2003 Analysis of responses

Review of Public Administration Consultation

October 2003 – February 2004

Summary of key themes emerging from responses

Introduction

This document summarises by sector the common themes emerging from responses to the RPA consultation. It does not include every comment received, nor should anything be inferred by the omission of specific comments from contributors. The purpose of this document is to give a flavour of the contributions from each sector. All contributions have been considered by the review team and (unless requested not to do so) have been published in full on the Review website.
Note: Comments by sector are those received from that sector, not comments made about a specific sector from all sources.
The Review of Public Administration consultation period ended on 27 February 2004 with over 170 written submissions received. The next proposed publication is a "final proposals" paper, which it is hoped will be published in the autumn, with detailed proposals for a new system of public administration for Northern Ireland. The paper will also include an Equality Impact Assessment.

General points emerging from responses

  • There is unanimous support for the need for change and demand for early action.
  • "Quality of service" is seen as more important than the means by which the service is delivered.
  • There is a widespread consensus on the need for fewer public bodies, with more collaboration and less fragmentation.
  • There is a preference for Models 4 and 5 as described in the consultation document, with fewer quangos and fewer, but larger Councils with more powers.
  • Co-terminosity is seen as essential to facilitate effective collaboration.
  • There is a recognition that some services are best delivered centrally but there is scope for more local delivery than at present.
  • The Assembly, Executive and Departments should be responsible for policy and strategic development, as well as monitoring standards, but not for the delivery of services.
  • While some aspects of health are best delivered regionally, most services should be delivered by sub-regional organisations each serving populations of approximately 250,000.
  • There is a need for fair and robust governance arrangements to ensure transparent decision-making and protection of minority interests.

Key themes arising from the responses by sector

Political parties

Formal responses were received from seven parties. The Minister, Ian Pearson, has also held discussions with the main political parties during and following the consultation period. At the meetings following the consultation they discussed the key themes emerging from the responses to the consultation (as set out in this document) and the parties’ response to the messages coming through. There is a variation between the parties in the emphasis placed on different aspects of the issues under consideration, but in general terms there was agreement that:
  • democratic accountability for services is a key consideration in developing a new model for public administration;
  • there is a need to reduce bureaucracy and the number of bodies involved in administering public services in Northern Ireland;
  • stronger local government with fewer, but larger councils delivering more services is highly desirable, but there are a variety of views on what those services might be;
  • other issues which should be addressed before any changes are made include safeguards to ensure powers are not abused, and arrangements for ensuring local involvement in decision-making processes.
  • the reform of Health Service structures should be progressed quickly, but within a framework established by the RPA.
  • a detailed model of public administration, reflecting the responses received by the Review team, should be developed in consultation with the parties and published for public consultation in the autumn.

Local government

A total of 31 submissions were received from local government, including submissions from 24 of the 26 local councils. The key issues raised were:
  • democratic accountability, local identity and the principle of subsidiarity (i.e. that decisions should be taken as closely as possible to the citizen) are viewed as top priorities.
  • a desire for early movement on the development of the Power of Well-being and Community Planning.
  • a recognition of the strategic role of the Assembly.
  • strong preferences were expressed for variations on Models 4 and 5.
  • some responses favoured enhanced roles and responsibilities for a smaller number of local authorities delivering a wide range of services, while putting in place mechanisms to recognise the importance of local identity and connection to local communities.
  • an alternative model based on maintaining the existing 26 councils for certain, limited functions, but also grouping these together into 5 service delivery bodies (with their own administrative structure) for the purpose of administering a wider range of services was also proposed.
  • human resource issues were also highlighted, recognising the need for a comprehensive change management programme and appropriate support structures.
  • other issues included the need for training for officers and councillors, payment for councillors and protections for existing staff.

Education

Fourteen submissions were received from the Education Sector, including the 5 Education and Library Boards, CCMS, Association of N.I. Colleges, Youth Council N.I., the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, student representatives and individual academics. Responses indicated that:
  • the focus should be on quality of service, a child-centred approach, and the alignment of boundaries of educational bodies with those of other service providers.
  • collaboration between community, voluntary and private sectors should be encouraged.
  • there is support for Models 3 and 4 with reduced number of councils.
  • strong support exists for the Education & Library Board model (particularly in relation to the high proportion of local councillors on the Boards) and its application to the delivery of other public services.
  • there was recognition that attention needs to be paid to human resource issues, and a robust change management process needs to be developed for the successful implementation of these reforms.

Health

Forty two responses were received. In addition to the four Health Boards and 12 of the Health Trusts, a number of submissions were received from Heath Sector organisations, including the Institute of Healthcare Management, Belfast Healthy Cities, the N.I. Ambulance Service and the N.I. Blood Transfusion Service. There was consensus on the need for a long-term strategic plan for Health Services based broadly on the following principles:
  • continuation of the integrated health & personal social services structure.
  • health functions should not transfer to local government.
  • structures should be as efficient, effective and economical as possible, with clear lines of accountability.
  • there should be a central role for primary care and community engagement and strong co-ordination of services at local level.
  • there is support for the proposals in the DHSSPS publication ‘Developing Better Services’, which sets out plans for the modernisation of hospital services in N.I.
  • new arrangements must be tested against Equality and Human Rights requirements.
  • there was broad consensus for fewer statutory HPSS bodies, with the present Boards and Trusts being replaced by a small number (single figures) of new statutory bodies with co-terminous boundaries, to facilitate better co-ordination and planning of services, based around natural geographical population groups of around 250,000.
  • emphasis must be placed on change management issues - need to build the necessary capacity for high quality public services at all levels. Staff morale is vitally important.
  • new structures should embrace the principle that commissioning and delivery of services need not be separated organisationally.

Trade unions

Key issues distilled from responses received from the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance, the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and UNISON are summarized below:
  • equitable and quality services should be delivered by well trained and well paid public sector staff;
  • the reorganisation of the Health Service should proceed as quickly as possible;
  • involvement of community/voluntary sectors in service delivery should not displace public sector employment; and
  • there should be no privatisation of any aspect of public services.

Criminal justice

Responses were received from Criminal Justice Inspection NI, Committee on the Administration of Justice and the Police Service of N.I. The main points raised were:
  • there should be reduced bureaucracy, but there cannot be a "one-size-fits-all solution".
  • models 4 and 5 were supported with fewer councils having increased powers and co-terminous boundaries.

Community & voluntary sector, charities and other bodies

Seventeen responses were received from the voluntary and community sectors, 14 charities made submissions, and 11 replies were received from other bodies. A wide range of views was expressed on issues of concern to individual organisations, and while all of these have been noted, and will be taken into account in the review, they will not be summarised here. The responses in full are available on the Review website. The common threads running through the diverse range of responses from this group of organisations indicated:
  • support for stronger local government with fewer councils and other bodies;
  • a customer-focused agenda;
  • a role for the community and voluntary sectors in advocating for services, but also possibly in delivering some services. This highlighted a tension between the desire to deliver but also lobby for services to be delivered in certain ways.

Business sector

Twelve organisations responded to the consultation, including British Telecom NI, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Institute of Directors Northern Ireland Division and Londonderry Chamber of Commerce. They argued for:
  • radical change to be introduced as a matter of urgency;
  • service improvements to ensure the delivery of quality public services that are efficient and effective, but also affordable.
  • there should be a reduction in bureaucracy.
  • there should also be significantly fewer councils, quangos and other public bodies, with those remaining working within co-terminous boundaries.
  • there should be much greater involvement of the private sector in the delivery of public services.