Debate contribution: Assembly Business
Debate contribution by Ms Joanne Bunting on .
- MLA
- Ms Joanne Bunting
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 14 October 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Assembly Business
- Heading
- Assembly Business
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4589495
Read the official Assembly record
Text
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I refer to the Second Stage of the Justice Bill, which occurred on 1 October. At that stage, I stood in my capacity as Chair of the Committee. Today, I do so in a private capacity as an MLA. At that time, further to the Committee's request for a Keeling schedule, the Minister outlined this in her response to me:
"On the Committee scrutiny issue that was raised, I reference the Keeling schedule to which the Chair of the Committee drew our attention. That has never been provided by any Department or the OLC as part of the Committee scrutiny process in the House. It is not part of TEO guidance on the legislative process either, and it has no legal standing. In effect, it has no standing because it cannot be verified until the Bill is complete. I consulted with the OLC, and it indicated that it has never produced such a schedule. However, I know that the Committee will seek to engage with first legislative counsel directly on that point. If a Keeling schedule is thought to be of assistance to the Committee, it can commission that from the Bill Office, but that is not a matter for me or the Department to take forward." — [Official Report (Hansard), 1 October 2024, p76, col 2].
Mr Speaker, I submit that, thus far, three Keeling schedules have been provided: one to the Committee for Justice on the Legal Aid and Coroners' Courts Bill in 2014; one to the Committee for Finance on the Government Resources and Accounts Act (Northern Ireland) 2001; and one to the Committee for Education on the Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill in 2015. Whilst a Keeling schedule was not specifically found for the Committee for Employment and Learning on the Employment Bill in 2015, there is a clear commitment to provide one in this case, and it is clear and unequivocal. On that basis, I seek to correct the record and ask the Minister to reconsider her decision not to accede to the Committee's request to provide that schedule in order that changes to the Justice Act and various Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) schedules and other legislation that is mentioned in the Justice Bill can be tracked and traced by the Assembly.
388 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.77).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.77 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.97 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.02 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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