Minutes of Proceedings

The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission

Meeting Venue: Parliament Buildings, Room 106 

Meeting date: Tuesday, 20 January 2026

Meeting Time: 3.00 pm

Assembly Commission Members:

Edwin Poots MLA, Speaker (Chairperson)

Sinéad Ennis MLA

Trevor Clarke MLA

Andy Allen MBE MLA

Officials present:

Lesley Hogg, Clerk/Chief Executive

Steven Baxter, Director of Corporate Services

Tara Caul, Director of Legal, Governance and Research Services

Robin Ramsey, Adviser to the Speaker/Head of Corporate Support

Janet Hughes, Clerical Supervisor

Krystal Clarke, Executive Assistant

The meeting commenced at 3.09 pm.

1. APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from Nuala McAllister MLA and Colin McGrath MLA.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

No interests were declared by Members.

3. UPDATE ON PROPOSED PARTIAL ELECTRONIC ACCESS CONTROL (EAC) SYSTEM FOR PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

The Speaker noted that, following consideration of a paper on the installation of a partial EAC system at the meeting on 13 January 2026, Miss McAllister and Trevor Clarke had asked for time to discuss the matter with their parties, and it was agreed that the Assembly Commission would meet again to establish if an agreed position could be reached.

The Speaker therefore asked if Members had any further queries or if they wanted to provide their position.

Sinéad Ennis sought confirmation of the overall cost of the proposal and asked about the impact on staff in practical terms.  Lesley Hogg advised of the total cost, noting that it included out of hours working and that there may be an opportunity to reduce costs by carrying out more work during business hours, subject to operational and business disruption constraints.  Mrs Ennis subsequently advised that she was content to proceed.

Andy Allen advised that he was content to proceed on the basis that there was assurance of value for money and that costs would be robustly managed throughout delivery. He also noted Mrs Hogg’s indication that there may be an opportunity to reduce costs by carrying out work within business hours, and that it would be his parties strong preference that, where possible, work is scheduled in a way that helps to reduce the overall costs.

Trevor Clarke opposed the proposal.

The Speaker noted that although Miss McAllister and Mr McGrath were not in attendance they had indicated that they were content to proceed.

The positions of parties were noted but as there was no consensus and the issue had been subject of discussion on a number of occasions, the Speaker determined that a vote was necessary and proposed that the meeting reconvene later in the day to enable a formal decision to be taken on the proposal, with all Members present.

Members agreed to resume the meeting at 4.50 pm.

The meeting adjourned at 3.17 pm.

The meeting reconvened at 4.51 pm, however, due to Members involvement with other business in the Assembly Chamber quorum could not be achieved.  The Speaker therefore agreed that as Members had had the opportunity to meet, a formal decision on the proposal would be taken by written procedure.

Action: Adviser to the Speaker/Head of Corporate Support to seek a formal decision from Members on the proposal by written procedure.