Dear Private Office,

I note since the matter of your Departments legal team delaying the issue of bye-laws by up to 5 years was first brought to the Ministers attention, there has been another change of MInister.
This is the third change of Minister since this issues was first raised.
In meetings with Minister Poots and Attwood, both expressed frustration at the slow pace of progress, and came to accept that the slow pace in issueing bye-laws was rooted in outdated practices within the departments legal team, and not with local councils as Ministers had first been incorrectly briefed..
I am writing to
1. Inform you that 3 more months have now passed and the matter is not settled.
2. I welcome your decision to change procedures over the management process for new bye-laws. Myself and Council officers would like the opportunity to be consulted and review the new procedures you refer to in your letter of the 29th June 2013, as we would represent the ‘customers’ of any new procedures. This would be important before new procedures are issued on 31st Dec 2013 as you mentioned in the final para of your letter
3. We note that council mergers are coming up, and thus the department is likely to be hit with a tidal wave of bye-laws, and the 5+ year delays in our bye-laws, if replicated across the North, will result in chaos
Finally, I would ask to be allowed to bring these matters to the new Minister Durkans attention.
Cllr Cadogan Enright