The Stormont Executive finally swung into action yesterday, announcing a deferral of water charges to 2010 and a relaxation of rules on rural house-building.

• Domestic water charges are put off until 2010
• Rules on rural housebuilding relaxed
• End of charges for prescriptions is sanctioned
• Approval for new education authority

It was emphasised that householders will on average save around £160 from the tap tax postponement.

The Executive's first meeting for five months also ratified the scrapping of prescription charges and approved the creation of a new education authority.

When Ministers meet again next Thursday, the agenda will be devoted entirely to proposals to help cushion the impact of the looming recession.

Decisions taken at Stormont Castle yesterday were announced in a press release entitled “Executive back in business and making a difference”.

Ministers had previously signalled their aim to defer household water charges.

The way was cleared for this move following negotiations with Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Downing Street this week.

As a result, the Executive is being freed from funding pressures of up to £800m over the course of this year and next year.

This potential bill had been linked to complex Treasury accounting rules relating to Northern Ireland Water, the Government company set up to collect charges.

It was also announced that the Prime Minister has agreed to make available to the Executive “access to £100m to address a range of issues”.

The other key outcomes of yesterday's meeting included the axing of PPS14, the controversial direct rule measure to restrict the building of single dwellings in the countryside.

Full details of its replacement, PPS21, will be given to the Assembly shortly by Environment Minister Sammy Wilson. He said last night that the new policy will be “balanced”.

Also given the official go-ahead yesterday was the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority, a new provincewide body proposed as part of the Review of Public Administration process.

This is the work of Government, this is what we are charged to do

The Executive's press release said there was “lengthy discussion” about the credit crunch and the global economic downturn.

Costed proposals to assist households in the current financial climate will be addressed at next week's meeting.

These will include a plan tabled by Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie for a £32.5m one-off scheme, affecting 160,000 households facing fuel poverty.

Any lingering tensions over the stalemate that had halted Executive meetings appeared to have been set aside, as DUP and Sinn Fein Ministers jointly faced the cameras after the meeting.

Mrs Ritchie spoke to the media separately, while the two Ulster Unionist Ministers Sir Reg Empey and Michael McGimpsey left without comment.

First Minister Peter Robinson said: “We have had probably the longest meeting of the Executive.

“All of the ministers were fully engaged and there was support from all of the ministers for the work that we had done in securing the arrangements with the Prime Minister and Treasury which perhaps takes some of the pressure off the Finance Minister (Nigel Dodds) as we move onto the next stage of the credit crunch.”

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said: “It is important that these institutions work in the interests of the people that we represent.

“I don't have any doubt whatsoever about Peter Robinson as First Minister. This is the work of Government, this is what we are charged to do by the people and that is what we intend to do.”

Progress has yet to be agreed on one of the most pressing policy controversies facing Stormont, the replacement of the 11-plus school transfer test. Education Minister Caitriona Ruane last night said: “I look forward to engaging with my Executive colleagues on all aspects of education including how our children transfer from primary to post-primary.”

Education

The Department of Education has confirmed that the new single education authority for Northern Ireland will be set up on January 1, 2010 — a year and nine months later than the original timescale.

Agreement was reached on the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority (ESA) yesterday during the first Northern Ireland Executive meeting for almost five months.

The thorny issue of a replacement for the 11-plus exam is likely to be discussed at a later date.

ESA had been due to take over from the education boards in April 2008 — this deadline was later moved to April 2009.

It will also take on the functions of the Council for Curriculum Examinations and Assessment, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, the Staff Commission and the Youth Council.

In September, Bill Reilly, president of the Association of Northern Ireland Education and Library Boards (ANIELB), branded the April 2009 deadline “unrealistic” and said that board staff would welcome certainty on the future of their jobs.

It is costing £50m to set up ESA. However, the streamlined administration is due to save £8m in its first year, £13m in its second and £20m per annum from year three.

In a statement issued last night, Education Minister Caitriona Ruane said: “The establishment of the Education and Skills Authority on January 1, 2010 will see the long overdue reform and modernisation of the education system.

