The Stormont Executive’s 88-page draft programme for government sets out three key missions – people, planet and prosperity – with an underpinning cross-cutting commitment to peace.
The programme, titled Our Plan: Doing What Matters Most, also highlights nine policy areas that the coalition will prioritise in the remainder of the mandate. They are:
– To grow a globally competitive and sustainable economy.
– Deliver affordable childcare.
– Cut health waiting times.
– Ending violence against women and girls.
– Better support for children and young people with special educational needs.
– Provide more social, affordable and sustainable housing.
– Safer communities.
– Protect Lough Neagh and the environment.
– Reform and transformation of public services.
The document includes a link to a dashboard that will be used to measure wellbeing across a series of ten indicators – happier children, cleaner environment, equal society, healthier lives, brighter futures, stronger economy, safer communities, caring society, better homes and living peacefully.
The success of actions taken under the programme for government (PfG) will be assessed against these indicators.
Headline proposals set out in the draft PfG include:
– A reform and transformation unit to work across all departments to reform public service delivery in Northern Ireland.
– A key element of this work will see a public sector transformation board oversee investments funded from a £235 million transformation fund.
– Reform within the health service is identified as “instrumental” in reducing Northern Ireland’s spiralling health service waiting lists. The PfG also says “difficult decisions” on the reconfiguration of services in the region will be needed.
– A tourism strategic action plan to showcase Northern Ireland as a visitor location.
– The delivery of a sub-regional economic action plan with proposals to invest £1.3 billion in the coming years to stimulate regeneration and tourism across Northern Ireland.
– Development of an early learning and childcare strategy to build on already announced moves to cut childcare bills for parents. The plan also sets a goal of providing the standardised provision of 22.5 hours of pre-school learning to all children in Northern Ireland.
– A pledge to “transform” the education system to provide “high-quality, efficient and sustainable services” for children with special educational needs (SEN) and disability.
– Delivery of a Northern Ireland housing supply strategy to increase the supply of homes and reduce housing stress.
– The Executive will seek Treasury approval on borrowing rules to give the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) more power to increase investment in its homes and improve energy efficiency.
– Launch a new fuel poverty strategy by 2025 to support those struggling with the cost of living.
– A delivery plan to implement objectives in the Violence Against Woman and Girls strategy.
– Drive forward a speeding up justice programme to reform the way in which cases are handled, to ensure the most serious cases are dealt with quicker and courts are not clogged up with less serious motoring offences.
– Digital transformation across criminal justice organisations.
– The Executive will seek to increase police officer numbers to 7,500 in line with a commitment made in the 2020 New Decade, New Approach agreement.
– A cross-governmental strategy to reduce offending and reoffending.
– A new environment strategy to be adopted as Northern Ireland’s first environmental improvement plan (EIP). The Executive will set carbon budgets and develop its climate action plan, detailing cross-cutting steps to reduce carbon emissions, adapt to changing weather patterns and work towards net zero. A net zero accelerator fund will be used to attract more net zero investment in Northern Ireland.
– The plan also includes a focus on flood risk management and improving water quality.
– Establishment of a just transition commission to help farmers adapt to net zero policies.
– A £15 million investment in the energy and resource efficiency support scheme to help local businesses cut their energy bills.
– The publication of a circular economy strategy.
– The PfG also commits to making improvements to the planning system in Northern Ireland.
– In regard to the stalled rebuild of Casement Park in west Belfast, the plan says the Executive will “make progress” on the redevelopment.
– It also includes a pledge to consider the recommendations of a recent all-island rail review, which recommended significant expansion and upgrade of the current network in Northern Ireland.
– In relation to the existing commitment to expand the Ulster University campus at Magee in Derry to hold 10,000 students, a Magee taskforce is to develop and oversee an action plan, which will be published before the end of this year.
