SUB-COMMITTEE (5 June 1992)

(A paper by the Government Team to serve as a basis for discussion)

"CODE OF PRACTICE"

1. It was agreed that it might be helpful to seek to distinguish the respective roles, responsibilities and decision-taking powers of Departments, Assembly Committees and the Assembly at large.

2. This paper draws on existing practice and precedent to suggest possible roles and to illustrate the questions which would need to be addressed when drawing up any such specification.

3. For the information of delegates, a copy of the memorandum "Questions of Procedure for Ministers" is attached to this paper; it may help to illustrate a particular decision-taking system. Also attached, for information, is a note on the machinery of government in Northern Ireland, focussing on the Northern Ireland Departments and associated bodies.

Departments

4. Under any new political arrangements, each Department could be expected to have the following roles and responsibilities:

(a) to administer programmes fairly and efficiently, in a way conducive to promoting good community relations and equality of treatment;

(b) to implement agreed policy and to support the Head of the Department in seeking to develop and secure support for proposed policies;

(c) to advise the Head of the Department on proposed policy changes, on new initiatives or on the handling of particular issues with a degree of political significance;

(d) to liaise with other Departments on matters where there are overlapping interests so that co-ordinated or at least complementary advice can be put to the respective Heads of Departments;

(e) to maintain contact with relevant Departments and institutions in Whitehall, Dublin and Brussels and with relevant organisations and interest groups within Northern Ireland with a view to promoting the policy objectives set for the Department and ensuring that it is in a position to advise the Head of Department on, and to respond to, developments;

(f) to participate in the public expenditure survey cycle, by DFP, and to advise the Head of Department during process of determining the Department's budget and determining allocations between programmes;

(g) to have due regard to the requirements of public accountability (see relevant sections the note on Machinery of Government about Accounting Officer responsibilities and the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General);

(h) to keep its internal structures, management systems and resources under review to ensure they are adequate to meet requirements;

(i) to make certain public appointments and, in consultation with the Central Secretariat, to advise the Head of Department on other public appointments within the Department's sphere of responsibility (see separate note on Public Appointments Procedures);

(j) to assist the Head of the Department to respond to representations, whether from elected representatives or other interest groups;

(k) to advise the Head of Department on measures to promote awareness of and to attract support for current or proposed policies.

Assembly Committees

5. A Business Committee might be established to co-ordinate Assembly business.

6. A General Purposes Committee, the members of which could include the Chairman of Departmental Committees, might be established to assist in co-ordinating the interests of the relevant Committees in respect of issues which cross Departmental boundaries.

7. Non-Departmental Committees might be established to act as a focus for the Assembly interest in particular areas, such as non-transferred matters, cultural expression and diversity and relationships with bodies or institutions outside Northern Ireland.

8. Departmental Committees might have the following roles and responsibilities:

(a) to scrutinise Departmental Estimates, policies and actions (including management structures) and to report thereon with recommendations;

(b) to scrutinise the work of the relevant non-Departmental public bodies and to report thereon with recommendations;

(c) to hold hearings, whether public or private, for which purpose it might have powers to compel the attendance of relevant persons and call for papers;

(d) to prepare reports, with recommendations including proposals for legislation, on major policy issues. These might involve liaison with other Departmental Committees, including the Finance Committee;

(e) to consider legislation in the transferred field, including considering proposals for new legislation and taking at least the Committee stage of relevant primary legislation. Committees might also debate secondary legislation;

(f) to advise upon and ultimately endorse the Department's expenditure proposals and to assist in presenting these to the Finance Committee and reaching an agreed bid in respect of the whole transferred field. The Panel could be an arbiter in settling public expenditure allocation disputes between Departments, having regard to the views of Heads of Departments and the Finance Committee;

(g) to act as a forum for the expression views on the area of responsibility of the relevant Department.

9. In drawing up reports, making recommendations and debating legislation Departmental Committees might normally operate on the basis of majority decision-taking. There could, however, be provision for weighted voting in certain circumstances; or for dissenting reports; or for a significant minority on any Committee to have power to defer the consideration of proposed legislation or administrative actions or to refer such issues for consideration by the Assembly at large.

