Northern Ireland Assembly: Transition Programme (Hansard, 23 March 1999)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Dubs)

Please find attached notes on the transition programmes to date.

THE NEW NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY—TRANSITION PROGRAMME

The Transition Programme has been designed, with the participation of local and international advisers, to assist Members and Committees of the Assembly in their preparations for the effective functioning of the Assembly when it takes on its full powers after the transitional period.

The Programme's objective is to provide as comprehensively as is practicable a background briefing about the responsibilities and issues facing the Assembly. It is not intended to address or consider issues of policy arising with regard to the future.

The Programme set out below has been developed on an ongoing basis in consultation with the Party Offices in the Assembly, so as to respond as speedily as possible to what Assembly Members need.

The ground to be covered is potentially very extensive, but the time which Members can give to it is necessarily limited. With this in mind the Programme has been planned as a series of short seminars/workshops, lasting no more than one day in a conference centre or other appropriate locations. The seminars/workshops are informal and participative, using background material for consideration and discussion with a number of appropriate Northern Ireland Civil Servants under the guidance of independent experts and facilitators, drawn from Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Ireland and abroad.

THE PROGRAMME

The Programme has been designed to have four components:

I. A short series of seminars/workshops dealing with core subjects with which every Member of the Assembly will wish to be familiar. These seminars take priority and are the basis from which specialised WA 148 subjects have been pursued. This component has been completed, the CORE subjects and the dates of seminars were:
- Tuesday 29 July 1998 and Thursday 27 August 1998
- An Overview of the Northern Ireland Government (including roles and responsibilities of Northern Ireland departments).
- Thursday 30 July 1998 and Tuesday 25 August 1998
- Public Finance.
- Monday 7 September 1998
- The Northern Ireland Assembly and the European Union.
- Wednesday 9 September 1998
- North/South Co-operation.
- Thursday 24 September 1998
The Northern Ireland Assembly—Relationships with other UK Assemblies.
II. A series of functional seminars/workshops focusing initially on key areas of government activity which are likely to be of general interest to Members, not least Members of particular Assembly Committees:
- Monday 21 September 1998
- Health and Social Services.
- Thursday 1 October 1998
- Agriculture.
- Tuesday 6 October 1998
- Public Health.
- Wednesday 28 October 1998
- Equality.
- Thursday 29 October 1998
- Environment.
- Tuesday 17 November 1998
- Education.
- Thursday 26 November 1998
- Social Security and Child Support.
- Friday 11 December 1998
- Culture and Recreation.
- Friday 15 January 1999
- Economic Development.
- This component is also now completed. However, in response to Members' needs further short half day briefings and seminars are planned.
- Wednesday 27 January 1999
- The Ombudsman & The Northern Ireland Audit Office.
- Thursday 1 February 1999
- Government Purchasing.
- Wednesday 17 February 1999
- Scottish Office Briefing.
- Thursday 25 February 1999
- The Legislative Process for Assembly Staff.
- Friday 26 February 1999
- The Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
- Friday 5 March 1999
- Private Finance Initiative.
- Thursday 11 March 1999
- Planning Appeals Commission
- Friday 12 March 1999
- Disability Issues.
- Wednesday 24 March 1999
- Equal Opportunities Issues.
- Thursday 25 March 1999
- Pharmacy Services.
- (Date to be arranged)
- Ethnic Minorities Issues
- Wednesday 12 May 1999
- Young People and the Assembly.
- Friday 14 May 1999
- Energy.
- Three Seminars under the overall title of 'Helping the Assembly to Work' are planned to be held.
- (Dates to be arranged)
- Constitutional Framework.
- (Dates to be arranged)
- Legislative Processes.
- (Dates to be arranged)
- Non-Legislative Processes.
A further seminar on 'Business and the Assembly' is also planned.
III. An international component funded by the United States Government and the European Union focusing on:
1. (a) United States Programmes—The Task of Government
  1. (1) To analyse and discuss the best practices and models available in functional areas of government focusing heavily on skills and competency.
  2. (2) To bring together elected representatives and administrators from Northern Ireland in a non-political environment to discuss public policy, policy analysis and policy formulation.
  3. (3) To visit legislatures and meet representatives and administrators and discuss their successes and failures in attempting to deliver good government.
  4. (4) To look at federalism in the United States and discuss relevant issues for Northern Ireland's legislators.
  5. (5) To analyse, discuss and observe good examples of public private partnership, legislative relations and legislative resources.
  The first part of this component has taken place with a party of 15 Assembly Members completing the programme at Boston College from 18–25 November 1998. The second element took place from 12–19 December for a party of NI Party Staffers and Committee Clerks.
2. (b) The European Union, the European Parliament and the European Commission in Brussels—3 day Conference in Brussels 3–6 November 1998.
  - The objective of the Conference and visit was to allow members of the Assembly to interact and build direct links with those who work at the administrative heart of Europe in Brussels.
  - The President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer, and other Commissioners met the Assembly Members giving them the opportunity to explore ways in which they can have an impact within the European Institutions. This was achieved through workshops on policy issues selected by the Assembly Members themselves, and led by officials directly involved.
  - The work of the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee and their relevance to Northern Ireland were also explained.
IV. A supplementary programme of events will be required to address needs identified in discussion with Party representatives. This could involve working in partnership with appropriate institutions and providers, e. g., the Industry and Parliament Trust. Provision for these will be made within the available resources.