elements of the innocuously named Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill that will undermine and dilute the principle of self-regulation in a manner that is neither justified nor acceptable. The Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has spoken about his strong support for the professionals in the Health Service and their integrity. From my personal experience of the Minister, I know that his support is genuine. The failure of the Bill to mention the widely accepted and recently reformed disciplinary mechanisms of the General Medical Council (GMC) is difficult to explain and could be construed in some quarters as ominous. How can a Bill that purports to address regulatory mechanisms fail to refer to such tried and tested devices? That seems a strange omission. To fail to set any new regulatory mechanisms in the context of recently revised GMC standards raises doubts as to whether the new provisions are designed to undermine, rather than complement, existing regulations and regulatory bodies. I know that there is considerable disquiet in the medical profession about the extension of powers to a health and social services board to suspend a medical practitioner before — and I repeat, before — referral to the Health Service tribunal. The Chairperson of the Health Committee rightly said that such a suspension would cast a shadow of doubt over that individual and would raise concerns among those whom he has been treating. Not only that; it would cast a doubt into the practitioner’s mind that would prove very difficult to remove, even if the suspension were lifted. No one would deny the local board the right to act in matters of patient protection. However, not all matters are quite so clear-cut. The provision conjures up visions of possible victimisation and has the potential, in the wrong hands, to be misused. We should not entertain the prospect of unilateral action by a health and social services board without the sanction of any balancing and medically competent counterweight. I always look closely at any new legislation that comes before the Assembly and ask myself what is its real intention. I try to discern the true intentions behind what is being proposed. In the case of this Bill, the definition of the new grounds for disqualification — to be added to those of fraud and prejudice to the efficiency of the service — lack clarity, to my concern. Lack of clarity could be construed as another attempt to undermine the medical profession’s independent standing and to subject doctors to still further decision-making by bureaucrats. Ill-defined law is always bad law. The Bill therefore requires further scrutiny to address the growing concerns that many doctors and other professionals, and their professional body, the British Medical Association (BMA), have about it. I am sure that all MLAs will see that as the bounden duty of the House, and I look forward to the Committee Stage of the Bill. Mrs Hanna: I welcome the opportunity to comment on the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. I also welcome the Minister’s decision not to water down the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. That would be to clearly contradict and undermine the aims of the Order by putting at risk the health of actors, stage workers and audiences. Consistency of the regulations is essential in order that we do not send out mixed messages. Certainly, the SDLP still believes that a total ban on smoking in all enclosed places is the only way in which to protect all workers from the harmful effects of passive smoking. The Bill also makes provision to further strengthen the quality of primary-care services and to bring our services in line with those in England, Wales and Scotland. I welcome the move to include all practitioners — GPs, dentists, opticians, pharmacists, and ophthalmic and pharmaceutical bodies — on a single list of performers of primary medical services in each health and social services board. Although this is not part of the Bill, it is equally important to note that it is essential that all health professionals, and indeed, all professionals allied to health matters, be around the table of primary-care partnerships to ensure that a more holistic approach to healthcare in the community is developed. Many new parents need the support and encouragement of midwives and others with parenting, and older people may need a podiatrist or an occupational therapist much more than they need any other health professional. It has been mentioned that the proposal to extend the powers of health and social services boards has concerned the BMA and the GMC. Those bodies have acknowledged that patient protection is the reason behind the argument for local suspension. I have no doubt that those concerns will have to be taken on board. However, I believe that all practitioners should be independently regulated, and patient safety is the bottom and top line for me. The SDLP believes that wider access to NHS dentistry in all areas is necessary. There should be more training places for dental hygienists and nurses, and the working environment of NHS dental-care staff should be improved. The fact that many dentists have pulled out of contract negotiations in England and Wales is worrying for us. There must be plans to ensure that dentists are satisfied with their contracts and will stay in the NHS in order that everyone, particularly