Follow-up of previous recommendations
37. As is evident from the preceding paragraphs of
this Report, the Committee follows up previous recommendations
in a systematic way. We do not believe that the Government's responses
to our Reports should be the last word, and where we are not content
with a response, or where further information is required, we
will continue to pursue matters.
38. However, it is also clear that devolution of
responsibility for large areas of policy to the Northern Ireland
Executive, and of responsibility for scrutinising those policies
to Committees of the Northern Ireland Assembly, has deprived us
of the ability to follow up the recommendations made in many of
our previous Reports—for example, our stated intention to
continue to monitor the effectiveness of the petroleum licensing
regime in Northern Ireland cannot be sustained, because the matter
has been devolved.[28]
Similarly, and as noted above, any follow-up to our Report on
tourism will have to be carried out by our colleagues in the Northern
Ireland Assembly, and not by this Committee.
39. In due course, the Assembly will take on responsibility
for scrutiny of policing and criminal justice matters. We hope
that, following devolution of this responsibility, our colleagues
at Stormont will pursue outstanding questions raised in our Reports
on these matters. For the time being, we will continue to do so
ourselves.
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