DUP welcomes government talk of civil service reform - saying changes are needed in Northern Ireland too
The DUP has welcomed government plans to reform the UK civil service – and said its Northern Ireland equivalent also needs change, claiming it is “slow and lacking the requisite skills” to deliver for taxpayers.
South Down MLA Diane Forsythe was responding to comments by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the weekend – in which he unveiled plans for “radical” changes to the service.
Pat McFadden said under-performing civil servants could be incentivised to leave their jobs and senior officials will have their pay linked to performance – but declined to put a number on how many people could lose their jobs through the reforms.
Ms Forsythe, who is the vice-chair of Stormont’s Finance Committee, said it is good that the government is talking about reform “as it is recognition that one of the greatest obstacles to delivering better outcomes for the taxpayer is a civil service structure which is slow and lacking the requisite skills”.
The DUP MLA said: “A lack of expertise and senior leadership in the Northern Ireland Civil Service has contributed significantly to the lack of progress in delivering key infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland, such as the York Street Interchange and the A5, in recent years.
“There is also a growing catalogue of overspends, most recently in the Belfast Health Trust with the Maternity and Children’s Hospital.
“The Northern Ireland Audit Office has found that there was £2.4bn overspend in 47 projects and an underspend of £42m in 11 projects. Only 9 of the 77 projects considered by the Audit Office are expected to meet their cost and time projections.
“The Northern Ireland Civil Service is different to its counterparts in Scotland and Wales. Whereas the civil service in Scotland and Wales remain part of the UK Home Civil Service, NICS is a stand- alone body and as a result has been unable, and at times unwilling, to benefit from economies of scale in terms of skills present in the public sector in Great Britain.
“We sought to tackle this during our negotiations with the Government. The Safeguarding the Union command paper sets out a programme for skills exchange between the NICS and the UK Home Civil Service.
“Encouraging those secondments and movement across all parts of the UK will boost capacity and help bring specific expertise to projects where necessary.
“This has also been reflected within the Programme for Government where reform is recognised as essential for the delivery of public services”.
Last year’s NI Audit Office report resulted in an ongoing dispute at Stormont between politicians and civil servants over who is responsible for a series of huge overspends in public sector projects.
Last month, the DUP accused the civil service of “financial mismanagement” – but the Head of the Civil Service in Northern Ireland reminded MLAs that elected ministers run departments.
Jayne Brady also rejected assertions made at Stormont’s Finance Committee that the NICS board should be more accountable for overspends, highlighting the responsibility of accounting officers in each Stormont department, under the direction of elected ministers.