The Assembly at large

10. The Assembly at large might be expected to have at least the following main roles and responsibilities:

(a) to elect a Speaker (possibly by a weighted majority vote of say 70%);

(b) to appoint the Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen and members of Departmental and other Committees. The Chairmanships and Deputy Chairmanships (at least) of the Departmental Committees might be allocated by a formula (eg the D'Hondt procedure) calculated on a vote within the Assembly, though it might be calculated on the basis of party strengths in the elections to the Assembly. Other arrangements might be made to determine the allocation of individual members to Committees though each party should have a share of the total Committee places broadly proportional to its strength in the Assembly;

(c) to hold Heads of Departments accountable for the work of their Department through

- Questions

- adjournment debates

- debates on Statements

- emergency debates

- consideration of reports from Departments

- consideration of minutes and reports from Departmental Committees

- consideration of reports from

- Comptroller and Auditor General

- Examiner of Statutory Rules?

- Ombudsman

- FEC

- EOC

(possibly on the basis of further reports from the relevant Committee);

(d) to legislate in the transferred field (and in the excepted or reserved field where ancillary to Westminster legislation or with the approval of the Secretary of State). The precise distribution of the legislative process as between Committees and the full Assembly may require further consideration. Different arrangements might apply in respect of primary and secondary legislation (whether subject to affirmative resolution or negative resolution).

Most legislation would be subject to a simple majority vote. Certain important legislation (eg a financial measure, one with constitutional implications or significant implications for community relations) could require weighted majority approval, of say 70%. Other legislation could require weighted majority approval if it was deemed to be contentious by the Business Committee or a petition to that effect secured a certain threshold of say 30% support in the Assembly;

(e) (possibly) to make recommendations on certain legislation in the reserved field to be made at Westminster;

(f) to consider minutes and reports from the Business Committee and any non-Departmental Committees which might be established;

(g) to refer certain issues (on the basis of a threshold level of say 30% support in the Assembly) for consideration by the Panel. Those issues might include proposed legislation and administrative actions;

(h) to act as a forum for the expression of political within Northern Ireland.

MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT IN NORTHERN IRELAND

(Annex to the Government Team's paper of 5 June entitled ''Code of Practice'')

Introduction

1. This note deals with the machinery of Government in Northern Ireland, focusing on the Northern Ireland departments. It does not seek to explain the role and functions of the NIO itself.

Northern Ireland Departments

2. The 6 Northern Ireland departments discharging executive responsibilities in the transferred field are Agriculture (DANI), Economic Development (DED) including the Industrial Development Board and the Training and Employment Agency, Environment (DOENI), which includes many functions such as housing which are operated by local authorities in GB, Finance and Personnel (DFP), Health and Social Services (DHSS) and Education (DENI). Most of the executive responsibilities of the DHSS and DENI are carried out by Health and Social Services and Education and Library Boards. Currently, each Department is statutorily subject to the direction and control of the Secretary of State, but for administrative convenience each is allocated a Departmental Minister who is responsible to the Secretary of State. These departments are staffed by the Northern Ireland Civil Service which is entirely separate from, but closely modelled on, the Home Civil Service.

3. Northern Ireland does not have a Cabinet Office as such. However, the Central Secretariat, which is technically part of DFP but which reports directly to the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, co-ordinates the activities of the various Northern Ireland departments and exercises a liaison role between them, the Northern Ireland Office, and other parts of the Governmental system. It is also responsible for the management of central initiatives, eg, Making Belfast Work, and the Central Community Relations Unit.

Next Steps Agencies

4. The Next Steps initiative involves, among other things, the creation of executive agencies in order to improve the management of executive services in Government, including improvement in quality of service and in financial performance. Next Steps, and the reforms associated with it, provide a framework within which public sector managers can deliver high quality public services. Three agencies have been launched to date in Northern Ireland, viz, the Training and Employment Agency, OED, the Rate Collection Agency, DOE and the Social Security Agency, DHSS,. In addition, 4 potential new agencies have been announced, viz, Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland, Child Support Agency, Compensation Agency and Driver Vehicle Testing Agency.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

5. A number of public services are not delivered by central Government Departments and Next Steps Agencies in Northern Ireland, but by bodies which are referred to as Non-Deparmental [sic] Public Bodies - NDPBs - or in common parlance, Quangos. An NDPB is a body which has a role in the process of Government, but is not a Government Department, and accordingly operates to a greater or lesser extent at arms length from Ministers. Essentially, there are 3 categories of NDPBs, viz:

