LISTEN: Former NI Secretary of State calls on MLAs to agree a Programme for Government

By Brett Campbell

The former Secretary of State has called for a clear Programme for Government from Stormont a year after power sharing was restored. 

Julian Smith praised the five main parties and Executive ministers for proving they can make decisions during the pandemic. 

However he also made it clear more progress is needed as he warned Northern Ireland would be in a worse place today if devolution hadn’t been restored in January 2020. 

“If we hadn’t got it going I think it would have been a pretty stark situation,” Mr Smith said

“The civil service was struggling to take political decisions.

“There were a variety of decisions that just couldn’t be taken and there was a court case around the fact constraining civil service decisions

“I think it would have been a very bleak - an even more bleak situation - if there wasn’t political direction. 

“Even though decision making needs to be improved, this executive has been able to make decisions and that is much better than the alternative.''

The Conservative MP was sacked from his cabinet post as part of Boris Johnson’s reshuffle a month after the political institutions here were restored. 

He was praised for his role in overseeing the talks that led to the New Decade New Approach deal and for helping pass legislation to compensate historical abuse victims. 

Mr Smith says greater transparency and accountability of decisions and government spending are among the key issues remaining here. 

“It’s really important to have a fiscal council,” he said.  
“In Westminster there’s an Office for Budget Responsibility - maybe they could take on some responsibility or a separate council could be set up.’’

However Mr Smith was clear that he thinks the the biggest issue facing MLAs now is the need to agree a Programme for Government that will incorporate the range of commitments on health, language, legacy, infrastructure and an all island plan to tackle climate change. 

“I would argue the £2bn (£1bn of new money and £1bn of Barnett) at that time was a downpayment,” he said. 

“There was always going to be negotiation as the Executive put its budget in order and obviously theres been huge amounts of money,  several billion, coming in from the UK government since the pandemic.

“The key thing is to set priorities and get agreement, and that is going to take time. 

“Money and money negotiations always has to come with reform.”

The former NI Secretary appealed to the Executive to “move forward at pace” and urged civil servants and special advisers to help politicians make the “rapid decisions” needed. 

“At the bottom line is that whatever this group of politicians for the rest of their political careers - the critical point is, how do you make sure as many Northern Ireland citizens, whatever their political persuasion, successfully get out of one of the biggest crisis in modern life not just in NI but around the world,” he concluded.