FOI 32-25: Information regarding POLITICS PLUS LTD and its links with the Northern Ireland Assembly

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

12 May 2025

Our ref: FoI 32-25

Freedom of Information Act 2000

I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 14 April 2025 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your request, you asked:

 

"I am making a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 relating to POLITICS PLUS LTD (Company No: NI605546), a company previously associated with the Northern Ireland Assembly and reportedly in the process of being wound up since 2019.

Despite this, the company remains listed as active on Companies House and recently filed accounts for the year ending 31 December 2023, with a confirmation statement filed as recently as January 2025.

Please provide the following:

 

1. Winding-Up Status

  • The date the Assembly was formally notified that POLITICS PLUS LTD would be wound up.
  • Any board minutes, internal correspondence, briefing papers, or records confirming this decision.
  • Any recorded reasons for the failure to complete the winding-up process since 2019.
  • The names of individuals or departments responsible for overseeing or managing this process.

 

2. Financial Activity

  • Records of any funding provided to or from POLITICS PLUS LTD by the Assembly or associated public bodies from 2014 to present.
  • Any financial reports, audits, expenditure summaries, or other returns submitted by the company to the Assembly.
  • Any records of grant agreements, funding terms, expected deliverables, evaluations, or impact reports between Atlantic Philanthropies and the Assembly relating to POLITICS PLUS LTD.
  • Any correspondence between the Assembly and Atlantic Philanthropies regarding the above.
  • Any records or correspondence related to payments made to individuals (including directors, consultants, MLAs, or third parties) by POLITICS PLUS LTD between 2010 and present-this includes honorariums, salaries, travel reimbursements, or consulting fees.

 

3. Oversight & Governance

  •  Internal Assembly documents referring to the purpose, role, or accountability framework of POLITICS PLUS LTD post-2014.
  • Any mention of the company in governance reviews, risk assessments, or internal memos since 2015.
  • Any records-including but not limited to emails, meeting minutes, briefing notes, or internal communications (e.g., Signal, Microsoft Teams, or Slack)-discussing oversight, audit concerns, reputational risks, or the continued existence of POLITICS PLUS LTD after 2019.
  • Any records discussing the decision to adopt new Articles of Association in October 2018 and how this relates to the company's operational status."

 

Our response

The Assembly Commission does not hold information in relation to your request. Your request relates to the business of Politics Plus Ltd, an organisation which is not under the control or direction of the Assembly Commission.

 

Further Information

You have the right to request an internal review of this decision by the Assembly Commission. If you wish to request such a review, please write to me at the above address. If, after that review, you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Assembly Commission has handled your request for information, you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Your request for information and our response may be published in the disclosure log maintained by the Assembly Commission under a publication scheme agreed with the ICO. The request and our response will be anonymised.

 

Yours sincerely

INFORMATION STANDARDS