Committee for Communities

Minutes of Proceedings - 1 May 2025

Committee for Communities - Minutes of Proceedings - 1 May 2025.pdf (234.13 kb)

Meeting Location: Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings

Present:                   

Mr Colm Gildernew (Chairperson) MLA  

Ms Nicola Brogan (Deputy Chairperson) MLA

Mr Andy Allen MBE MLA

Ms Kellie Armstrong MLA

Mr Maurice Bradley MLA

Mr Brian Kingston MLA

Mr Maolíosa McHugh MLA (via Zoom)

Ms Sian Mulholland MLA

Apologies:               

Mr Daniel McCrossan MLA

In Attendance:        

Mr James Gilsenan (Assembly Clerk)

Mr Sean McCann (Assistant Clerk)

Mr Chris McAfee (Clerical Supervisor)

Ms Katie Egan (Clerical Officer)

The meeting commenced in public session at 10.00a.m.

The following interests were declared:

• Andy Allen – Charity Trustee
• Colm Gildernew – Charity Trustee
• Brian Kingston – Member of Committee for the Executive Office
• Kellie Armstrong – Member of Deaf Community
• Maolíosa McHugh – Member of Conradh na Gaeilge and Chairman of pre-school Naíscoil na Deírge
• Sian Mulholland – Sponsor of prospective Member’s Bill on Society Lotteries

1.    Apologies

Daniel McCrossan

2.    Chairperson’s Business

The Chairperson informed members that he had attended a reception for the Belfast Giants on Tuesday to mark their success in winning the Elite Ice Hockey League this season. He further informed members that the event was well attended and that it was always good to celebrate the sporting achievements of local teams.

The Chairperson informed members that he had accepted an invitation to speak as Chairperson of the Committee at Equity Trade Union's Annual Conference evening event, to be held in Derry's St Columb’s Hall on 10 May.

The Committee noted the recent return of iwi kūpuna (ancestral remains) to Hawaii by National Museums NI. Following a similar return in 2022, National Museums NI undertook to continue the search for further remains and the Chairperson stated that it is gratifying to learn that this has now been resolved.

The Chairperson wished Dungannon Swifts, Dungannon Rugby Club and Dungannon Hockey Club well in their upcoming cup finals.

3.   Draft Minutes

The Chairperson informed members that they had been provided with a copy of the draft minutes from the meeting on 10 April 2025.

Agreed: That the minutes are agreed as drafted.

Maurice Bradley MLA joined the meeting at 10.04a.m.

4. Matters Arising

Letter from Chairpersons’ Liaison Group - Effective Scrutiny of Cross-Departmental Strategies

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Assembly and Executive Review Committee to ask for its views on this correspondence.

Department for Communities - Update on the Irish Language Strategy and the Ulster Scots Language and Culture Strategy

Agreed: That the Department is asked to brief on these strategies at a future meeting to focus on timelines for publication and when these will be sent to the Executive for agreement.

Arts Council - Funding for Financial Year 25-26

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Arts Council to ask when it expects to have its final budget confirmed for 2025-26.

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Charity Commission to ask for its views on whether charities using their reserves to carry out their normal work is appropriate as they await notification of funding allocations.

Department for Communities - Recent Media report on the UK Government’s plans regarding disability benefits

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to ask why it does not hold information in relation to the number of people in Northern Ireland currently in receipt of the benefits that may potentially be affected by the proposed cuts, particularly in relation to the four-point PIP assessment. The Committee would like to know what the Department is planning to do in relation to having this information readily available in the future.

Department for Communities - Briefing by Conradh na Gaelige

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to ask if it considers that a staff of four people working in the Language Strategies Team is sufficient and whether it feels that more resources may be needed.

Department for Communities - Housing related Queries and Departmental Climate Change Action Plan

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to ask for an update on progress of the Climate Change Action Plan.

Department for Communities - Complex Lives and Supporting People

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to seek information regarding the oversight balance between councils and the Department in relation to homelessness particularly in relation to consistency of approach.

Department for Communities – Northern Ireland Football Fund

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department seeking the number and type of applications received, including those received in partnership with local councils.

Department for Communities – Financial Provisions Bill Social Housing Tenancy Fraud

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to ask for clarification on the investigation process as members have concerns should investigations be left to private landlords and would like to better understand the oversight process from a public sector perspective and details of the extent of co-operation between the Department and the Department of Finance in relation to recouping funds.

Department for Communities – Independent Advisory Panel Report and Universal Credit Contingency Fund

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to ask: what protections are currently in placefor existing Universal Credit claimants; what plans there are for protections and awareness information campaigns for the next group of people migrating to Universal Credit; and what safeguards are in place to protect the £6.2million allocated to the Universal Credit Contingency Fund in the event that demand increases, and the Department’s capacity to meet any such increase.