“The ESA will create a much needed focus for improving educational outcomes and ensuring equality of access to a curriculum that will match provision to the needs of learners. The Authority will also lead the drive for school improvement where necessary.

“I regularly chair meetings with key partners from the education organisations and am committed to ensuring all staff are kept fully informed as we move towards January 2010,” she added.

^{Kathryn Torney}

Planning

A reworked planning policy for countryside homes in Northern Ireland will not pave the way for a building free-for-all, Stormont’s Environment Minister pledged last night.

While the successor to the controversial PPS 14 policy — PPS 21 — will relax certain restrictions on new builds it will ensure the rural environment is protected, Sammy Wilson claimed.

While the existing PPS 14 policy is supported by environmentalists it has been heavily criticised by farmers and would-be home owners as placing effect prohibition new builds.

The Planning Service currently has a backlog of 2,000 applications for rural dwellings.

Commenting after an Executive meeting at Stormont Castle, Mr Wilson said the reworked policy provided a more balanced approach to the issue.

“Draft PPS 21 does away with this over-restrictive Direct Rule policy but by no means will it allow a building free-for-all in the countryside,” he said.

While PPS 21 retains a presumption against granting permission for new builds, it does widen criteria on which an application will be accepted.

One area of relaxation comes in social housing, with PPS 21 increasing the number of homes being allowed built on greenbelt sites, as long as they are linked to existing developments.

“It is a balanced policy which will address the need to protect the countryside from unnecessary development and the need to enable rural communities to flourish socially and economically,” Mr Wilson added.

“The new policy will end the uncertainty around the policy context for rural planning, and allow people to benefit from the less restrictive but sustainable policies proposed in the document.”

The minister said he would bring the policy before the Assembly as soon as possible. However, chair of Mr Wilson’s scrutiny committee Patsy McGlone said PPS 21 did not go far enough.

The SDLP Mid-Ulster representative claimed four out of five people hoping to build homes in the country would be denied that opportunity under the new plans.

“This is PPS 14 in all but name and for 80% of rural dwellers there is little in it,” he said.

“The majority of people of small holdings from areas that I would represent really are not looked after or catered for in this proposed new document.”

Prescriptions

The newly-resumed Executive has given the green light to free prescription charges for all at their first meeting in five months.

In a major victory for a Belfast Telegraph campaign, the Health Minister announced that prescription charges are to be scrapped for all within 18 months.

September’s announcement was a huge success for the Belfast Telegraph's Prescriptions: Free for All campaign, which we launched in April last year.

The newspaper called on Mr McGimpsey to completely scrap charges for everyone, highlighting the present unfair and out-dated system and the burden it places on thousands of patients.

And yesterday, the Executive gave approval to Michael McGimpsey’s plan to introduce free prescriptions by April 2010.

Reacting to the move, Mr McGimpsey said the endorsement is a significant step towards abolishing an unfair system which charges people for vital medication. He said: “When I announced my intention to end prescription charging, it was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. The approval today by the Executive is very welcome and will bring great comfort to thousands of people.

“For too many years, people in Northern Ireland have been living with a system which is inequitable and unjust and meant one person’s suffering is ranked above another’s.

“It is unacceptable that people who have to cope with ill health should have the additional anxiety of trying to find money to pay for medication which they cannot afford. This is against the principles of the NHS which promises free health services to all.”

He said: “The introduction of free prescriptions was a commitment I made in one of my earliest debates in the Assembly. My decision to introduce free prescriptions is also based on the hundreds of letters I received from patients who were calling for relief from the unnecessary hardship of paying for prescriptions.

“The cost of prescription charging will be met from within the existing budgets. No existing services will suffer. In addition, processes will be put in place to ensure that prescribing rates are kept within acceptable limits.

“Healthcare professionals must practice responsible prescribing and the public must play a part by only taking medication if they really need it.”

Currently the prescription charge is £6.85 for each item, but the cost will be reduced to £3 in January 2009, and then will be free by April 2010.

Prepayment certificates will also come down in price, from £35.85 to £9 for four months and from £98.70 to £25 for 12 months until prescriptions are free.

^{Lisa Smyth}