To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister when amendments to the Ministerial Code, expected within 100 days of the restoration of the Assembly, will be made.

Mrs Little-Pengelly

First, if I may, I will explain that, when the First Minister and I took office, we agreed to provide the Committee with a copy of the first-day brief that officials had prepared before we were appointed. That brief contained references to decisions that, officials anticipated, would be put to Ministers in the first 100 days of the new Administration. They were not commitments given by Ministers. There was some confusion, because the Member referenced it a number of times, and I asked where it had come from. It came from a first-day brief to the Committee and to her as Chair, but it was put together before we were in post. It is and was about what officials anticipated would be put to Ministers. It is important that we clarify that. In that context, we can confirm that officials are preparing advice to us on revisions to the ministerial code, principally to reflect the amendments made by the Executive Committee (Functions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2020.

Mrs Little-Pengelly

That work is under way, and we expect a submission very shortly.