Work of the Assembly

Clerk/Chief Executive

The role of the Clerk/Chief Executive, Leslie Hogg, comprises three important elements:

1. As Clerk she is responsible for the provision of procedural advice to the Speaker and Members of the Assembly.
2. As Chief Executive she is responsible to the Assembly Commission for the management of the administrative support services to the Assembly.
3. The Clerk/Chief Executive is the Accounting Officer for the Assembly’s budget.

To assist with these duties, the Clerk/Chief Executive oversees four directorates – Corporate Support Unit, Corporate Services, Parliamentary Services and Legal, Governance and Research Services.

Corporate Support Unit

The Corporate Support Unit is comprised of the Commission / Chief Executive’s Office and the Speaker’s Office.

Commission and Clerk / Chief Executive’s Office

The Assembly Commission and Clerk/Chief Executive’s Office currently provides the following main functions:

• Provision of support to the Clerk/Chief Executive
• Provision of procedural, corporate and secretarial support to the Assembly Commission
• Provision of secretarial support to the North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association
• Provision of secretarial support to the Secretariat Management Group (SMG)
• Performance monitoring against Directorate Business Plans

Role of Office:

Support to the Assembly Commission: Support the Assembly Commission in carrying out its functions as outlined under section 40 of the Northern Ireland Act.

In particular:

• to provide advice and support to Members in carrying out their role as Assembly Commission Members;
• to provide a timely, professional and non-partisan service to Members of the Assembly Commission;
• to act as a central point of co-ordination for arranging meetings of the Assembly Commission;
• to collate and disseminate papers for consideration at the meetings of the Assembly Commission; 
  to provide a record of meetings of the Assembly Commission and designated House Committees; and
• to co-ordinate the production of research papers and reports required by the Assembly Commission to inform their consideration on matters of business.

Corporate Support:

In particular:

• to collate and disseminate papers for consideration at the meetings of the Secretariat Management Group (SMG) and provide an accurate record of these meetings;
• to co-ordinate the development of strategic and business planning;
• to monitor and report on the performance against individual Directorate Business Plans;
• to provide support to the Assembly Leadership Forum.

Office of the Speaker

The Office of the Speaker exists to provide high quality, efficient and effective support to the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Deputy Speakers in the execution of their statutory and non-statutory duties and to act as a communications channel between the Speaker, Assembly Members, the Secretariat and external contacts. 

The Office of the Speaker aids the Speaker in their procedural, corporate and representational roles.

Procedural Role:

• Chairing plenary sessions of the Assembly
• Calling Members to speak on debates
• Maintaining order in the Chamber
• Replying to areas of dispute raised by Members
• Chairing meetings of the Business Committee which is responsible for determining the business to be discussed in plenary sessions

Corporate Role:

• Chairing the Assembly Commission which is responsible under legislation to ensure that the Assembly is provided with the property, staff and services it requires to carry out its work

Representational Role:

• Receiving VIP visitors to the Assembly, such as Heads of State, Ambassadors and senior political figures
• Attending external events to promote the work of the Northern Ireland Assembly, such as officially opening the Assembly marquee at the Balmoral Show
• Hosting events at Parliament Buildings to widen public access to their locally devolved institution

Corporate Services Unit

The Corporate Services Unit is comprised of:

• Finance Office
• Human Resources Office
• Equality Unit
• Building Services (including Support Services)
• Usher Services

Finance Office

The Finance Office is responsible for the following functions of the NI Assembly: 

• Budgeting
• Financial accounting and management reporting
• Payroll (Secretariat, Members and Member Support Staff)
• Secretariat travel 
• Processing of all Members claims

Human Resources Office

The role of the Human Resources Office is to support the delivery of the Assembly Commission’s Corporate Strategy through the provision of high quality HR services.

The Office provides a wide range of HR services to support the Assembly Secretariat including:  

• Workforce Planning and Resourcing
• Equality and Diversity
• Pay, Reward and Grading
• Employee Relations
• Learning and Development
• Health and Wellbeing
• Managing Attendance
• Managing and Developing Performance
• Pension services

At a strategic level, the Human Resources Office is responsible for advising and guiding senior management on organisational change and development and for leading on specific corporate projects.

Equality Unit

The Equality and Good Relations Unit provides support for the Assembly Commission to ensure it is compliant with all the statutory requirements of section 75(1&2) of the Northern Ireland Act and section 49A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. 

Section 75 compliance:

• provide advice and support in respect of the NI Assembly Equality Scheme
• arrange relevant training for Secretariat staff on section 75 awareness, front line service provision and policy screening
• advise and assist business areas in carrying out policy screening and equality impact assessments (EQIAs)
• compile an annual report on the progress of the Equality Scheme to the Equality Commission Northern Ireland (ECNI)
• conduct a review of the Equality Scheme within 3 years of its approval by ECNI

Disability Discrimination Act compliance:

• provide advice and support to business areas in respect of the Disability Action Plan
• compile an annual report on the progress of the Disability Action Plan to ECNI
• facilitate an informal Working Group consisting of representatives of people with disabilities, to assist and guide all future consultation exercises and implementation of the actions within the Disability Action Plan;
• conduct a review of the Disability Action Plan within 3 years of approval by ECNI

Building Services (including Support Services)

Building Services Branch is responsible for all accommodation and associated services, some of which are:

• Allocation of accommodation
• Provision and allocation of all furniture requirements and subsequent office layouts
• Building management
• Energy management
• Building maintenance
• Maintenance of all fire prevention equipment
• Provision of telephones, voicemail and mobile telephones
• Development of health and safety policy
• Room Moves – Vacating Office Procedures

Building Services Branch provides a proactive service to Members and all those who work in the building. Building Services Branch also liaises with outside agencies in respect of maintenance and works.

