Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): Members will find relevant documents in tabled papers. The Bill was introduced on 17 November and passed its Second Stage on Monday past. The Committee has 30 working days in which to take evidence, consider and report its opinion on the Bill. That 30-day period will end on Monday 14 March. The Committee seeks to extend the Committee Stage by just one week, given the tight time frame before dissolution. A motion requesting that must be considered in plenary before the end of the 30-day period. Given the limited time, the motion to extend the Committee Stage is being considered today, with an expected date for plenary as soon as possible. The draft timeline extension will be 21 March. Are members content with the draft timeline?

The Committee Clerk: It is super tight. We would not do this unless dissolution was the following week. It is difficult to turn around a Bill at this speed. We know that the Bill cannot proceed beyond Committee Stage, so this will be a gathering of evidence to be set before the Assembly in the next mandate, probably, if the Bill is brought forward again.

Mr Weir: That is right. We might want to include a caveat in our Committee report about the limited amount of time to gather evidence on this important subject, but we will at least be able to maximise what we can get and put it on the record.

The Committee Clerk: The Bill report needs to contain the clear caveat that this was fast but that it provides a body of evidence that will be picked up subsequently.

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): The list of stakeholders in the briefing covers the main stakeholders whom you would imagine would want to have some input. Perhaps the Research and Information Service (RaISe) will cover this in its briefing, but I presume that the consultation that was carried out in 2014 will still be very informative.

The Committee Clerk: Absolutely, yes. Everybody is still, effectively, working off that. You will recall that that consultation informed the suggestion that zero-hours workers should be incorporated into the 2016 Employment Act, or into the employment law, as it was then. We hit the buffers again with dissolution and, because work still had to be done to get the rest of the Bill through, that was lifted out, but that consultation is still the most substantial piece of work that has been done on it.

As well as directly targeting specific stakeholders, we will conduct a survey on Citizen Space, which will, sadly, be very short. We really only have three weeks in which to report on the evidence, and that is pushing it. That survey will give us an indication of the views that are out there, but that evidence will be come with a very heavy caveat.

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): OK. I will ask for members' agreement to a couple of things. In relation to seeking an extension to the Committee Stage, I ask that we table the following motion:

Are members happy enough with that?

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): Are members content that we request a briefing paper on the Bill from RaISe?

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): Are members content that we write to the Department to ascertain its views on the Bill?

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): I advise members that, although there are no delegated powers memorandums in relation to a private Members' Bills, the Bill will still need to be referred to the Examiner of Statutory Rules for advice in relation to delegated powers. Are members content with that?

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): We will do that.

I propose that the Committee writes initially to key stakeholders seeking written submissions in relation to the Bill. Those stakeholders are: NIC-ICTU; Unite; Unison; CIPD; the Women's Regional Consortium; the Women's Policy Group; the Federation of Small Businesses; Retail NI; Hospitality Ulster; Hotels Federation; NICVA; NILGA; and the Labour Relations Agency.

I also advise members that FSB, Hotels Federation, Hospitality Ulster and Retail NI have been invited to give oral evidence to the Committee next week.

Mr Nesbitt: What about the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU)?

The Committee Clerk: We will add them as a specific —

Mr Nesbitt: It is seasonal.

The Committee Clerk: — request.

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): The Committee will also carry out a wider public consultation via a survey on Citizen Space. The draft survey questions are in members' tabled papers. I am aware that members received that yesterday afternoon, when they may have been involved in the debate on the Climate Change (No. 2) Bill. If members want to fire through any suggestions before —

The Committee Clerk: Yes, absolutely. We will not publish that immediately. We will reflect on the practicalities of that later. We have to go through a process to make that consultation live. Members can have a look at those questions. Please come back as soon as possible with anything that strikes you. We will let you know approximately when we are likely to go live with the survey, and it would be great it you could let us know before that. The survey questions are very similar to those in the previous consultation — we have not really gone off beam on that — because, again, there is such a short turnaround.

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): Are members content that the questions — or the amended questions, if they are amended — are put out in the survey?

Mr O'Dowd: Can we include NIAPA?

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): Yes. Along with the UFU?

Mr O'Dowd: Yes, please.

Mr Weir: Chair, I have no problem with any of the suggestions. Can we give a bit of thought over the next week to whether there are any additional organisations?

The Committee Clerk: Absolutely. We have a bit of time.

Mr Weir: I am just conscious that we will leave here, and it could suddenly pop into somebody's head tomorrow that such-and-such should be on the list.

The Committee Clerk: Once the survey is up, the Communications Office will push it out via social media. They have a thing that they can do to work out who to target. I do not know how it works, but it seems to be very clever and efficient. If members think of any other groups that it would be useful to get a specific response from, they should let us know as soon as they can.

Mr O'Dowd: The students' unions might also be useful. A lot of students are involved in that sort of work.

The Committee Clerk: Yes.

The Chairperson (Dr Archibald): I also seek members' agreement to issue the call for evidence notice.