Review of
Public Administration

Purpose

The Government has announced its plans for the improvement of Local Government.  These are unsatisfactory.

In October 2000 the Ulster Unionist Party initiated this Review believing that Northern Ireland is not over-governed but is over administered  The many layers of administration have been outside the norms of democratic accountability.

The current public administration or local government (it is more than just Councils) needs to maximise efficiency and be effective and accountable to those who pay the bills.

From the beginning my Party has promoted the principle of co-terminosity or the single footprint for services and political structures.  Service boundaries, council boundaries and parliamentary/Assemble boundaries should be inter-related.  It is within those parameters that the new structures should exist.

Instead the Government has decided upon seven new super councils with enhanced powers to cover all of Northern Ireland.  These would in effect re-partition Northern Ireland with three “green” councils, three “orange” councils and Belfast being marginal.

This foolish decision has the propensity to undo all of the good work done on community relations over recent years.  It would also mean the end of ”Corporate Northern Ireland” in the event of the Assembly being ended.

Quangos are a legacy of the failure of the MacCrory proposals for the last reorganisation of Local Government in the early seventies.

The Government has proposed some changes to these undemocratic organisations but they have not gone far enough.  These must be made accountable to the public through their elected representatives.

There are eleven Government Departments in Northern Ireland and their review is outside the brief.  But with enhanced powers and responsibilities being proposed for the new Councils it makes sense to consider the functions of the Departments and I believe that their number could be reduced by at least one third.