SF roads minister accused of undermining Assembly - as major announcement made 'as part of' BBC coverage
Infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins has been rebuked by Stormont’s speaker for revealing a major policy change to the media before bringing it to the Assembly – amid questions about the announcement being “part of” a special day of BBC coverage on road safety.
Edwin Poots said the Sinn Fein minister’s actions appeared to be a “significant breach of the normal conventions” – after she announced her plans amid a blaze of publicity on BBC Northern Ireland on Tuesday.
The corporation reported that Ms Kimmins’s plans “come as part of a day of coverage dedicated to road safety”. It is understood to have been planning the special coverage for some time – with other media outlets informed of the impending announcement on Monday afternoon.
The BBC said the department was aware of its plans, and it reported the minister’s announcement “on the basis of its news value and significance”.
UUP MLA Steve Aiken, who also sits as a deputy speaker, said the minister’s actions were a “deliberate act of undermining” the assembly – and commented that the timing of the announcement to match the BBC special coverage “seems more than coincidental”.
The road safety scheme is designed to reduce the number of new and young drivers involved in serious collisions – and involve changes to training, testing and post-test rules for new drivers and motorcyclists. The plans would see Northern Ireland having similar laws to those in place in the Republic of Ireland, the United States and Australia.
Mr Aiken told the News Letter: “Normally some ministers bring announcements late to the assembly, or bring written statements outside assembly time. But announcing on the BBC, to coincide with a BBC special, seems more than coincidental - this wasn’t a sin of omission, this was a deliberate act of undermining the NI Assembly.
“The speaker was very clear... in my view this was disrespectful to all MLAs, especially on such a serious issue that should have been raised first on the floor”.
At the start of assembly business on Tuesday, Speaker Edwin Poots told MLAs that he has previously made it clear “that significant announcements should be made to the Assembly first”. He said: “This morning, there is wide-scale reporting in the media of the infrastructure minister's intention to introduce what she described as the: ‘biggest reform to driver tests and licensing we've ever seen’.
“It seems a substantial discourtesy to the Assembly and a significant breach of the normal conventions and expectations that there has been no request from the minister to make a statement. Therefore, as I have previously made clear that I will do in such circumstances, I have selected a question for urgent oral answer to ensure that Members will have the opportunity to question the Minister”.
Mr Poots said that the issue is not isolated to one department – and that he has received correspondence from the communities scrutiny committee expressing concerns about the sharing of information by the department.
“I remind ministers that the role of the assembly is to scrutinise the work of ministers and to hold them to account, and I will uphold that on behalf of the assembly. Ministers should proactively facilitate that scrutiny”, he said.
The News Letter asked the BBC if it was made aware of the minister's plans in advance of a press release issued to all media on Monday - and whether its coverage was co-ordinated with the Sinn Fein-run department’s announcement. The corporation was also asked for its response to Mr Aiken's claim that the announcement coinciding with the BBC's road safety day “seems more than coincidental”.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We think that road safety is an issue of significant public interest. It impacts on people across the region and in many different ways. Our coverage has been developed over several months with input from victims, first responders and relevant agencies. The Department, like others, was aware of our plans. Its announcement has been reported by us on the basis of its news value and significance.”
The News Letter asked the Department for Infrastructure why the minister's announcement on graduated driving licences was made to the media and not to the Assembly – and whether it co-ordinated the announcement with the BBC's day of road safety coverage. At the time of writing, the department had not responded.