Assessing the Legislative Success of the NI Assembly Since 2007

2. This is your FINAL question out of 4 on your AS1 paper • It is an ESSAY question and will be worth up to half of your marks so considerable time should be set aside for it. • It will ask you to Assess an issue such as the Executives success/ failure ; the fortunes of a political party/ies or the Assemblies effectiveness. It is hard to predict so you have to be very well prepared. • You HAVE to be very structured in your approach and PLAN your answer beforehand – This helps to maintain the focus and keeps your essay relevant. Do a Mindmap ; Flow chart or some other form of plan – It will help structure your thoughts and make your answer framed. • Set aside 10 MINUTES to plan the answer • Include relevant examples • Focus on the question and keep it relevant. It needs an introduction. It needs clear points in well structured paragraphs. It needs a conclusion. • Try to aim for at least 3-4 pages

3. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25)

4. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25) Start with Introduction ; Keep it brief, balanced and focused on the question in hand. DO NOT write the main points of your answer here! Leave that for the body of the essay The NI Assembly has been performing its legislative role for nearly a decade, having been transferred a range of devolved powers as a result of the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements. In this time they have managed to produce a range of some impressive legislation and have at times worked well together on a cross community basis. This would indeed appear to illustrate legislative success. However, any success must be balanced by the obvious limitations. The legislative process also has many flaws which seem to undermine any progress entirely. The fact that there is even a possible return to Direct rule shows the lack of progress in some of the basic issues, that may undermine any positive factors.

5. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25) Your first half of your essay should lay out one side of the argument. Explain this well and give detail and examples for a top class answer. It should have a few paragraphs. Always speak in the third person. Use terms like ‘Critics believe’ ‘Supporters suggest’ Supporters of the Assemblies legislative record can point out a number of key points and successes. The Assembly has the legislative power to initiate legislation through Private Members Bills and Committees and also plays a key role in scrutinising legislation through debates, questions and committee work. There were some notable successes in producing legislation relevant to the local population. The Sunbeds Act for example, shows how representative the legislative process is. It was introduced in response to a local issue. Skin Cancer rates in Northern Ireland and Derry in particular were significantly higher than average. One possible cause was sunbeds. The Assembly brought in relevant persons. They consulted with hospitals, sunbed shops and users as well as victims. The result was a bill which included age limits on solariums. Warning leaflets and time limits.

6. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25) The Assembly has also demonstrated progress along cross community lines. A clear example of cross community consensus was the Taxi Bill which had the support of most MLAs and produced 72 amendments. It produced an easy to understand and regulated taxi industry. MLA’s used Committee powers to call for Persons and papers to interview several stakeholders including Disability action and taxi users. This was a prime example of parties working together for the betterment of legislation. The 2011-2016 mandate also provided some evidence of legislative success. There were some successful pieces of ‘home-grown’ legislation that have genuinely improved the lives of local people. NI for example introduced a 5p carrier bag charge showing that politicians here can lead the way in terms of useful, credible legislation. It has taken England years to catch up with such legislation. The result has also been an 80 million reduction in plastic bag usage. This has meant Northern Ireland comes a lot closer to the European targets set on recycling. It is also much better for the environment and sea life as a whole/

7. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25) Your first half of your essay should lay out one side of the argument. Explain this well and give detail and examples for a top class answer. It should have a few paragraphs. Always speak in the third person. Use terms like ‘Critics believe’ ‘Supporters suggest’ There is evidence that, with time, MLA’s were also becoming much more adept at the legislative process. Almost 2000 amendments were made in this time period indicating improved legislative competence. Non-Executive Bills, although still relatively rare, became more common. There was a rush of Private Members Bills in the latest Assembly. Jim Allister, for example pushed through Private Members Bill on SPADs ((Special Advisors) Lord Morrow successfully introduced the Human Trafficking legislation. This was relatively novel in Europe in making Northern Ireland one of the only places in Europe where prostitution is illegal. John McAllisters Opposition bill also seemed a clear example of Executive success. It successfully introduced the right to have an Official Opposition. This was soon acted upon by the UUP and SDLP One clear power that Northern Ireland has over other legislatures is the ability for a Committee to produce legislation. Mike Nesbitt brought forward the first legislation to be drafted by an Assembly committee: the Public Services Ombudsperson Bill. However despite many positives and despite its progress from Direct Rule, the legislative process is flawed in many ways.

8. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25) You should begin your counter argument half way through. Follow the same format – Paragraphs / Point in each / well explained and with example. However, despite these clear signs of success and progress, there are many areas of weakness and limitation within the legislative process over the years. Whilst certainly preferable to direct rule, and far more functional than the first mandate (1999-2002), the Assembly initially struggled to get to grips with its legislative role in the 2007-11 mandate. The Executive took nearly a year to issue a Programme for Government. The absence of legislation forced the Assembly to focus on private members motions only. As a result, the Assembly’s work was seen as superficial and ineffective - Wilford, called it a ‘school debating society’ rather than a proper legislature. There also developed the problem of back-loading of legislation which resulted in a log-jam of Bills toward the end of the Assembly’s mandate. The legislative programme that the Assembly eventually engaged in was criticised as ‘unimaginative’ and most of its legislative work involved ‘rubber-stamping’ UK laws for NI rather than creating specific laws designed for NI. Power became increasingly concentrated with Executive and only 69 Bills were completed in the four year period – Westminster could do this in a year. However, many of the same problems continued to impact this mandate – slow legislative progress with a real lack of non-executive bills. Just 67 Bills achieved Royal Assent in 5 years – just 7 of which were non-executive – this compares very poorly with Westminster and Scotland and much of this was ‘rubber stamping’. Wilford suggests that the high level of control exerted over MLAs by the party whip and a lack of relative autonomy, prevented MLAs from having the courage to vote against their own party or pursue a PMB that may not be in line with party priorities.

9. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25) There were major disappointments in pushing through significant pieces of legislation. The use of the Irish Language Act as a political football is one example. The Education and Skills Authority and the proposed Peace Centre at the Maze/Long Kesh site were also examples of legislative failure. Backloading continues to be an issue with almost half of legislation rushed through in the final year of the mandate. The legislative process has also been hindered by misuse of the petition of concern. It was introduced to safeguard and protect the different designated communities from legislation that benefits one group over another. Now, the PoC has simply become a tool for the biggest parties to shut down what they don’t like. Most recently it was used by the DUP to block any progress on marriage equality despite a majority of the Assembly voting in favour of a motion to introduce it. Sinn Fein have also used it to block Welfare reform. This mandate was characterised gridlock over controversial issues. But it all relates back to the mood in the political centre of gravity – Stormont Castle. When the DUP and Sinn Féin teams are not in `deal-making mode’ – usually because relations between the parties has dipped for some reason – then everything grinds to a halt making legislative progress impossible. The 2016-2021 mandate started with an overwhelming burst of PMB activity as the new ‘official opposition’ created a renewed need for non-executive parties to try and influence legislation. However all of the problems that had been building over the decade came to a head when the institutions collapsed in 2017. Ostensibly this was about a botched energy scheme, itself an example of legislative immaturity and incompetence, and the tensions between SF and DUP over legacy issues and equality finally came to breaking point - NI now faces the very real prospect of a return to direct rule.

10. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25) Finish with a conclusion. Review your arguments again briefly Make sure you make a clear judgement on one side of the argument. In conclusion, the past decade has seen an unbroken sequence of devolution that although faulty, was maturing and delivering in some legislative areas, crucially putting an end to the democratic deficit. However, the legislative process was held hostage by the fundamental differences between DUP and SF and they failed to legislate properly for any issue with a hint of controversy. As Stephen McCaffery claims - “despite honest efforts by many at Stormont, it will be remembered as a missed opportunity, which failed too many communities too often”.

11. Assess the view that the Executive has failed to provide effective government since 2007 [25 marks]

12. Assess the view that the Executive has failed to provide effective government since 2007 [25 marks] The Northern Ireland Executive has been accused by its critics of failing to provide effective Government over the past 9 years. In many ways it has stumbled from crisis to crisis and has had many faults.However, the Executive has also made a great deal of effective progress since 2007.

13. Assess the view that the Executive has failed to provide effective government since 2007 [25 marks] Critics have argued that the Northern Ireland Executive has failed to provide effective government since devolution was reinstated in 2007…

14. Assess the view that the Executive has failed to provide effective government since 2007 [25 marks] Supporters of the NI Executive have defended its record since 2007..

15. Assess the view that since 2007 the Assembly has been a legislative success (25) • Assess the view that since 2007, the Assembly has been successful in holding the Executive to account (25) • Assess the extent to which MLAs have been successful in carrying out their functions (25) • Assess the extent to which the Executive has succeeded in providing effective government for Northern Ireland since 2007. (25) • Assess the reasons for the changing electoral performances of the DUP and the UUP since 1998 (25) • Assess the reasons for the changing electoral performances of Sinn Fein and the SDLP since 1998 (25)

16. Assess how successful the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP have been in reversing their decline (25). • Assess the reasons why the Alliance Party has always struggled in Northern Ireland politics. [25] • Assess the view that what the main political parties in Northern Ireland stand for has not changed. (25) • Assess the view that, since 2007, politics in Northern Ireland is increasingly dominated by two parties. (25) • Assess the view that differences between Sinn Fein and the DUP are as wide as ever (25)