Minutes of Proceedings

The meeting opened in closed session at 10.31am.

Agreed: The Committee Agreed: to seek further information from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure regarding the Odyssey Trust Company; to forward the relevant correspondence to the Public Accounts Committee; and to notify the author of the correspondence accordingly.

The meeting moved into open session at 10.35am.

1. Apologies

The apologies are noted above.

2. Draft Minutes of Meeting Held on 27 October 2011

The Committee agreed the minutes of 27 October 2011.

3. Matters Arising

Agreed: The Committee Agreed: to forward the Department’s response on river management to the Committee for the Environment; to write to the Department to request a copy of its MOU with NIEA and its Service Level Agreement with the Rivers Agency; and to forward this correspondence onto both the Committees for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Environment.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to return to the correspondence on the ASOP programme during the Arts Council’s briefing to the Committee in December.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to return to the correspondence regarding NI Screen’s governance arrangements during the Department’s briefing on the review of its Arm’s Length Bodies in December.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to schedule a briefing from the Department on the Review of its Arm’s Length Bodies on 8 December.

The Committee noted the correspondence from the Department regarding Annually Managed Expenditure.

The Committee noted the correspondence from 2013 World Police and Fire Games, regarding sports governing bodies.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to return to Libraries NI’s correspondence on lone working during Libraries NI’s briefing to the Committee on 8 December.

The Committee noted the correspondence from the Department regarding disposal of properties.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to Sport NI to request that it is kept informed of any progress regarding dual use of schools sports facilities.

4. Briefing from OFCOM NI on the Broadcasting Sector

The following officials joined the meeting at 10.47am:

Director of OFCOM Northern Ireland, Mr Jonathan Rose; and 
Head of Government and Parliamentary Business, Mr Adam Higgitt.

The officials briefed the Committee.

Mrs Karen McKevitt joined the meeting at 10.57am.

A question and answer session followed.

Agreed: The officials agreed to: forward contact details for the Northern Ireland team of Digital UK; confirm the date for the delivery of Local TV licences in 2013; and provide details regarding the position of digital switchover in the Glen’s area.

The officials left the meeting at 11.29am.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to schedule the following topics onto the Forward Work Programme: the review of the Communications Act; and Channel 3 licensing.

Mr David Hilditch left the meeting at 11.30am. 
Mr Oliver McMullan left the meeting at 11.30am.

5. Briefing from Northern Ireland Tourist Board on NI2012 Programme of Events

The following officials joined the meeting at 11.31am:

Chief Operating Officer, Ms Kathryn Thomson; and 
Manager of Product, Marketing, Culture, Heritage and Activities, Ms Rosemary Lightbody.

The officials briefed the Committee.

A question and answer session followed.

Mr Oliver McMullan returned to the meeting at 11.37am. 
Mr David Hilditch returned to the meeting at 11.44am.

Agreed: The officials agreed to clarify projected estimates for the total number of visitors and total spend in Northern Ireland over the next four years.

Mr David Hilditch left the meeting at 12.04pm.
Mr Oliver McMullan left the meeting at 12.05pm.

The officials left the meeting at 12.06pm.

6. Consultation on Department of Finance and Personnel’s Review of Financial Process

 The Clerk spoke to her memo.

Mr William Irwin left the meeting at 12.10pm.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to: provide a response to DFP’s proposals on the review of the financial process to the Committee for Finance and Personnel for inclusion in the Northern Ireland Assembly’s response to the consultation; formulate its response around the issues raised in the Clerk’s memo; and include in the response issues around Recommendation 10 impacting on the implementation of Recommendation 11.

7. Correspondence

The Committee noted the correspondence from the Committee for Finance and Personnel regarding the prompt payment scheme.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward the correspondence from the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development on the impact of recent flooding to the Department.

The Committee noted the correspondence from the Special EU Programmes Body.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward correspondence regarding Tollymore Outdoor Pursuits Centre onto the Department and to request clarification on the current position.

Agreed: The Committee Agreed: to forward the correspondence about Kilkeel library onto Libraries NI; and to forward all correspondence previously received by the Committee from library users onto the Minister.

The Committee noted the invitation from Pobal.

The Committee noted the Arts Council’s Document Disposal Schedule.

8. Chairperson’s Business

 The Committee noted that the Chair and Assistant Clerk met with representatives from Digital Circle and Momentum NI on Tuesday 8 November.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to invite Digital Circle and Momentum NI to brief the Committee during the oral evidence stage of its Inquiry, subject to receipt of a written submission.

The Committee noted that the Chair met with the chief Executive of National Museums Northern Ireland on Tuesday 1 November.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to hold a Committee meeting at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in the New Year.

The Committee noted the Speaker’s invitation to attend the launch of the Arts Council’s Collection in Parliament Buildings on 21 November.

Mr William Irwin returned to the meeting at 12.21pm.

9. Forward Work Programme

The Committee agreed the changes to the Forward Work Programme.

The Committee agreed to have the briefings from both BBC NI and the GAA covered by Hansard.

The Committee noted that the meeting on 6 December on December monitoring would be in held in Room 144 at 1.30pm.

10. Any other business

The Committee agreed to provide Research and Library Services with the briefing paper it received from Libraries NI on library opening hours, for wider circulation among all MLAs.

11. Date and Time of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure will take place on Thursday 17 November 2011 at 10.30am in the Boardroom, BBC Broadcasting House, Ormeau Avenue, Belfast.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.26pm.

Miss Michelle McIlveen MLA 
Chairperson, Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure 
17 November 2011