FM To Target Public Sector Reform

Finance Minister Simon Hamilton has said he will focus on public sector reform during his time in office.

The Minister was speaking during a breakfast briefing in Belfast hosted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Northern Ireland.

Simon Hamilton spoke about his predecessor, Sammy Wilson.

"The biggest challenge that Sammy faced and successfully overcame during his time in office was agreeing and delivering a very difficult budget settlement," he said.

"Whilst the widespread predictions of public spending doom and gloom haven’t materialised, the public expenditure landscape has been altered.

"The spending round for 2015/2016 may have been more encouraging than we might have imagined but the prospect of tightening budgets up to 2018 and possibly beyond still exists.

"Coupled with the ever increasing expectations of an understandably demanding public, it is clear that tough times lie ahead. Meeting those demands with ever fewer resources will be the underlying context of my time in DFP.

"The people of Northern Ireland won’t accept, and nor do they deserve, less with less. They deserve more with less. That’s all very easy to say but far harder to deliver."

He said Northern Ireland's ageing population is "the single biggest challenge" the country faces over the next decade.

Minister Hamilton also outlined how he sees the Department of Finance and Personnel helping to achieve the aim of public sector reform. He said: "I want the Department of Finance and Personnel to be a proactive partner with other Departments and the entirety of our public sector to positively change Northern Ireland."

Mr Hamilton then announced the creation of a Public Sector Reform Division within the Department of Finance.

"This Division will work with the other Executive departments to assist them in making the reforms they require a reality," he said.

"It will seek to stimulate innovation in service delivery and it will gather and disseminate best practice in public expenditure, shared services and digital delivery, amongst other things."

(IT/MH)