The long-awaited draft programme for government has been criticised for a lack of “clear targets and clear plans to deliver” as it was presented to the Stormont assembly.
Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole welcomed the publishing of the programme for government but questioned a lack of “clear targets and clear plans to deliver”.
He said for example, he could not find a specific target in the document to reduce waiting lists and times for those waiting for a consultant appointment which has spiralled from 70,000 in 2008/09 to 428,000 in the most recent year.
Responding, First Minister Michelle O’Neill said she was very pleased the Executive had agreed an ambitious and focused programme for government. She said when the final programme for government is ready following the public consultation, the Executive will be able to judge their success by how they will measure outcomes.
“I’m delighted by the fact that we’re absolutely committed to being open and transparent in terms of the progress that we are going to make,” she said.
“There is nobody in this chamber who underestimates the scale of the challenge that we have in our health service, but the best way to fix it is by working together. It is not just the responsibility of the department of health, I believe that all of the Executive colleagues are now committed to working together to ensure that we bring down hospital waiting, because at the end of the day this programme for government has to be about making a difference in people’s lives.
“I am confident that we have the plan in which we can turn things around. I am also very confident that we can be judged along the way when we have the final programme for government ... we’re going to publish annual reports, we’re going to be able to be measured by what we have set out to achieve.
“Once we have that final programme for government, alongside it will be a whole set of outcomes and indicators and all of society will be able to judge in terms of how successful the Executive has been.”
Ms Little-Pengelly accused the leader of the Opposition of “relentless negativity”, describing “groundhog day” as he pressed her around targets in the programme for government.
Mr O’Toole took the opportunity of a topical question during questions for the Executive Office following a question during the early programme for government announcement to ask about targets, questioning a lack of “binding targets and commitments” in the document. Ms Little-Pengelly responded saying the draft programme for government includes a number of key actions as well as where there is not yet agreement between Executive ministers.
She said following the public consultation the Executive will set out how it hopes to achieve year-on-year progress against the nine priority areas.
Mr O’Toole followed up by asking why the language commissioner and strategy is not mentioned in the programme for government.
Ms Little-Pengelly responded: “Just feels a little bit like groundhog day only without any of the fun or entertainment in it, but just relentless negativity.
“You can have opposition for opposition sake or you can have opposition which is constructive, and I have looked to the document that he has produced and there is significantly more detail in the document we have produced. Therefore we are asking people’s views on our nine key priorities. The member himself said just a few days ago that a good programme for government should have a small number of priority areas, and we have set out very clearly that this programme for government will not reference absolutely everything that this Executive and department is going to do.
“In relation to the issue he has referenced, we have already made clear that we have agreed in terms of the process, we are waiting for a further submission to come up around the detail of those appointment processes, but that is now in legislation, the commitment is there and we have spoken about that commitment in this House. There will be many many hundreds of other areas and issues that will be dealt with within departments, cross departmentally, being brought to the Executive over the course of the next three years.”
Ms Little-Pengelly described the programme for government as outlining a “bold ambition for Northern Ireland”.
She said following unanimous agreement to the draft programme for government by the Executive last Thursday, she and First Minister Michelle O’Neill announce that a public consultation is being launched today.
“It is different from what has been attempted in the past,” she told MLAs.
“It is reflective of the realities we face today but is also ambitious for the future. It is also realistic about the financial position we find ourselves in and the shortened mandate in which we operate. We make no apology for being ambitious, we want to build on our reputation as a great place to live, work, study, invest and visit.”
She said the aim is to “change the lives of our people and communities for the better”.
She said the programme for government contains nine priorities, which are the immediate priorities they will work to during the remainder of the mandate.
These include to grow a globally competitive and sustainable economy, deliver more affordable childcare, cut health waiting lists, ending violence against women and girls, better support for children and young people with special educational needs, providing more social affordable and sustainable housing, safer communities and protecting Lough Neagh and the environment as well as the reform and transformation of public services.
Ms Little-Pengelly said while the Executive knows there are challenges, she said there are also opportunities.
“With our plan, we have a way forward. It provides a road map for people, organisations and departments,” she said.
“The programme for government provides a basis for transformational change and the things that really matter. I look forward to us, the Executive and this Assembly working together to make a real difference.
“The scale of the challenges we face requires new thinking and structures. A missions-based approach will help us to measure and prioritise our work. These missions are people, planet and prosperity and they are underpinned by a cross cutting commitment to peace.”
Ms Little-Pengelly said the Executive will track performance regularly and publish annual reports on progress.
“We are determined to deliver for the public,” she added.
She urged the public to give their views in the consultation.
Ms O’Neill stressed the programme for government is a draft document, and that the Executive is in “listening mode”.
“This is very much the basis on which we think we can go out to consultation, but there is no doubt that there will be very constructive comments that will come forward and things that we may be able to include,” she said.
“And where we can’t include things, perhaps we can talk that out with those people that are advocating a different approach but I think the huge body of work that we have to do to build confidence is how we’re going to engage so we’re going to come at this over an eight-week consultation period, 12 weeks for the equality impact screening.
“We’re also going to go out in person and engage, and we’re going to encourage all our Executive ministers to do likewise so we’re very much going out to listen and hear what people have to say.”
Asked whether the Executive has the resources to deliver the programme for government, Ms Little-Pengelly said she and Ms O’Neill have a meeting with the Treasury on Thursday.
She said while they have set out their draft plan, their ability to deliver is fundamentally based on resources and the budget they have.
“We can do some things if we have a more limited budget but of course we can do more to improve lives if we have got a better budget,” she said.
“We have stepped up and we’ve said to the UK Government that we do have a determination to have a sustainable budget. We have a determination to be sensible and have a sensible approach in terms of our budget but we do require what we need in order to run our public services and up until this point our budget has really, really struggled.
“I welcome the fact that we will be meeting with the Chancellor this Thursday along with the Finance Minister and we will be raising the sustainable and proper funding for Northern Ireland.
“That is what people need. That is what people deserve and we will certainly be up front and be determined in terms of making that case to the Treasury and to the Chancellor, and we will also be raising issues, for example such as the winter fuel payment decision.”
