To ask the Assembly Commission when the review of Members' rental allowance will take place; and whether that review will consider backdating the allowance to the start of this mandate.

As noted in the replies to AQW 22266/17-22 and AQW 30680/17-22, the Assembly Commission agreed at its meeting on 8 July 2021 that any new Determination on Members’ allowances could only be published alongside progress on legislative reform of the system of setting salaries and allowances for MLAs.

You will be aware that the Assembly Commission had introduced the Assembly Members (Remuneration Board) Bill in the last Assembly mandate. However, the Bill was not progressed in that mandate and it fell once the mandate ended.

Therefore, a review of allowances payable to Members, to include the amounts of rent recoverable for a Member’s constituency office, can only be finalised once progress has been made on the legislative reform noted above.

While the Assembly Commission remains in place following the recent Assembly election, no provision presently exists for the Assembly Commission to introduce a similar Bill to the Assembly Members (Remuneration Board) Bill in this Assembly mandate.

It is envisaged that a newly appointed Assembly Commission will determine the exact scope of the review. It is also anticipated that the review will consider a number of different aspects of the present Determination including market rates for rental payments and also the timing of the implementation of any changes that might be made.