FOI 74-26: A request of information concerning recruitment competitions

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our ref: FOI 74-26

28 October 2026

Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 2 October 2026 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your request was as follows:

‘I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of information Act 2000 concerning recruitment competitions for a number of posts within the Northern Ireland Assembly.

I have applied for a number of Assembly positions over recent months, including:

• Visitor Experience Officer - full time
• Visitor Experience Officer - part time
• Assistant Assembly Clerk - full time
• Assistant Assembly Clerk - fixed term contract
• Clerical Officer - part time
• Clerical Officer / Ushering Officer - full time
• Clerical Officer / Ushering Officer - fixed term contract

I appreciate that individual recruitment competitions can take time to complete and that there may be legitimate reasons for delays.

However I have found the lack of communication concerning these competitions particularly difficult to understand.

Neither I, nor, in some cases, the recruitment agency handling the application process, appears to have received clear information regarding the progress or conclusion of the competitions.

I am therefore seeking factual information concerning the current position of these recruitment positions and the Assembly’s recruitment process.

PLEASE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION

1. Establishment and vacancies

For each of the categories of posts listed above, please provide:

• the total number of established posts/posts available;
• the number currently occupied;
• the number currently vacant; and
• where applicable, the number of posts which the Assembly intends to fill through the current or recent recruitment competitions.

2.    Current recruitment position

For each of the above recruitment competitions, please confirm:

• whether the competition has concluded;
• whether a successful candidate or candidates have been identified;
• whether offers of employment have been made;
• whether a merit list has been established;
• whether the competition remains open or active; and
• whether the competition has concluded, the date on which it concluded.

3.    Outstanding vacancies

Please provide the number of vacancies which remain to be filled in each of these areas following completion of the relevant recruitment competitions.

4.    Recruitment timetable

Where information is held concerning planned recruitment, please provide the anticipated timetable or target dates for filing any outstanding vacancies.

5.    Applicant numbers and shortlisting

For each competition, please provide:

• the total number of applications received;
• the number of applicants shortlisted;
• the number interviewed where applicable; and
• the number of appointments ultimately made or intended to be made.

6.    Merit lists

Please confirm whether merit lists have been established for these competitions and, where applicable;

• the date on which each merit list was established;
• its period of validity; and
• whether vacancies arising during the life of the merit list may be filled from it.

7.    Recruitment communication

Please provide the Assembly’s current policy, guidance or procedure governing communication with applicants following:

• submission of an application;
• shortlisting;
• interview;
• completion of a recruitment competition; and
• appointment of successful candidates.

8.    Communication with recruitment agencies

Where external recruitment agencies are used, please provide any relevant policy or procedure governing how and when those agencies are informed of the progress and outcome of the Assembly recruitment competitions.

9.    Recruitment delays

If records are held identifying the principal reasons for any significant delays in concluding the above competitions please provide that information. I am particularly interested in understanding whether the apparent lack of communication is specific to the individual competitions in question or reflects a wider issue concerning the Assembly’s recruitment processes.

I would stress that this request is made in a constructive manner. I fully appreciate that recruitment procedures must be conducted fairly and that appropriate checks may take time. My concern is principally about transparency and communication with applicants who have invested considerable time in applying for these positions.’

 Our response

• The Assembly Commission holds some information in relation to your request. However, each of the vacancies referred to in the second paragraph of your request were temporary vacancies. These vacancies were not filled through a recruitment process organised and managed by the Assembly Commission but through a framework agreement through which the Assembly Commission contracts with six employment agencies for the provision of temporary (“agency”) workers, and the agency provides workers to the Assembly Commission.  Information on this contract is publicly available here.    
• The opportunities in your request were for placements for agency workers, not employment with the Assembly Commission.  For each placement, the employment agency may submit a limited number of workers for consideration. The Assembly Commission selects the worker who best meets the requirements of the temporary role and that worker is assigned by the agency. The management of the relationship between the employment agency and individuals under contract to that agency, including the work offered to the individual, feedback etc. is for the employment agency.

Question 1

• There are 7.5 permanent posts for Visitor Experience Officer and 7.5 posts are currently occupied.
• There are 28.9 permanent posts for Assistant Assembly Clerk and 27.9 are currently occupied.
• There are 42.3 permanent posts for Clerical Officer and 41.9 posts are currently occupied.
• There are 41.7 permanent posts for Assembly Usher and 41.5 posts are currently occupied.
• There is no current requirement for agency workers to be placed in such vacancies as remain.  

Question 2

• In respect of each of these positions, no competition occurred, no offers of employment were made, and no merit list was established. As set out in question 1, there is no current requirement for agency workers to be placed in such vacancies as remain.  

Question 3

• Visitor Experience Officer: 0 FTE vacancy.
• Assistant Assembly Clerk: 1 FTE vacancy
• Clerical Officer: 0.4 FTE vacancy.
• Assembly Usher: 0.2 FTE vacancy.

Question 4

• No information is held concerning planned recruitment for temporary vacancies: by their nature these vacancies arise in an unstructured way (for example, vacancies caused by unforeseen staffing requirements and short-term operational needs).

Questions 5, 6 & 8

• No recruitment competitions occurred and no merit lists are maintained. Information on how agencies are contacted is set out at the second point of this response.

Question 7

• The Assembly Commission’s Recruitment and Selection Policy and Procedures are published on our recruitment website, niarecruitment.org

Question 9

• There have been no significant delays recorded by the HR Office concerning filling posts on a temporary basis through the Framework.

Further Information

You may 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 Commission’s Office (ICO) at 4^th Floor, No 3 Circle Square, 5 Hawkshaw Street, Manchester, M1 7BL.

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