children and young people, can register with a National Health Service dentist. It is frightening that the children of Northern Ireland cannot at present be treated on the NHS. According to the British Dental Association (BDA), children’s teeth in Northern Ireland are much worse than those of their contemporaries in the rest of Ireland and the UK. As NHS dental cover declines, so does dental health, and, indeed, our poor record of dental health is increasing. It is essential that every patient who is eligible to register can do so. Furthermore, dentists should be local — patients should not have to travel many miles to find a National Health Service dentist. The proposed policy change must ensure that the health and social services boards have the power to commission dentists. I will certainly monitor that closely to ensure that NHS dentists are available and that access is widened adequately. We must ensure that we get away from the “fill and drill” culture of the contracts. We must recruit and retain good dental-health staff. Some Members: Hear, hear. Mr McCarthy: I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. The Bill’s provisions on dentistry are almost replicas of legislation that has been implemented across the water, primarily in England. However, those have not been regarded as very successful. The legislation in England was meant to improve access to dentistry, but the three price bands for treatment has meant that that has not happened. The top price band of £189 means that dentists simply will not take on treatment that is worth up to £900, thus those who need dental treatment will not receive it. The legislation in England was also meant to improve prevention of tooth disease; however, there has been an increase in extraction and a reduction in root treatment. The real problem is that health spending in Northern Ireland has increased by some 64% in the past decade, but dental spending has risen by only 22%, resulting in a real crisis in dental services. Surely we cannot and should not blindly follow a system that does not work. As I understand it, the Scottish Parliament rejected similar proposals, acknowledging that such a system would not help prevention or access, but would only make a bad situation worse. More work is required in that regard. 12.30 pm My party is totally opposed to any regulation that makes it possible to smoke in public places — even for performers or artists, for whom I have the highest regard. It should not be beyond the imagination or innovation of those in that business to think of a substitute for the act of smoking. It was agreed earlier this year in Northern Ireland that smoking in public places was detrimental to the health of our people, and action was taken to put into force measures to address that. The vast majority of Northern Irish people have accepted that smoking is a deadly habit. It has also been accepted that non-smokers should not have their lives endangered by other people’s smoke. Real progress has been made in Northern Ireland on the issue of smoking, and many people now acknowledge that smoking is, and has been, detrimental to health. Considering the efforts made by many Members of this Assembly, by local councils across Northern Ireland, and by organisations that are concerned with health, it would be a real slap in the teeth to all of us and all of those organisations if the provision to allow performers or artists to smoke during a performance remained in the Bill. I am delighted that the Minister has accepted the will of the people and that he has listened to the people on that issue. I hope that the Minister throws out that exemption. That will enable people in Northern Ireland to continue to have a smoke-free workplace. I am glad to support the Bill. Mr Easton: It gives me particular pleasure to support the vast bulk of the Bill, which is designed to strengthen further the quality of primary-care services in Northern Ireland. Prior to my election to the Assembly, I worked in the Health Service for 16 years. I had ample opportunity to appreciate the commitment and contribution of so many people in caring, nursing and other areas of the medical community. Those people, unstintingly, give their time and talents in the service of those who are ill or in need of treatment. I have often been concerned that their work has been made more difficult by the requirement to work within restrictive bureaucratic parameters. These particular proposals are therefore most welcome. Patients’ safety and patients’ confidence in the system must be major priorities. It is vital that patients have complete confidence in the ability and experience of their GP, dentist, pharmacist or optician, or, indeed, in anyone involved with their examination and treatment. Experience has taught us that patients must never be left in a position of doubt or insecurity. Where the competence of a medical practitioner is in question, the health authority must have the ability to conduct prompt investigations, or to impose appropriate limits and conditions. It is better in such situations to take no risks and to err on the side of caution, rather than to ignore concerns or to sideline a problem situation. I am also happy to support legislation to introduce improvements in the way in which dental services are organised. No one should be in a position where they have difficulty in accessing dental care. The facility to