Usher Services

The key roles and responsibilities of Usher Services include:

• Provision of Usher support to Plenaries and Committees
• Management of access by persons to Parliament Buildings including use of Assembly Security Management System
• Management of Assembly ID passes and Visitor Management System
• Provision of security to all users of Parliament Buildings
• Provision of security advice when required
• Investigation of breaches of security
• Oversight of Emergency evacuation procedures
• Liaison with Stormont Estate Management and other organisations
• Liaison with relevant organisations in relation to Security reviews
• Development and implementation of security procedures
• Management of Internal postal system
• Management of  lost property service for the building
• Oversight of Assembly car parks

Parliamentary Services

The Parliamentary Services Directorate plays a key role in relation to:

• Effective support for all plenary business
• Effective support for all committee business
• Monitoring the legislative programme and its impact on resources
• Preparation of a Members’ Support Programme
• Planning for Assembly elections
• Providing information about the work of the Assembly to the media, public, government departments, and other key stakeholders
• Engaging with the public and promoting the work of the Assembly

• Bill Office and Committees
• Business Office and Committees
• Communications
• Official report and Public Engagement
• Information Systems

Legal, Governance and Research Services

The Legal, Governance and Research Services Directorate is made up of the following business services:

• Legal Services Office
• Examiner of Statutory Rules
• Information Standards
• Internal Audit Unit
• Governance Services
• RaISe
• Procurement Office

Legal Services

The Legal Services Office supports the Director of Legal, Governance and Research Services, who is Counsel to the Speaker.  The Office provides legal advice directly to the Clerk, the Speaker and his deputies, the Assembly Commission, committees, and the Secretariat on a broad range of issues, including:

• Public and constitutional law
• Human rights law
• Information law and the law of confidence
• Employment and equality law
• EU law (including retained EU law)
• Procurement and contract law

Examiner of Statutory Rules / Information Standards

Examiner of Statutory Rules

Under the Standing Orders of the Assembly, the Examiner of Statutory Rules carries out technical scrutiny of subordinate legislation where delegated to do so by the Committees of the Assembly reporting to the Committees and the Assembly.

Information Standards

The Information Standards office is responsible for information standards and governance across the Secretariat. This includes freedom of information, data protection, records management and information assurance.

Research and Information Service

RaISe aims to meet the information needs of the Assembly Members, their staff and the secretariat. The service employs subject specialists and library professionals to provide research and information support across the range of Assembly business areas. 

Internal Audit Unit and Governance Officer

The purpose of the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission’s (“the Assembly Commission’s”) Internal Audit Unit is to provide independent, objective assurance and control-related consulting services designed to add value and improve the organisation’s operations. 

The mission of internal audit is to enhance and protect organisational value by providing risk-based and objective assurance, advice and insight. The Internal Audit Unit helps the organisation accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of governance, risk management, and control processes.

The scope of internal audit activities encompasses, but is not limited to, objective examinations of evidence for the purpose of providing independent assessments to the Accounting Officer, the Secretariat Management Group (SMG), the Secretariat Audit & Risk Committee (SARC) and management on the adequacy and effectiveness of governance, risk management, and control processes. Internal audit assessments include evaluating whether:

• Risks relating to the achievement of objectives are appropriately identified and managed;
• Operations are in compliance with the organisation’s policies, procedures and governance standards;
• The results of operations are consistent with established goals and objectives; 
• Operations are being carried out effectively and efficiently;
• Information and the means used to identify, measure, analyse, classify, and report such information are reliable and have integrity; and
• Resources and assets are acquired economically, used efficiently, and protected adequately.

The work of the Unit is directed by a risk-based annual plan approved by SMG and endorsed by SARC.   In addition to planned risk-based audit engagements, Internal Audit may be required to conduct special reviews, e.g. under the terms of the Fraud Prevention and Anti-Bribery Response Plan.

The Governance Officer (AG6) sits within the Legal, Governance and Research Services Directorate and reports to the Director. 

The primary purpose of the Governance Officer is to actively support and advise the Clerk/ Chief Executive and the Director of Legal, Governance & Research Services in carrying out governance duties. 

The Governance Officer maintains and develops the Assembly Commission’s Corporate Governance Framework and Risk Management Strategy, timetabling and coordinating key governance tasks throughout the year, providing secretarial support to the Secretariat Audit and Risk Committee (“SARC”), coordinating stewardship statements, facilitating the necessary reviews of Directorate Risk Registers and the Corporate Risk Register.

Procurement Office

The Procurement Office provides professional purchasing expertise, including advice and direction on good (procurement) practice, to ensure propriety, efficiency, best value and compliance with legal obligations including:

• Development and implementation of procurement policies and procedures across the Secretariat
• Interpreting, negotiating and purchasing contracts over £30,000 in value
• Monitoring and reviewing supply and service contracts to ensure quality and value for money

Directorates and offices have delegated authority, under the Procurement Procedures, for procurements up to £30,000 in value.