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<c.S1><c.S2>The Northern Ireland Assembly appoints</c>
<c.S2>ministers to sit on the Executive Committee</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>and is responsible for scrutinising the work</c>
<c.S2>of the Executive and holding it to account.</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>The Assembly has a Statutory Committee to</c>
<c.S2>shadow each government department and minister.</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>The Committees don't just have a scrutiny role,</c>
<c.S2>they also advise and assist ministers.</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>So what exactly do Statutory Committees do?</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>And how important are they in our devolved</c>
<c.S2>system of government?</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>Are they powerful and effective?</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>Do they significantly influence decisions</c>
<c.S2>made by ministers</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>and the laws passed by the Assembly?</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>Do they help the Assembly fulfil its role of</c>
<c.S2>representing the people of Northern Ireland</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>so that we can play our part in shaping</c>
<c.S2>government decisions?</c></c>

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<c.S1>There's a Statutory Committee for each
department and their role</c>

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<c.S1>is to scrutinise the work of that department,
of the minister</c>

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<c.S1> and whatever policies they're pursuing,
whatever legislation they're bringing through,</c>

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<c.S1>how they're spending the budgets
that have been allocated to them.</c>

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<c.S1>What their objectives are,
how well they're meeting those objectives.</c>

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<c.S1>So it's really…</c>

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<c.S1>it's really to understand
the work of the department,</c>

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<c.S1>to understand the work of the minister,</c>

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<c.S1>to examine that, to scrutinise it
on behalf of the people who elect us.</c>

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<c.S1>Because the function of the Committee is to
serve, as the function of the Assembly</c>

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<c.S1>is to serve, the people who elect us here.
But overall,</c>

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<c.S1>the role of all the Committees
is to hold the Executive team to account</c>

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<c.S1>and to hold the departments to account.</c>

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<c.S1>In this Assembly,
you do not have an Opposition.</c>

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<c.S1>All the parties are involved in the Executive.</c>

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<c.S1>There is a gap therefore, in this legislature
between the Executive and the Assembly itself,</c>

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<c.S1>in terms of challenging government policy.</c>

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<c.S1>So whilst individual MLAs may feel constrained</c>

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<c.S1>in challenging
the government's policy,</c>

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<c.S1>or Parties may feel restrained in
challenging government policy,</c>

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<c.S1>Committees can because they're made up of all
the Parties, and they can challenge a minister</c>

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<c.S1>on a detail of policy or the policy itself.</c>

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<c.S1>And that's why they're very important.</c>

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<c.S1>Well, we don't have specific powers</c>

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<c.S1>in the sense that we can't go to a minister
and say,</c>

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<c.S1>"You shall change this,</c>

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<c.S1>because we have
decided unanimously that this is wrong."</c>

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<c.S1>What the committee can do
is to say to the minister,</c>

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<c.S1>"Look, you've got this wrong.
We think you should change it."</c>

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<c.S1>And in the event of a Committee
challenging a minister</c>

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<c.S1>on a point of policy or a point of detail,</c>

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<c.S1>I believe, that normally you will get
a positive response from a minister.</c>

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<c.S1>They have what are called the powers to call
for persons and papers,</c>

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<c.S1>and that essentially just means that they
can demand and instruct anyone</c>

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<c.S1>to come to them and give them evidence
from the department,</c>

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<c.S1>any of the officials, they can ask for
sight of papers that are in the department.</c>

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<c.S1>So they have a fairly wide range of margins,
these are statutory powers,</c>

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<c.S1>people are obliged to obey them.
Now, it's not to be used in…</c>

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<c.S1>either a frivolous way
or some way which is not appropriate.</c>

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<c.S1>But if they…
if the committee wants to do its job,</c>

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<c.S1>which is to scrutinise the work
of the department,</c>

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<c.S1>then they have to have access
to all of the people in the department.</c>

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<c.S1>They have to have access to all of the
materials, that they are using, within reason.</c>

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<c.S1>But the experience here to date is they've
used that in a good way,</c>

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<c.S1>not in a way which is trying to just undermine
or just score political points,</c>

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<c.S1>but actually to effectively perform
their duties.</c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>Statutory Committees have a central role to</c>
<c.S2>play in the Assembly's law making process.</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>They take the Committee's stage of primary</c>
<c.S2>Bills and also consider secondary legislation.</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>Primary legislation sets out the aims</c>
<c.S2>and main points of law.</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>Secondary legislation,</c>
<c.S2>called Statutory Rules in Northern Ireland,</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>updates existing laws or adds detail.</c></c>

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<c.S1>Certainly it can be quite a lengthy process
and a very detailed process.</c>

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<c.S1>It's the Committee's role to look
at legislation line by line</c>

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<c.S1>and to agree or to amend where appropriate.</c>

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<c.S1>And at that stage, it's the opportunity
for the Committee then</c>

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<c.S1>to make recommendations to the department
under the minister.</c>

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<c.S1>And very often if we have evidence to
support our suggestion,</c>

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<c.S1>the minister will then take that onboard.</c>

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<c.S1>In the Justice Committee we dealt
with a very...</c>

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<c.S1>big Justice Bill,
dealing with a wide range of different issues.</c>

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<c.S1>And we went through the Bill clause by clause.</c>

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<c.S1>And we scrutinised various aspects of the Bill.</c>

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<c.S1>And I have to say that we were very
successful in persuading the minister to...</c>

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<c.S1>as it were, tailor the Bill in accordance
with the views of the Committee.</c>

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<c.S1>In the Committee of Agriculture
and Rural Development,</c>

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<c.S1>we brought forward significant changes
to legislation within the Forestry Bill,</c>

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<c.S1>changes that were accepted by the
department and were taken forward then.</c>

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<c.S1>And obviously that proved positive
to the outcome of that legislation</c>

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<c.S1>and made it much more workable and practical.</c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>Most Bills are introduced</c>
<c.S2>to the Assembly by ministers.</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>MLAs can also propose legislation</c>
<c.S2>and so can Committees.</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>This Committee power is a tool</c>
<c.S2>to hold ministers to account</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>by making the point</c>
<c.S2>that legislation is needed in a particular area</c></c>

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<c.S1><c.S2>and the minister has not recognised this.</c></c>