allow health boards to commission local dental services is a very sound one and has my full support. I cannot, however, in all conscience, support the proposed legislation to amend the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 in order to permit smoking by those taking part in performances. Legislation has been the critical factor in shaping the cultural change in community attitudes to smoking. The vast majority of people are opposed to smoking and do not want any watering down of the legislation. Smoking is a killer and treating those made ill by smoking is a huge drain on our medical resources. Members will remember the days when having actors smoking in films was used as a subliminal vehicle for cigar and cigarette product placements by unscrupulous tobacco companies. If actors are required to smoke on stage, it should be in a simulated form only — that would be a challenge to their acting ability. There must be no weakening in our determination to make Northern Ireland a smoke-free country. There should be no tinkering with the legislation, and I welcome the Minister’s response today. I broadly welcome the changes proposed to prevent discrimination on the grounds of age with regard to the retirement age for GPs and dentists. I know of many older people working well beyond their normal retirement age. There is no substitute for experience. I am a little concerned that the provision for exemption from Health Service charges could be exploited by those who are known as medical tourists to the detriment of people in our own community. If we want to exempt those granted leave to enter Northern Ireland from paying for a course of treatment, or other medical services, we must carefully monitor the situation to ensure that it is not over-exploited. Any treatment that is given free of charge to foreign visitors is given at the expense of those who have paid National Insurance contributions for many years. Although all visitors should be welcomed to Northern Ireland, we should nevertheless ensure that the humanitarian grounds in such cases are exceptional and are supported by firm evidence. Mrs O’Neill: Go raibh maith agat. I too welcome the opportunity to comment on the Bill at this stage. I look forward to its coming before the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety for further scrutiny and to hearing evidence from those who have an interest in it. The Bill’s main purpose is to introduce policy changes that are designed to strengthen the quality of primary care services in the North. My colleague, Ms Ní Chuilín, has commented on concerns in respect of patients’ safety, greater accountability and the relaxation of the smoking ban. I welcome the Minister’s decision not to relax the smoking ban. I will comment on dental services across the North and the proposals included in the Bill. I must agree with the Minister on the unacceptable lack of availability of dental services. At present there are people who cannot locate a dentist in their area with whom they can register as an NHS patient. That cannot be allowed to continue, especially in the light of the poor oral health of the North’s population. Oral health in the North has been poor for many years, with those living in deprived areas being most affected. It is a well-recognised factor that social deprivation has a strong influence on dental decay. Children living in the 20% of most deprived wards in the North are almost twice as likely to have experienced dental decay as children from the 20% of most affluent wards. Overall, the poor state of oral health is particularly bad in comparison to the South of Ireland and to England. The average five-year-old child in Belfast has approximately 2·5 teeth affected by tooth decay, whereas a child of the same age in London has 1·5 teeth affected by tooth decay, and a child in Dublin has only one tooth affected by tooth decay. Those comparisons make it ever clearer that there is a crisis in dental services. The Bill will provide the Department with the opportunity to commission dental services and to directly employ dentists. That should go some way towards achieving better outcomes. However, the Department needs to target resources to the areas of greatest need and to encourage dentists to register and provide care for those patients with the greatest need. That needs to be a priority for the Department. Mrs I Robinson: Will the Member give way? Mrs O’Neill: I am almost finished, if you do not mind. As I said, I welcome the opportunity to comment on the Bill. However, I reserve the right to make amendments and further comments when the Bill comes before the Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee. Mr McCallister: I welcome the forthcoming opportunity to review the Bill in the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee and to discuss it in more detail. I welcome the proposed changes to some of the dental services. I also welcome the Minister’s comment that he will discuss those changes with dental practitioners. It is most important that they are involved in the process. It is also important that huge steps forward are taken in patient care, perhaps including a long-term strategy on preventative dental care. Other Members have highlighted the fact that we, in Northern Ireland, lag badly behind in the provision of dental care and in preventative dental care. The Bill also proposes changes regarding tribunals