- bodies with executive, administrative, regulatory or commercial functions. NDPBs in this group are engaged in a wide variety of activities and are constituted in a variety of ways, but typically they carry out prescribed functions within Government guidelines and a varying degree of operational independence. Examples in this category would include for all practical purposes the various Education and Library and Health and Social Services Boards, NI Housing Executive, the Milk Marketing Board, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Fair Employment Commission, the NI Tourist Board, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, and the various Harbour Authorities;

- advisory committees and commissions. This group consists mainly of bodies (other than committees of officials) approved by Ministers to advise them and their Departments on particular matters. Examples in this category would include the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights, the General Consumer Council, and the Northern Ireland Economic Council;

- tribunals and other judicial bodies. These are bodies whose functions, like those of courts of law, are essentially judicial. Independently of Government they decide the rights and obligations of private citizens towards each other and towards a Government Department or other public authority. Examples in this category would include the Industrial Tribunals, Planning Appeals Commission, and the Fear Employment Tribunal.

NDPBs play an extremely important role in the overall machinery of Government, particularly in Northern Ireland, where the powers of local Government are not as wide as in Great Britain. There are some 140 NDPBs in Northern Ireland involving some 2,200 public appointments.

6. Finally, there are a number of other parts of the Government machinery, mostly dealing with the legislative procedures. Northern Ireland has its own machinery for drafting legislation under the 1974 Northern Ireland Act. The Office of the Legislative Counsel drafts all Orders-in-Council under the 1974 Act, and acts as adviser to the Northern Ireland Departments on constitutional matters. The Crown Solicitor for Northern Ireland conducts, on behalf of the Crown, all civil litigation in Northern Ireland to which the Crown or any Department is a party. The Senior Crown Counsel is appointed by the UK Attorney General to act as the standing leading Counsel to the Crown in civil cases. Finally the Director of Public Prosecutions is a public official, with a Department, responsible for conducting prosecutions in Northern Ireland. He acts under the direction of the Attorney General who answers for him in Parliament.

Accountability

7. Accountability is of course a key principle of democratic Government and public service.

8. There are detailed arrangements for ensuring the effectiveness, fairness and probity of the Northern Ireland Departments in discharging their responsibilities. As indicated above each of the 6 Northern Ireland Departments is headed by a Permanent Secretary and generally speaking the Permanent Secretary is also the Accounting Officer for all the expenditure and receipts of that Department. Accounting Officers are appointed by the Department of Finance and Personnel and their responsibilities are set out in the "Memorandum of Accounting Officer Responsibilities'' which each receives on appointment. This memorandum stipulates that among his other responsibilities the Permanent Secretary as Accounting Officer is responsible to Parliament through his Departmental Minister for the propriety and regularity of his Department's expenditure, and for prudent and economical administration.

9. In a number of cases, however, the Departmental Accounting Officer may appoint Additional Accounting Officers who will have responsibility for defined areas of Departmental activity. Generally speaking, the Chief Executives of the so-called Next Steps Agencies are appointed as Additional Accounting Officers.

10. The Permanent Secretary of the appropriate Department is responsible for any Non-Departmental Public Body or Quango which comes within the purview of that Department. However, he will normally formally appoint the senior full-time official of the body concerned as Accounting Officer and will specify the responsibilities in a Memorandum.

11. Finally, Departmental Accounting Officers and Accounting Officers may be required to appear before the Public Accounts Committees - the PAC - to answer questions on matters within their area of responsibility. There are normally 2 PAC sessions a year on Northern Ireland business which take evidence from Accounting Officers on reports produced by the Northern Ireland Audit Office (see below).

