UUP in bid to foil DUP-SF bill to give more power to ministers

Just hours before the final deadline to alter the Executive Committee (Functions) Bill, Ulster Unionist Doug Beattie tabled an amendment which would effectively undo the most far-reaching aspect of the bill. It would not deal with a separate issue raised by senior Belfast solicitor Maria O’Loan who has argued that the bill puts the biggest planning decisions – which could involve major controversy – entirely beyond the power of the Executive and in the hands of one minister, undermining the cross-community safeguards meant to be at the heart of power-sharing. However, with the exception of planning, Mr Beattie’s amendment would stop the bill from giving additional unilateral decision-making powers to other ministers. Mr Beattie’s move comes after not a single DUP MLA or MP spoke out about what is happening, despite Richard Bullick, one of the key DUP architects of the St Andrews Agreement, repeatedly saying over recent days that the bill would significantly undermine that deal which the DUP has presented as its seminal constitutional achievement since becoming the lead unionist party. Mr Beattie’s amendment would alter the key clause in the bill to remove the section stating that a minister would not have to bring a significant or controversial matter to the Executive “unless that matter affects the exercise of the statutory responsibilities of one or more other ministers more than incidentally”. As the bill stands, that section would increase the threshold at which a matter must be decided collectively by all ministers. That would have the benefit of simplifying and speeding up decision-making, but would have the drawback of potentially increasing the existing tendency of departments to work in silos where they can be working against each other. Mr Beattie told the News Letter that the amendment at this stage was not ideal, but was an attempt “to do a bit of damage limitation”. He said: “However, even if taken and voted for, it would still leave the Minister for Infrastructure in a position where she could avoid or reduce scrutiny. “It’s not often that MLAs say they have got something wrong but I think in voting in favour of accelerated passage I got it wrong. “This bill, although short, has the ability to undermine scrutiny and collective responsibility and plunge us back into a ministerial silo mentality.” DUP defends support but fails to justify Foster’s claim about ‘non-existent’ law The DUP has failed to justify a claim by Arlene Foster that three Executive ministers could call in any significant decision to the Executive, meaning that the DUP could then block those decisions. Mrs Foster made the claim earlier this month in giving evidence to a Stormont committee examining the bill, and the claim was then repeated by senior DUP MLA Christopher Stalford and SDLP MLA Colin McGrath. However, Mrs Foster’s former spad, Richard Bullick, has said that the claim is “nonsense” and there is no legal basis whatsoever for three ministers having the power to call in another minister’s decision. The News Letter asked the DUP to set out the law under which the power which Mrs Foster claimed existed does in fact exist. In response, the party could point to no legislation in which that power resides. Instead the party defended its support for the bill, saying: “The amendment clarifies the requirements on ministers to bring cross-cutting matters to the Executive to simply reflect in legislation the practice and interpretation of ‘cross-cutting’ by the Executive since the St Andrews Agreement. “As this simply reflects practice, it is anticipated that there will no reduction or change on the volume or type of matters that are required to come to the Executive under this requirement. “The amendment’s purpose is to give legislative clarity and does not change Executive’s collective responsibility or ministerial obligations to bring cross-cutting matters to the Executive.” ——— ——— ——— ——— A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription. Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up. Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website. Alistair Bushe Editor