that will bring Northern Ireland into line with England. The smoking ban has already been mentioned, I welcome the Bill’s provisions on that. The Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is ideally placed to make judgements on the extension of the smoking ban to cover theatres as he is a former Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure. The most important issue regarding the extension of the ban is the message that it sends out, as Members from all sides of the House have welcomed it. I look forward to discussing the Bill at Committee Stage, and I give broad support to its provisions. Mr McGimpsey: I thank all of the Members who contributed to the debate for their remarks. I shall attempt to deal with some of the issues that were raised, and I look forward to discussion of the Bill at the Committee Stage. The changes to the powers and duties of the health and social services boards and of the tribunal will strengthen quality assurance and improve protection of patients. A new dental contract will allow local commissioning of a high-quality dental service that is responsive to the needs and wishes of patients. The proposed legislation reflects the Department’s desire to improve primary care services for the people of Northern Ireland. As I mentioned at the outset in my opening speech, the Bill contains the clause on smoking. I am grateful for the comments of colleagues about the smoking provision, and I assure them that, bearing in mind my responsibility for all the people in Northern Ireland and that I was previously the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, I see no reason why the recent smoking ban in public places should be broken to permit that activity. At the Bill’s Consideration Stage, I shall table an amendment to withdraw that clause. The issues that follow are dealt with in no particular order. Local commissioning for dentistry will be introduced to provide for and meet the needs of the local community, and access to Health Service dental treatment is an integral part of that. Boards will be required to define the services that they want to commission, and that service must take the oral health needs of the population into account. Primary dental services must be provided, and their provision secured. Mrs Robinson made the point that that provision should have been available earlier, and she is correct; however, apart from Orders in Council, to which I referred, this is the first opportunity that the devolved Assembly has had to progress the issue. The timing was under the control of the previous Administration. Legislation on the provision of primary dental services was set up for an Order in Council, and, as I explained, rather than delay matters, I allowed it to come forward to give the Assembly an opportunity to discuss it. Before devolution resumed, the legislation was offered to me as an Order in Council, but that is part of the old, bad ways, and I know that the House will approve my taking the view that it was a matter for the Assembly. Concerning the dental contract, dentists are currently paid for activity, and Mrs Hanna referred to that as “drill and fill”. That will no longer be the case; dentists will be paid according to the time that they have spent. Therefore, they will have more time to advise their patients, particularly on oral health. As Mrs Robinson correctly pointed out, Northern Ireland has the worst dental health in the UK: we are bottom of the list. Our dental health is much worse than that of the Irish Republic. In that important area, prevention is better than cure. There is a need for more dentists, and a review, published at the end of March 2006, contained plans to increase, as soon as possible, the number of places in the dental workforce by at least 40 a year. I welcome Robert Coulter’s support on the smoking amendment. Moreover, he raised concerns that bureaucrats are responsible for the regulation of practitioners. That does not run against the powers of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is still the regulatory body. Only the GMC has the power to strike off a general practitioner. However, in the wake of the Shipman Inquiry, the Donaldson Report recognised that there is a gap between national and local regulations. The provision is designed to close that gap. If there is lack of clarity, as Bob Coulter says, the process will aim to provide clarity through the enabling powers of the Bill. 12.45 pm Suspension is a temporary measure that is designed to protect patients and practitioners. The statement is designed to be neutral, and the Committee can give me its opinions on that. Suspension would occur during an investigation, and the suspending authority must be able to justify and substantiate such a decision. It is a double-edged sword — a two-way situation — because the onus is on a board or tribunal to justify exactly why it has taken an action. If the board or tribunal cannot do that, the stigma will be on it, rather than on the practitioner. I appreciate that Members have raised other questions, to which I have not had time to respond. I look forward to the Committee Stage and to the Committee’s deliberations and conclusions, which will inform the legislation as the process progresses. I am grateful to Members who have contributed to this helpful debate on an important piece of legislation. Question put and agreed to. Resolved: That the Second