Department for Communities – Local councils and the Anti-Poverty Strategy

Agreed: That a letter is sent to all local councils to ask if they have an anti-poverty strategy in place.

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to ask what collaboration or process it has had working with councils in developing anti-poverty strategies.

Department for Communities – Council Local Development Plans

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to ask how many councils have published their Local Development Plans, what the reasons are for any delays in publication and when all plans are expected to be published.

The Committee noted the following items:

The Committee noted the following tabled items:

5.    Correspondence

Work and Pensions Committee - Inquiry into Government’s welfare reform proposals, Pathways to Work.

Agreed: That a letter is sent to DWP to ask why the consultation is only focused on only some of UKG’s proposals.

Women’s Policy Group - Social Inclusion Policies Letter from Gender Co-Design Panel Membership

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department to ask why the Minister is not meeting with allco-design groups; which groups the Minister has and will meet; and to ask which groups have had sight of the draft Disability Strategy Paper.

The Committee noted the following items of correspondence:

The Committee noted the following tabled items of correspondence:

Agreed: The Chairperson sought members’ agreement to consider the following two items ahead of the British Deaf Association’s evidence session.

6.    Disposal of Documents Order 1925 - Addendums to existing Retention and Disposal Schedules for six Councils

The Chairperson informed members that addendums to Retention and Disposal schedules that are sent to the Committee are required to be treated in much the same way as a Statutory Rule.

The addendums are subject to the negative resolution.

Agreed: That the Committee is content with the addendums.

The Chairperson advised members that, at the Committee meeting at PRONI on 22 May, RaISe staff will brief on their comparative analysis of the scrutiny processes for retention and disposal schedules across various legislatures including in the UK and Ireland.

7.  Forward Work Programme

The Committee noted the Forward Work Programme.

The meeting was suspended at 10.37a.m.

The meeting resumed in public session at 10.42a.m. with the following members present:

Colm Gildernew (Chairperson), Nicola Brogan (Deputy Chairperson), Kellie Armstrong, Andy Allen, Sian Mulholland, Brian Kingston, Maolíosa McHugh (via Zoom), Maurice Bradley.

8.    Evidence session by British Deaf Association (BDA) on the Sign Language Bill

The Chairperson welcomed the following representatives to the meeting:

•  Dr. Robert Adam – BDA Chair
• Majella McAteer – BDA NI Manager
•  Tom Lichy – BDA Head of Policy and Research

A question and answer session followed the briefing and the main areas of discussion were:

• Building leadership capacity within the deaf community
• The definition in clause 5 of ‘at least one person or group appearing to the Department to be acting on behalf of the community’
• The use of technology and AI
• Clause 3 and the inclusion of ‘affordability’
• The promotion of sign language
• Disadvantages for the deaf community and language deficit
• Sign language being taught as part of the school curriculum
• Engagement with the Department on the Bill
• The budget for the implementation of the Bill
• Possible gaps in equality legislation
• The use of Henry VIII powers in the Bill
• The possibility for amendments to the Bill

Agreed: That a copy of theHansard transcript from this session is forwarded the Committee for the Executive Office to inform its Inquiry into Gaps in Equality Legislation.

Agreed: That a letter is sent to BDA thanking them for their evidence and to ask for a copy of its AI and sign language policy paper.

Agreed: That a letter is sent to Cregagh Primary School to encourage it to make a submission to the Committee’s call for evidence on the Sign Language Bill.

The meeting was suspended at 11.55a.m

The meeting resumed in public session at 12.06p.m. with the following members present:

Colm Gildernew, Kellie Armstrong, Andy Allen, Sian Mulholland, Brian Kingston, Maolíosa McHugh (via Zoom), Maurice Bradley.

9.    Briefing by the National Lottery (Allwyn)

The Chairperson welcomed the following representatives to the meeting:

• Tiffany Jirbandey, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Allwyn UK
• Gillian Taylor, Director of Communications, Allwyn UK

A question and answer session followed the briefing and the main areas of discussion were:

• The allocation of resources in Northern Ireland
• Player levels in Northern Ireland
• Prevalence of spend in gambling
• Society lotteries and GB-wide lotteries
• The size of prizes
• The National Lottery’s marketing costs
• Expenditure controls
• Controls on instant win games and scratch cards
• Level of engagement with young people on instant win games

Agreed: That Allwyn will forward a summary of the research referenced in its briefing paper to the Committee.

Agreed: That a letter is sent to the Department seeking a breakdown of online gambling from the Prevalence of Gambling Report 2024.

10.  Any other business

There was no other business.

11.  Date, time and location of the next meeting

The next meeting is at 10.00 a.m. on Thursday 8 May 2025, in Room 29, Parliament Buildings.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.57p.m.

Colm Gildernew MLA

Chairperson, Committee for Communities