Stormont Opposition plan calls for rescue of public services
Commitments to rescue Northern Ireland’s public services and restoring the environment, as well as a robust hate crime bill, are to feature in the Stormont Opposition’s Plan for Change.
The Official Opposition in the Assembly, made up of SDLP MLAs, is set to launch the plan on Monday morning hours before further detail of the Stormont Executive’s Programme for Government is expected to be revealed.
The Opposition said its plan also challenges the Executive to “set clear targets and ambitions rather than vague aspirations”.
The Plan for Change is described as setting clear targets for 2030, but also legislative and administrative actions which an Executive could implement by the end of the current mandate in 2027.
It comprises five key themes, including to rescue public services with a costed wait list strategy with a clear implementation timeline, and a childcare strategy including aiming to dramatically reduce costs by 2030.
Themes also include an aim to transform Stormont, calling for a covenant from Executive parties not to collapse Stormont for the remainder of this term and new legal powers for the Fiscal Council to report on Executive performance.
Meanwhile the plan also calls for the unlocking of economic potential, restoring the environment with an independent Environmental Protection Agency and a Nature Restoration Bill with binding targets to halt biodiversity loss, and a robust and standalone Hate Crime Bill to tackle race hate and intolerance.
Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole described the plan as setting out actions which are “practical but ambitious”.
He said since entering Opposition earlier this year following the restoration of devolved government, the SDLP has “consistently sought to be constructive”.
“Today we are publishing our proposed Plan for Change, which has clear actions to improve people’s lives by the end of this Assembly mandate,” he said.
“We know the Executive is about to launch its own full Programme for Government and we think they should be as clear and specific as possible about their targets and plans.
“So far, they have simply given us a list of gauzy, aspirational priorities. The public deserves more than that – they deserve specific actions that will deliver measurable targets. People don’t need hundreds of pages of waffle, they need clear plans and then action.
“Our plan sets out actions that are practical but ambitious. We are clear what we would do, now the Executive needs to be clear on what it will do. Simply being in office and staging photo opportunities isn’t enough.”