Blueprint to slash Ulster departments is revealed

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

By David Gordon

And it is intended to have the new structure in place by April 2008, if the Assembly does not return.

The document - obtained by the Belfast Telegraph - includes a full breakdown of a new-look government for the province, complete with new names and abbreviations for the six departments. It was drawn up by one of Mr Hain's special advisers at the NIO, following discussions with direct rule ministers.

Mr Hain signalled last summer that the future of the existing departments would come under scrutiny, in the wake of the Review of Public Administration plans for councils and quangos.

Among the departments that would lose their individual status under the leaked NIO blueprint are agriculture, environment, finance and personnel and employment and learning.

The centralised Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) would survive, and would take over the remit of the Department of Finance.

A new Department for Sustainable Development and Energy is proposed, with responsibility for much of the current roles of the Departments of Agriculture, Environment and Regional Development.

The Department of Employment and Learning would also disappear, with its functions split between enlarged Economy and Education departments.

The Department of Health would effectively stay intact, while the Department for Social Development would become the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.

A seventh department, the Department for Justice and Public Protection, could subsequently be created in the event of criminal justice and policing being devolved, the NIO blueprint stated.

The leaked document was a memo to Mr Hain sent by his special adviser Phil Taylor towards the end of last year. Its proposals are believed to have Mr Hain's personal backing and will be acted upon if attempts to restore devolution come apart in the next few months.

Mr Taylor stated in his memo that the cut in departments offered scope for " significant savings to public expenditure" which could be reinvested in " front line" services, including health and education.

He recommended having the new departmental structure in place from April 2008, should devolution "fail to be achieved".

He also said the present set-up has led to "strategic objectives" not being "gripped adequately" within government here.

Mr Taylor said the approach until now has been to create special units within OFMDFM to pursue key objectives - in policy areas such as anti-poverty and on children and young people.

"Although this is usually welcomed by campaigning organisations, in my view the experience of the past 18 months is that this does not work as a model," the special adviser stated.

"In reality they have little or no clout over the government departments while in some ways making government departments feel that they have now been absolved of responsibility for those areas of policy, leading to policy drift."

Plans to cut the number of departments will lead to fears over job losses.

Mr Hain said last July that the Review of Public Administration (RPA) would leave the departments "unsustainable in their current form".

He wanted the Assembly to address the issue, but would "move ahead rapidly" himself if devolution did not return.

Under RPA, the number of district councils is controversially being cut from 26 to seven.

Calling time on 'barmy' structure

Peter Hain has described the present 11 departments set-up as " unsustainable".

His plain-talking ministerial colleague Lord Rooker once gave a more blunt assessment.

"Let's face it," the veteran peer said in 2005, "the structure of the 11 departments is absolutely barmy. It's illogical."

Mr Hain's direct rule team is now intent on calling time on the arrangements.

The high-level proposals obtained by this newspaper will be acted upon in the next few months if efforts to seal a power-sharing deal come apart.

It's safe to say that Northern Ireland's politicians will not be universally delighted with the leaked blueprint.

The present set-up was established after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to ensure there were enough ministerial portfolios to share between the main Assembly parties. And when Mr Hain floated the idea of reducing the 11 departments last summer, it was described in some quarters as a sop to the DUP - long-time critics of the current system.

It's unlikely that a restored Assembly would simply press ahead with the replacement structures drawn up for the Secretary of State. Nevertheless, some degree of reform is pretty much inevitable in light of other pending changes to the way Northern Ireland is governed.

The Review of Public Administration (RPA) will give local councils increased powers, at the expense of some departments.

The planned creation of new schooling and NHS authorities under RPA will likewise reduce the roles of the education and health departments.

Predicting the future in Northern Ireland politics is always risky. But few people would bet on the 11 departments surviving much longer in their present form.