Background
3.The framework for paying allowances to Members of the Assembly is governed by sections 47 and 48 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
4.Section 47 of the Act allows the Assembly to make provision for allowances for current Members of the Assembly. Section 48 allows the Assembly to make provision for the payment of allowances to, or in respect of, any person who has ceased to be a Member of the Assembly – i.e., a former Member. Three such allowances are provided for, in the Allowances to Members of the Assembly Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 (c. 3) (‘the 2000 Act’). They are Resettlement Allowance, Ill-Health Retirement Allowance, and Winding-up Allowance (‘the 2000 Act allowances’).
5.The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (which, under section 40 of the Act, is required to provide the Assembly, or ensure that the Assembly is provided, with the property, staff and services required for the Assembly’s purposes) has given extensive consideration to a number of issues relating to the pay, pensions and expenditure of Members. In particular, agreeing with recommendations made to it by the Review Body on Senior Salaries (‘the SSRB’), the Commission has recommended changes to the 2000 Act allowances. The Commission proposes that these changes are made by first repealing the 2000 Act in its entirety, and then making new provision by determination under section 48.
6.The Commission also proposes that the Assembly passes an Act establishing an Independent Statutory Body (‘ISB’) that will determine the future pay, pension and financial support arrangements for Members or former Members of the Assembly (including any allowances for former Members similar to the 2000 Act allowances). Such a body cannot be empowered to pass primary legislation for Northern Ireland, and therefore could not itself repeal the 2000 Act. The repeal of the 2000 Act is therefore a necessary step in the project to establish and empower such a body.
7.The Commission report came before the Assembly on 13 December 2010.