Committee for Justice: role, membership and bills before it
The Committee for Justice is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of the Department of Justice and its minister, examining policy, expenditure and administration, and considers justice legislation in detail during a bill’s Committee Stage. Statutory committees advise and assist their department’s minister in […]
Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: role, membership and bills before it
The Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and its minister, examining policy, expenditure and administration, and considers relevant legislation in detail during a bill’s Committee Stage. […]
Committee for Education: role, membership and bills before it
The Committee for Education is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of the Department of Education 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 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 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 Economy: role, membership and bills before it
The Committee for the Economy is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of the Department for the Economy 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]