Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014

6 Reduction in size of Assembly to be reserved matter

(1) The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is amended as follows.

(2) In Schedule 3 (reserved matters), after paragraph 7 insert—

“7A The alteration of the number of members of the Assembly returned for each constituency.

This paragraph does not include—

(a) the alteration of that number to a number lower than five or higher than six, or

(b) the provision of different numbers for different constituencies.”

(3) After section 7 insert—

“7A Cross-community support required for Bill altering size of Assembly

(1) The Assembly shall not pass a relevant Bill without cross-community support.

(2) In this section—

• “pass”, in relation to a Bill, means pass at the stage in the Assembly’s proceedings at which the Bill falls finally to be passed or rejected;

• “relevant Bill” means a Bill containing a provision which deals with a matter falling within a description specified in paragraph 7A of Schedule 3 (size of Assembly).”

(4) In section 14 (submission by Secretary of State), after subsection (3) insert—

“(3A) The Secretary of State shall not submit a Bill for Royal Assent if the Assembly has passed the Bill in contravention of section 7A (cross-community support required for Bill altering size of Assembly).”

(5) In section 53(3)(b) (agreements etc by person participating in Councils), after “section” insert “7A,”.