Research Assistants working for MLAs

1. Research assistants working for Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

A  Member  may  engage  the  services  of  a company,  self-employed individual  or  organisation  to  carry  out  research  or to  provide  administration  assistance.

These  costs  are  admissible  from  Office Cost Expenditure (OCE)  only  when  they  relate  to  a  Member  carrying  out his/her Assembly duties.  A contract for services must exist, with agreed terms and rates of payment specified.  Research  costs can  be claimed  for work  undertaken  by  or for  a  Member in carrying out his/her assembly duties. This could include research for:

 (a)  matters currently before the Assembly; or

(b)  the examination of complaints / correspondence from constituents; or

(c)  bench-marking or comparisons with other legislatures; or

(d)  consultation in preparation for a Private Member’s Bill. 

Please find below a link to Members expenses as published on the NI Assembly website. 

      http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/Your-MLAs/Members-Salaries-and-  Expenses/

 2. Research assistants working for Assembly Services to assist Members

Please note, our response  provides details of research assistants who may assist Assembly Members as part of their role in supporting the NI Assembly Secretariat.  The role of the assistant researchers working for the Secretariat  would involve providing support throughout the entire Secretariat.

Research Assistants work within the Research and Information Service (RaISe) which is part of the Assembly's Information and Outreach Directorate.

The nationality of NI Assembly staff is not recorded and therefore not held.  Agency workers were employed through an agency and therefore details of nationality are not held. 

Please find details of Research assistants provided below:

1999-2007 - There is no information held in relation to research assistants  

2008 - 1 agency worker employed by an agency supplier

2009 - 2 agency workers employed by an agency supplier

2010 - 2 agency workers employed by an agency supplier

2011 - 2 agency workers employed by an agency supplier

2012 - 2 permanent members of NIA staff temporarily promoted to Research Assistant

2013 - The two posts of Research Assistant have been suppressed.

All of the above staff would have been paid a salary and entitled to claim for expenses providing they fell within the guidelines laid down in the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission Staff handbook.  

3. Interns working for Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Details of Interns working for Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are not held by the NI Assembly as this is a matter between the Member and the individual.   Students may also work for Members through Business in the Community on the GAP Placement scheme.  Again this is between the Member and the organisation.  Office Cost expenditure may be used to meet any cost of the placement.

A link to Members expenses as published on the NI Assembly website is provided above. 

4. Interns working for Assembly Services to assist Members

Please note, our response  provides details of interns who may assist Assembly Members as part of their role in supporting the NI Assembly Secretariat.  The role of interns working for the Secretariat  would involve providing support throughout the entire Secretariat.

Between 2009 and 2011 the Northern Ireland Assembly provided a bursary to Queens University Belfast (QUB) of £15,000.  This provided funding for students university fees for the Masters in Legislative Study and Practice and a stipend for 4 days a week for the 8 months they work at the Assembly. In 2012 the bursary was reduced to £12,000; however QUB covered the students’ academic fees.

Please find details of Interns working for the Assembly as follows:

2009 – 7 students

2010 – 7 students

2011 – 6 students

2012 – 7 students

2013 – 7 students

No records of nationality were collected from 2009-11.  From 2011, four students stated they were Northern Irish, seven were Irish, nine were British and one Scottish. 

Details of other Intern students are as follows: 

Intern from INCORE

The outreach unit also hosted an intern from the INCORE (International Conflict Research Institute an associate site of the United Nations University) at the University of Ulster, for 3 months, who received a stipend of £3,348 during placement. The student was of American nationality.

Chayes Fellowship

From 10 June 2002 two students (Fellows) from Harvard Law School, Boston, USA were placed within the Assembly’s Legal Services Department. The placement ran for 10 weeks.  Chayes Fellows receive a modest stipend from Harvard Law School to cover travel and living expenses.

Student Intern programme

This programme was run in conjunction with Queens University School of Politics. Students spent 2 days a week for 12 weeks at the Assembly, placed with secretariat or parties. Students were unpaid. The following number of interns worked at the Assembly from 2000.

• 2000 – 5
• 2001 – 5
• 2002 – 8
• 2007 – 4
• 2008 – 4
• 2009 – 4

Legal Services had one Intern during the summer of 2013 who was an American.  The intern did not receive any payment.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) Placement Students  The Department of Finance and Personnel run a Student Placement programme every year for the Northern Ireland Civil Service.  The Northern Ireland Assembly has seconded students through this programme from 2000 (details below):

Students are seconded for 51 weeks starting Summer each year – figures show the number of students within each of these ‘years’