Review of the Civic Forum

Among the arrangements for the Civic Forum proposed in the report to the Assembly on 15 February 1999, was the recommendation that:

The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister shall arrange a formal review, to be carried out in close consultation with the membership of the Civic Forum, with a view to reporting within 12 months of the Forum becoming operational.  The review should consider all matters relating to the structure and effective operation of the Civic Forum.

However, to allow the Civic Forum to have some time to establish its working practices and ensure a more meaningful review, the First Minister and deputy First Minister decided that the review should be deferred until spring 2002. The review was duly commissioned but was never completed due to the suspension of the devolved institutions.

The original review Terms of Reference were confined to examining the structure and effectiveness of the existing Civic Forum and making recommendations. However, by 2006 it was clear from a discussion in the Transitional Assembly’s Preparation for Government Committee, that members were divided on whether the Civic Forum, as originally constituted, was in fact the most appropriate mechanism for obtaining the views of civic society. The committee were, however, in agreement that there should be “a review of the mechanisms for civic society to promote its views.”  

Following restoration on 8 May 2007, the First Minister and the deputy First Minister decided to commission a fresh review to examine the structure, membership and role of the Forum. The Terms of Reference of the earlier review were expanded to take into account the changes in civic society during the intervening years and the wider concerns emerging from the Preparation for Government Committee debate.