Commentary on provisions of Act Section 7: Joint UK appointment functions etc.
This section addresses appointment functions exercised jointly by UK Ministers and Northern Ireland Ministers, including those made alongside Scottish and Welsh Ministers. In these cases, it enables those functions to be exercised in the absence of the Northern Ireland Minister. Instead of acting jointly with the Northern Ireland Minister, the Secretary of State is required, before exercising the appointment functions, to consult the relevant Northern Ireland department. The functions of the Scottish and Welsh Ministers are not affected, meaning that an appointment that would otherwise be made jointly by Ministers from the UK Government and the three devolved administrations would instead be made by UK, Scottish and Welsh Ministers, following consultation (by the Secretary of State) with the relevant Northern Ireland department. This does not affect appointments made by Northern Ireland Ministers alone to joint bodies; these would be within the scope of section 5.