Stage of the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill [NIA 2/07] be agreed. Further Consideration Stage Mr Deputy Speaker: No amendments have been tabled to the Bill. The Further Consideration Stage of the Welfare Reform Bill is therefore concluded. The Bill stands referred to the Speaker. Further Consideration Stage Mr Deputy Speaker: No amendments have been tabled to the Bill. The Further Consideration Stage of the Budget Bill is therefore concluded. The Bill stands referred to the Speaker. Members will know that the Business Committee has arranged to meet immediately on suspension for lunch. I propose, therefore, by leave of the Assembly, to suspend the sitting until 2.30 pm. The sitting was suspended at 12.49 pm. On resuming (Mr Deputy Speaker [Mr McClarty] in the Chair) — Teacher Induction Year 2.30 pm Mr Deputy Speaker: The Business Committee has allowed up to one hour and 30 minutes for the debate. The proposer of the motion will have 10 minutes to propose and 10 minutes for the winding-up speech. All other Members who wish to speak will have five minutes. Two amendments have been received and are published on the Marshalled List. If amendment No 1 is made, amendment No 2 will fall. The proposers of the amendments will each have 10 minutes to propose and five minutes for winding up. Mr Ross: I beg to move That this Assembly notes that, following the McCrone Report: ‘A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century’, a teacher induction scheme guarantees a one-year teaching post to every student graduating from a Scottish university with a teaching qualification; and calls upon the Minister of Education to liaise with the Scottish Executive on this matter, with a view to a similar scheme being introduced for teachers who train in Northern Ireland. I am willing to accept amendment No 2, tabled by the Members opposite for Lagan Valley and for Mid Ulster. Therefore, I reject the amendment tabled by the SDLP. I am somewhat bemused by its content, as it deals with current teachers and does not seem to address the issue at hand. Undoubtedly, Mr Bradley will elaborate on that. I welcome the opportunity to raise the issue of teacher induction. It is increasingly difficult for university graduates to find work, particularly newly qualified teachers. Northern Ireland does not have the same teacher shortages as other regions of the United Kingdom. Teaching courses and Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses remain heavily oversubscribed, with sometimes as many as five times more applicants than available places. Currently, only about 22% of new teachers manage to find work in the first year after graduation. That indicates a significant problem, about which I have been contacted numerous times in my constituency. Figures for 2001-02 reveal that 83·4% of those recently graduated teachers who returned destination information forms were employed as full-time teachers six months after graduation. That figure fell to 77·7% in 2002-03 and to 73·7% in 2003-04. The figures reached an all-time low in 2004-05, with only 62·2% of new teachers finding work. The statistics can be misleading because many recently qualified teachers who have not managed to find work have not returned destination information forms. There is little doubt that the situation is getting worse, and evidence that I have recently heard leads me to believe that even more young people have been unable to find work in the last year. Seamus Searson of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) suggests that that figure might be as low as 22% and that the situation is reaching crisis point in Northern Ireland. He also suggests that 25% of graduates have gained only temporary posts. With that in mind, the Assembly must look at ways to help young teachers enter the profession. One option, which was implemented in Scotland with the support of the NASUWT, is to guarantee new teachers a job for at least one year. That policy emerged from the McCrone Report, which was welcomed by many in the profession and has met with much praise since its implementation. We are clearly not calling for that policy to be introduced immediately in Northern Ireland. We are simply asking the Minister to liase with her Scottish counterpart and to examine whether it is a desirable and worthwhile policy that could be introduced in Northern Ireland. At present, huge amounts of money are spent on training new teachers, but once students complete their courses, they are unable to find permanent employment in teaching. Many of those graduates cannot find work as supply teachers because many older teachers are taking early retirement and are doing supply work or covering for maternity leave. It is far more attractive for principals to take on someone who has years of experience, rather than a complete novice. Young teachers have no experience, but how can they gain experience if no one will employ them? Former full-time teachers are ideal candidates for supply work; they know the job and they have the experience that headmasters need. However, that makes it difficult for new teachers to get started. The age profile of current teachers is another issue to be addressed, as well as falling pupil numbers. Added together, those circumstances contribute to a significant problem. How can the Assembly address the problem and get younger teachers into schools? How can graduates gain the |