Assembly Committee Scrutiny
RHI Inquiry · The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme · Issued 13 March 2020 · Addressed to: NI Assembly
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The Northern Ireland Assembly should consider what steps are needed to strengthen its scrutiny role, particularly as conducted by Assembly Committees, in the light of lessons from the RHI. While it will be for the Assembly itself to decide, the Inquiry recommends that such a consideration might include significantly increasing the resources available to statutory committees and, generally, identifying what steps are needed to improve the effective scrutiny of Departments and their initiatives, whether in Assembly Committees or in the Assembly Chamber itself.
RHI Inquiry, The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme · 13 Mar 2020 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The NIAO Second Progress Report (October 2024) did not assess this recommendation, stating that it is directed at the NI Assembly (to strengthen Committee scrutiny), not at the NI Executive or the Department of Finance (NIAO Second Progress Report, October 2024).
How was this evidence gathered?
Response — verbatim from government
●NI Assembly
Responsibility of the NI Assembly. Chairpersons' Liaison Group published 'Report on Strengthening Committee Scrutiny' in March 2022. Work continuing post-February 2024 assembly resumption.
NI Assembly · 7 Oct 2021 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 15 Oct 2024 NIAO Second Progress Report (October 2024): Not assessed by NIAO. This recommendation is directed at the NI Assembly (to strengthen Committee scrutiny), not at the NI Executive or DoF. The Chairpersons' Liaison Group has considered how the Assembly Committees' scrutiny role can be strengthened in response to this recommendation. Source →
- 15 Oct 2024 · NIAO Second Progress Report Assembly committee scrutiny has not been structurally strengthened despite active engagement by PAC. No formal reform of committee powers or research capacity implemented. View source → Insufficient Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.