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Commenting on challenges facing the new Executive, DUP Leader Arlene Foster said,
"One billion additional in our block grant is a lot of money in anyone’s eyes.
The Confidence and Supply deal was the first time ever that Northern Ireland witnessed a one off injection of cash into our public services in that manner. We have become a little desensitized to how significant one thousand million really is.
We must be careful that we don’t lose sight of the significance of the investment by Treasury as part of the New Decade New Approach deal.
Importantly the Secretary of State told the House of Commons last Thursday that the £2b package represented a “good start”. That means the conversation continues. This is important as we need a long term approach to investing in our public services rather than one-off cash injections.
The Executive will have to make tough decisions as we seek to reform how money is used in our schools and hospitals.
We also need to seriously look at spending on infrastructure. The capacity to manage major projects such as the A5, the Ulster University building, the Critical Care Building at the Royal Victoria.
The recent Audit Office Report pointed to these major projects had an actual overspend of seven hundred millions.
The A5 is ten years late and has a three hundred million overspend. The Critical Care Centre is now expected to be completed eight years late with a £60m overspend. The new maternity hospital in Belfast is six years late and £20m over budget.
It is not just a case of how much we get from the block grant but it is also a case of how we spend the money when we have it.
The RHI inquiry has already taught us all lessons about how projects should be handled but it’s not enough to see the problems, we need to make changes as to how these schemes and projects are handled.
Whilst the temptation would be to wait whilst the Executive beds in before tackling some of these big questions, I believe we need to face down the lack of expertise amongst the civil service for handling major projects or else we will repeat the failures of the past.
One major project which has been driven by my party is the investment in rural broadband. We secured £150m through the Confidence and Supply Agreement for this project and three years later, the project is only at tender stage. If this scheme is managed right it will transform our rural economy. It is designed to incentivise investment in rural broadband where ordinarily the telecoms companies would only focus on growing their network in big population centres.
This scheme can only be successful however, if the Civil Service has the expertise to manage it as it will be one of the biggest single contracts awarded by any government Department. Lessons can surely be learned from the broadband contract issued in the Republic of Ireland.
Ultimately whilst the Executive’s initial debates within unionism has focused on debunking fake news about what an Irish Language Commissioner could do, the real long term goal for all unionist must be to make Northern Ireland a success. Ensure this is a good place to do business, raise a family, obtain an education and receive heath care.
I want to work with all the parties around the Executive table to make the big reforms and build a Northern Ireland for the next generation which is at peace with itself. A Northern Ireland where my British identity is not denigrated and where our neighbours who have an Irish identity feel at home. That should be the long-term goal of all unionists."
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