Business figures paying £86 for 90-minute meeting with NI's top civil servant

As civil servants finalise plans for next year’s multi-billion pound Stormont budget in the absence of any government ministers, civil service head David Sterling had been set today meet about a dozen business figures who have each paid £86 to spend 90 minutes with him.

However, the Nolan Show was told on Monday morning that this event was no longer going ahead as planned (SEE BELOW: ‘Organiser explains move to call it off’).

The lobbyist organising the event, prominent public affairs figure Terry McErlane, defended charging money to access the man who is running Northern Ireland in unprecedented circumstances, but said he understood why some people would be uneasy at learning of what was happening.

However, when asked by the News Letter about the event in east Belfast’s Park Avenue Hotel, both he and Stormont Castle stressed that none of that money is going to Mr Sterling.

The Executive Office confirmed that Mr Sterling would not be paid for this or any other such engagement, saying that it was “part of his role to explain the wider challenges the public sector finds itself facing”.

Publicity for the ‘roundtable with the head of the civil service’ explicitly refers on several occasions to Stormont’s perilous budgetary situation and the ambiguity around which decisions can be made by civil servants in the absence of ministers.

It said that Mr Sterling had agreed to speak to a “small audience” and that “this is sure to be an opportunity that many organisations will benefit from”.

Mr McErlane said that many organisations with which he interacts are now “crying out for someone” to take decisions in Stormont after a year without an Executive.

Mr McErlane, who runs Resolute Public Affairs, said he could understand why there may be some public concern about people paying to see the head of the civil service at the current time.

However – prior to news emerging of the cancellation – he stressed that “no one’s going to turn up on Monday and say ‘David, can you sign off on X’”, and instead he expected the senior civil servant to give a presentation largely like that which he gave last week to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster, explaining how decisions are currently being taken and what decisions cannot be taken in the absence of ministers.

He said that Mr Sterling will not be paid for the event, adding that he would not pay or offer gifts to any civil servant for such an event, and that the head of the civil service probably did not know that a fee was being charged for the event.

When asked if people wanting to meet the head of the civil service should have to pay to do so, Mr McErlane said: “They shouldn’t have to pay to have an opportunity to raise their concerns.”

He said that he believed that anyone who wrote to Mr Sterling would probably be able to secure a meeting with at least an official under him, but said that for many of his clients it was about “convenience and time saving”.

He said that no one had questioned the principle of paying or the level of the charge for the event.

Stressing that he is not the only person charging to meet someone in government, he said that he was aware of other organisations where people would pay a fee to attend a breakfast or dinner at which senior civil servants or ministers would be present and where they would have the chance to discuss issues with them.

Mr McErlane said that during the “limbo” of the last year “some of my clients have found it difficult to get their messages to people [in government] who could direct them and say ‘here’s what’s possible’”.

He said that the primary purpose of the event was “education and networking” but that it would also be a chance for attendees to “voice concerns” to Mr Sterling.

He said that part of the £86 fee would go to the hotel and another portion of it would go on marketing the event and a fee to Eventbrite, the website via which tickets can be purchased.

Mr McErlane said that about a dozen clients were paying the fee to attend and several charities had also been set to be there, but would not be charged.

Most of those who were set to be attending were from the business or health sectors, he said.

ORGANISER EXPLAINS MOVE TO CALL IT OFF:

Terry McErlane, speaking on Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show on Monday morning, told the presenter that “in light of comments on both Twitter and Facebook, I’ve taken the decision to cancel the event this afternoon”.

He said: “These comments have created an impression about some kind of impropriety about the event. I’ve informed Mr Sterling of my decision.

“We’re disappointed that what would have been an educational and interesting event for both businesses and charities and some others has had to have been postponed.”

He said anyone who paid will be “fully refunded”.

He added there was “nothing improper about this event”, and he had not wanted that impression to be created.

Asked why he called it off if there was “nothing wrong” with the event, he said it was because people on social media were trying to “link the event to other issues” and “trying to question my integrity”.

He said there had been “absolutely nothing hidden” about the event, and that it had been put up on a publicly-accessible website.

Though he used both the words “cancelled” and “postponed” to describe the event on the Nolan Show, when speaking to the News Letter later on on Monday he clarified that it is call off altogether, rather than simply delayed.

He said he could not reveal the identities of the businesspeople who had been due to meet Mr Sterling due to client confidentiality.

Stephen Nolan told listeners that Mr Sterling “did not know that money was involved” and that a spokesperson for the Executive Office had said that “not only did he [Mr Sterling] not know money was involved, but that his view is it was right to cancel this event”.

The News Letter asked the Executive Office for a statement on the matter.

It said simply: “In his role as Head of the Civil Service, David Sterling engages with a wide variety of stakeholders, including through briefings, meetings and speaking events, to represent the NICS and explain the challenges we face.”