Northern Ireland Office, Parliamentary Commission for Administration and Commissioner for Complaints (the Ombudsman)

12. There are 2 other officials who play an important role in the accountability to the public of the activities of Northern Ireland Departments and Agencies. The first of these is the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland (the C&AG). As an officer of Parliament he is totally independent of Government and plays a very important role in the accountability to the public of the activities of Northern Ireland Departments and Agencies. The C&AG conducts the value for money audits of all NI Departments and many public agencies. The C&AG has full rights of access to the records he needs and decisions on studies or investigations are taken solely by him. The budget for his Northern Ireland Audit Office is controlled not by Government but by a Commission of the legislature. Before the introduction of Direct Rule in 1972 the Northern Ireland Parliament had its own Public Accounts Committee which operated in a similar way to the Public Accounts Committee at Westminister [sic]. However, in the period of Direct Rule the C&AG reports to the House of Commons in London and the Public Accounts Committee there examines NI Permanent Secretaries as necessary.

13. Northern Ireland Departments are also constrained by the provisions of Part 3 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 which prohibits discrimination by public authorities in Northern Ireland against any person or class of persons on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion and their performance in this regard can be reviewed by the Courts. The Courts may in turn grant injunctions restraining public authorities for doing, or causing others to do, further acts of a similar kind.

14. As regards the risk of maladministration, Departments are subject to investigation by the Northern Ireland Ombudsman. The Ombudsman in Northern Ireland reports to Parliament in 2 capacities - as Northern Ireland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and as Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints. In the former capacity she investigates complains of alleged maladministration by Northern Ireland Departments. Complaints to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration can only be made through a Member of Parliament at Westminster, within 12 months of the action complained of; the complainant does not have to refer to his constituency MP, but may refer through any Member of the House of Commons. As Commissioner for Complaints she inquires into complaints of alleged maladministration by public bodies in Northern Ireland. In contrast to the complaints procedure for the Commissioner for Administration any individual citizen can complain directly to the Commissioner for Complaints; the complaint must be in writing and it must generally be made within 6 months. The powers of the Ombudsman in her role as Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration are similar to that of her counterpart in GB, but additionally her remit includes personnel matters raised by members of the NI Civil Service. Similarly, the powers of the NI Commissioner for Complaints are wider than those of the nearest GB equivalent, ie, the Commissioners for Local Administration in England. During Direct Rule the Annual Reports of the PCA and Commissioner for Complaints are laid before the Westminster Parliament and a Select Committee of the House of Commons reviews the Annual Reports of the PCA and takes evidence and issues Reports. The main subjects of complaint for the PCA concern planning and civil service personnel matters, while those for the Commissioner for Complaints concern housing.

PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS PROCEDURES

(Annex to the Government Team's paper of 5 June entitled ''Code of Practice'')

Introduction

1. In making public appointments, the prime considerations for Ministers and Departments are an individual's ability or potential to contribute to the work of a particular body and the need for each public body to have the range of experience and skills necessary to carry out its functions. It is also important to secure a fair and equitable balance as regards sex, age, geography and the two main traditions in the community; section 19 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of religious belief or political opinion. Article 6 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement currently enables the Irish Government to put forward views and proposals on the role and composition of public bodies.

2. Nominations to public bodies by other organisations are designed to ensure such organisations as will be directly affected by, or have a contribution to make to, the work of a particular public body are represented on it.

The Central Appointments Unit (CPU)

3. The Central Appointments Unit, which is part of Central Secretariat, provides general guidance to Departments on the handling of public appointments; maintains a central register of people who have offered their services for public appointments; provides advice to Departments in the selection of people to fill vacancies and names from the central register; and monitors progress towards the achievement of greater diversity in public appointments.

Authorisation of Appointments

4. At 28 May 1992 there were 2,267 places available on public bodies in Northern Ireland. They are divided into 3 categories:-

Category A - 318 (14.03%) places which, because of their importance or sensitivity, are submitted by the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, (or DUS(B) in the case of NIO appointments) for the Secretary of State's approval (and in a small number of very important appointments, the approval of the Prime Minister);

Category B - 687 (30.30%) places which are made by Departmental Ministers after consultation with the CAU;

Category C - 1,262 places (55.67%) which are made by Departments without reference to CAU

Approximately 60% places on public bodies are filled either on the nomination of, or after consultation with, outside bodies, including District Councils, employers' and employees' organisations, professional bodies, specified interest groups, etc.

• HMG Code of Practice Paper (introduced on 1992-06-05 10:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e898336) [This document]

• HMG Code of Practice Paper (introduced on 1992-06-05 10:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e898336) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]