Committee for Finance: role, membership and bills before it
The Committee for Finance is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of the Department of Finance and its minister, examining policy, expenditure and administration, and considers relevant legislation in detail during a bill’s Committee Stage — including every Budget Bill that funds departmental spending […]
Committee for Health: role, membership and bills before it
The Committee for Health is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of the Department of Health and its minister, examining policy, expenditure and administration, and considers relevant legislation in detail during a bill’s Committee Stage. Statutory committees advise and assist their department’s minister in […]
Committee for Infrastructure: role, membership and bills before it
The Committee for Infrastructure is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of the Department for Infrastructure and its minister, examining policy, expenditure and administration, and considers relevant legislation in detail during a bill’s Committee Stage. Statutory committees advise and assist their department’s minister in […]
Committee for The Executive Office: role, membership and bills before it
The Committee for The Executive Office is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of The Executive Office — which supports the First Minister and deputy First Minister jointly — examining policy, expenditure and administration, and considers relevant legislation in detail during a bill’s Committee […]
Ad Hoc Committee on the Assembly Members (Remuneration Board) Bill: role, membership and its bill
Ad hoc committees are formed for a single purpose: to carry out Committee Stage scrutiny of one private member’s bill, where no existing statutory or standing committee is the natural fit. They dissolve once that scrutiny work concludes. This one was set up to scrutinise the Assembly Members (Independent Remuneration Board) Bill. Unlike a statutory […]
Ad Hoc Committee on the School Uniforms (Trousers) Bill: role, membership and its bill
Ad hoc committees are formed for a single purpose: to carry out Committee Stage scrutiny of one private member’s bill, where no existing statutory or standing committee is the natural fit. They dissolve once that scrutiny work concludes. This one was set up to scrutinise the School Uniforms (Trousers) Bill. Unlike a statutory committee, an […]
Assembly and Executive Review Committee: role and membership
The Assembly and Executive Review Committee is a standing committee, established under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 rather than tied to a single department. Its job is to review how well specific parts of the devolved institutions are working — including the d’Hondt mechanism used to allocate ministerial posts, the petition of concern, and other […]
Audit Committee: role and membership
The Audit Committee is a standing committee that oversees the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) itself — the body that audits government spending. It approves the NIAO’s corporate and business plans, recommends its budget to the Assembly, and is involved in appointing the Comptroller and Auditor General, who leads it. It is easily confused with […]
Business Committee: role and membership
The Business Committee arranges the Assembly’s own business — the order and timing of debates, the length of sittings, and when legislative stages are scheduled. It is chaired by the Speaker and includes a member from each of the main parties represented in the Assembly, giving every party a say over how the schedule is […]
Committee on Procedures: role and membership
The Committee on Procedures keeps the Assembly’s Standing Orders — the rulebook governing how it conducts its own business — under review, and recommends changes when the existing procedures no longer work well in practice. Its work is procedural rather than departmental: it does not scrutinise ministers or legislation, but the rules that shape how […]