To ask the Assembly Commission , in relation to the recent Independent Financial Review Panel determination, (i) why the decision was made not to permit Members’ staff to claim mileage for travel related to constituency business, given that the proposed job description provided by the Assembly Commission includes wording confirming certain grades of Members’ staff would be required to travel to meetings to represent the Member as part of constituency business; (ii) whether rural proofing was considered before the decision was taken; (iii) to share the rural proofing process and findings; and (iv) why Members' staff are not permitted out of pocket expenses for travel to constituency or Assembly related travel when Assembly secretariat staff are permitted mileage for travel to meetings outside Parliament Buildings.

To ask the Assembly Commission, in relation to the recent Independent Financial Review Panel determination, (i) why the decision was made not to permit Members’ staff to claim mileage for travel related to constituency business, given that the proposed job description provided by the Assembly Commission includes wording confirming certain grades of Members’ staff would be required to travel to meetings to represent the Member as part of constituency business; (ii)whether rural proofing was considered before the decision was taken; (iii) to share the rural proofing process and findings; and (iv) why Members' staff are not permitted out of pocket expenses for travel to constituency or Assembly related travel when Assembly secretariat staff are permitted mileage for travel to meetings outside Parliament Buildings.

(AQW 762/16-21)

The Assembly Commission is mindful of the statutory independence of the Independent Financial Review Panel when making a Determination under section 2 of the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.

The Commission’s role in the administration of the system of financial support for Members means that it is required to understand and implement the precise provisions contained in any Determination issued by the Panel. In that regard, the Commission notes that the Panel made reference to the issue of staff travel costs at paragraph 83 of the Report which accompanied the Assembly Members (Salaries and Expenses) Determination (Northern Ireland) 2016. However, this reference was by way of summary of the previous system of financial support for Members. The Commission is not aware of any other reference to staff travel contained in the Report or in the Determination. Under earlier Determinations, a Member was able to avail of general office costs expenditure funding to reimburse the costs of staff travel within a constituency. The present Determination does not contain a provision of this nature and, hence, no payment for staff travel can be made. It is the Commission’s understanding that such costs could be borne by a Member from the annual constituency travel allowance that is made available in the Determination.

The Commission is unable to state why such a provision was not included in the recent Determination. The Commission is unaware of any consideration that the Panel may have made with regard to rural proofing and, hence, the results of a rural proofing process are not held by the Commission. The Member may wish to liaise directly with the Panel on these matters.

Staff employed by the Commission are employed on such terms and conditions as the Commission may determine. Staff employed by Members are engaged on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Panel.