Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Following a recent written question I have had it confirmed to me that staff which are still being paid by the Northern Ireland Assembly have been seconded to other legislatures. On one level this is understandable given Stormont’s deadlock and the remote prospects of devolution being restored. However, people in Northern Ireland are entitled to ask why in such circumstances the salaries of redeployed staff continue to be paid from the Northern Ireland block grant.
“In the case of staff who have been deployed to work for Dublin in a foreign parliament the questions are more profound. U.K. taxpayers’ money should not be spent to aid the running of a non-U.K. administration.
“I have tabled followup questions seeking to establish how much has been spent on this.”
The relevant question and answer are as follows:
To ask the Assembly Commission whether any staff are seconded to work outside the jurisdication of Northern Ireland and, if so, (i) how many; (ii) to whom; and (iii) who is paying their salaries.
Answer:
The Assembly Commission does not have any formal secondment arrangements in place for staff outside Northern Ireland. However, the Commission has utilised its contacts in other legislatures to seek to maintain the skills and experience of its staff during the period when the Assembly has not been fully functioning through a process of redeployment. All redeployment arrangements enable Assembly Commission staff to be recalled immediately once the Assembly resumes its full range of functions.
Information in relation to redeployed staff is collated on a monthly basis and the information below is accurate as of 19 February 2018. The figures provided are on the basis of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff.
11.0 FTE staff have been redeployed to work for bodies located outside the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland, although the majority of the work is carried out in Parliament Buildings.
The breakdown of the organisations that the staff have been redeployed to work for is as follows:
4.2 FTE staff – House of Commons;
4.6 FTE staff – Scottish Parliament;
1.4 FTE staff – House of Lords; and
0.8 FTE staff – Houses of the Oireachtas.
The Assembly Commission pays the salaries of the redeployed staff.
Followup questions:
To ask the Assembly Commission further to the response to AQW 118/17-22 how much to date the seconded staff referred to in this answer have cost the Northern Ireland Assembly.
To ask the Assembly Commission further to the response to AQW 118/17-22 is the Assembly paying any travel or other expenses to these staff re their secondments to other bodies.