AQO 3801/22-27 Oral question to the Assembly Commission
To ask the Assembly Commission to outline any work it is undertaking to make Parliament Buildings a safe place for those with allergies.
Asked by Kate Nicholl MLA on 11 June 2026
- Answered
- Oral
- Answered in the Chamber
- Tabled
- 11 June 2026
- Answer due by
- 23 June 2026
- Answered
- 23 June 202612 days after tabling
- Department
- Northern Ireland Assembly Commission
- Priority question
- No
Answer
Answered in the Assembly Chamber on 23 June 2026. Extract from the Official Report (Hansard), including any supplementary questions:
Ms Ennis
I thank the Member for her question. The Assembly Commission is mindful of the different needs of individual users of and visitors to Parliament Buildings. The Assembly Commission requires its service provider to deliver comprehensive cleaning services that maintain the highest levels of health, safety and hygiene in accordance with the British Institute of Cleaning Science's cleaning standards. While providing catering services throughout Parliament Buildings, the service provider is required to comply with all relevant legislation and best practice guidance. In addition, the Assembly Commission strives to meet the differing needs and dietary requirements of our wide customer base. The service provider is required to provide various dietary options based on, for example, diabetic and low-salt requirements, allergies, intolerances and other things, such as vegetarian and vegan diets, on request. Specifically, the service provider operates an allergen management system based on statutory and established food safety procedures. That includes key control points such as the provision of clear allergen information, appropriate food display and labelling, staff training and safe food preparation practices.
Ms Nicholl
I thank the Member for that answer. Recently, we held the national allergy strategy launch in the Long Gallery. I thank the catering team, led by Alan, for how well they dealt with that. Working with people who have serious allergies is often viewed as being just about catering and food, but it is up to all of us to know how we can support people as best we can. Would the Commission be open to looking at how more staff could be enabled to administer EpiPens and maybe at having EpiPens on-site so that we can support anyone who might need one?
Ms Ennis
The Member raises a very important point. While the Assembly Commission has set out everything that it is required to do in legislation, staff need that hands-on, in-person experience so that, if something were to happen, they would know what to do and what the procedure is. As a Commission member, I know that the Assembly complies with its statutory requirements around food preparation, which you talked about — more commonly known as "Natasha's law". I will certainly bring that back to the Commission, and we can discuss whether we can do more about that hands-on, first-responder response and about whether, if something happened, staff would be equipped to deliver the necessary first response. We will absolutely take that back and discuss it.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Dr Aiken)
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes questions to the Commission. We will take our ease for a few moments for the handover at the top Table.