Debate contribution: Standing Order 43A

Debate contribution by Ms Kellie Armstrong on 29 June 2026.

MLA

Ms Kellie Armstrong

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

29 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Committee Business

Heading

Standing Order 43A

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5645267

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I do not think that we will take a full hour. I am sure that everybody will be glad to hear that. I rise to inform you of the work of the Committee on Procedures regarding the scrutiny of delegated powers in Bills and our consideration of whether Standing Orders should formally recognise the role that is carried out by the Assembly's Examiner of Statutory Rules (ESR). The Committee has carefully examined how delegated powers are scrutinised and how that process might be strengthened. Currently, Statutory Committees scrutinise delegated powers in Bills with technical support from the Examiner of Statutory Rules. Guidance from the Northern Ireland Civil Service legislative programme secretariat in the Executive Office recommends that a Department should provide a delegated powers memorandum (DPM) for all Bills except those that are proceeding by accelerated passage. The guidance also states that the DPM should be provided to the relevant Committee as soon as possible after a Bill is introduced and no later than completion of the Bill's Second Stage. Assembly Committees routinely publish a DPM as part of the Committee report on a Bill. That procedure is not formally set out in Standing Orders but has operated by convention since 2007. A DPM is not routinely provided for non-Executive Bills. The benefits of scrutiny of the DPM by Statutory Committees include facilitating detailed analysis of what the delegated power does and whether it is appropriate for the power to be left to delegated or subordinate legislation rather than be included in the Bill itself. The scrutiny also considers whether the choice of Assembly control that is provided for each power — confirmatory, affirmative, negative or none — is the most appropriate. The Committee considered that issue following a recommendation in the Chairpersons' Liaison Group's 2020 'Report on Strengthening Committee Scrutiny'. That report recommended that the Committee on Procedures examine whether Standing Orders should include the role of the Examiner of Statutory Rules in scrutinising delegated powers in Bills, including those that are taken by accelerated passage, and whether advice from the Examiner of Statutory Rules to Committees should be published. The Committee undertook its investigations by being briefed by the Examiner, Ms Angela Kelly, noting that, while current arrangements for her role are working well, they do not allow for publication of her reports. That creates a potential lack of transparency for Departments, stakeholders and the public regarding a decision by a Committee on delegated powers in a Bill. The Committee therefore agreed to formalise in Standing Orders the role of the Examiner of Statutory Rules, including the publication of her reports. It also agreed that the provision would not apply to Bills that proceed by accelerated passage because the role of the ESR is linked to that of the relevant Committee and such Bills are not referred to a Committee. The Committee on Procedures recommends, however, that the issue be considered by our successor Committee in the new mandate. As previously mentioned, Civil Service guidance is that Departments provide a DPM to a Statutory Committee. We explored whether to formalise that provision and to extend the draft Standing Order, making it mandatory that a DPM be provided with every Bill that is introduced. We asked the Bill Office for an opinion and were informed that, with a few exceptions, that convention is working well and Committees report few issues or problems. We sought the views of the Executive Office on that possible provision but received no reply. We also asked the Bill Office whether a DPM should be provided with non-Executive Bills, such as Members' Bills or Committee Bills. The Bill Office informed us that it would be good practice to do so and that, although most Members' Bills had few, if any, delegated powers, in future, non-Executive Bill sponsors would be asked to provide a DPM. For most Members' Bills and Committee Bills, that could be facilitated through the contract that the Bill Office has in place for drafting Bills. The Bill Office also indicated that, for those Members' Bills that are currently progressing to Committee Stage, the ESR has indicated that it would be possible to undertake the scrutiny without the provision of a DPM.

Content that we had explored the option, the Committee decided not to consider the mandatory provision of DPMs any further. It was content that the draft Standing Order would focus on codifying the current role of the Examiner of Statutory Rules. Having settled our policy position, we issued instructions for the drafting of a new Standing Order, and, after a few revisions, the Committee agreed the motion before you today at its meeting on 10 June 2026. The new Standing Order is Standing Order 43A. On behalf of the Committee, a letter was sent to all MLAs informing them of the considerations undertaken by the Committee on Procedures, and I trust that Members found that useful and that it will assist them if they want to contribute to the debate today. I commend the new Standing Order to the Assembly.

844 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not qualifying

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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