Public Finance

PFI office rent programme delayed: Public Finance

 
The sale and leaseback of 65 government offices that was to have taken place under the Workplace 2010 programme has been suspended, Northern Ireland’s finance minister Nigel Dodds has announced. The PFI project will not now be procured until next year, at the earliest.
 
A statement by the Department of Finance and Personnel claimed that the [...]

A Place in the Sun?: Public Finance

As the global financial crisis deepens, public sector pension schemes are facing a double whammy. Not only are they suffering from falling share values, but there are increasing calls for their ‘generous’ retirement benefits to be curtailed. Paul Gosling investigates
Public sector pensions make a surprising topic for newspaper headlines, but they have increasingly grabbed them [...]

Coming to the crunch: Public Finance

The crisis in the markets has left a trail of financial giants in tatters. Public services, especially those with Icelandic investments, are feeling the strain. Paul Gosling reports on how the sector is preparing for the worst
‘Never send to find for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.’ John Donne’s lament for the passing [...]

Efficiency targets threaten health service jobs: Public Finance

Around 2,000 health service jobs will be lost in Northern Ireland in the next three years as part of efficiency savings, Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has said.
The cuts are likely to include 700 nursing posts, 900 administrative jobs and 450 posts in social services, although there are unlikely to be redundancies, McGimpsey told the Assembly’s [...]

Reasons to be optimistic - a profile of Nigel Dodds: Public Finance

The sun was, for once, shining on Stormont Parliament at the end of a very wet Northern Irish summer. The omens seemed good for the crisis meeting between First Minister Peter Robinson, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and their leading colleagues in the Democratic Unionist and Sinn Fein parties, as they attempted to resolve an [...]

NI health takes legal services back in-house: Public Finance

Legal services for Northern Ireland’s health bodies taken back in-house
Legal services provided to health bodies in Northern Ireland are being brought in-house as part of the fallout from a massive fraud committed by a firm of solicitors against the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.
A report from the Northern Ireland Audit Office, published [...]

NI Water ordered to clean up its act: Public Finance

NI Water ordered to clean up its act
Northern Ireland’s government-owned water company, NI Water, has been ordered by the utility regulator to improve its business planning and corporate governance, following errors predicted to cause an annual £20m shortfall in income.
An investigation by the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation followed disclosure of the mistake in [...]

IT failure leaves £130m uncollected: Public Finance

IT failure leaves £130m uncollected
Domestic rates worth £130m have not been collected in Northern Ireland because of IT failures, auditors have found.
‘Some basic functionality of a new IT system has not been adequate to meet operational needs,’ says a report from the Northern Ireland Audit Office.
As a result, the Department of Finance and Personnel’s accounts [...]

NI ministers change seats: Public Finance

 
NI ministers change seats
 
by Paul Gosling
 
Ian Paisley’s retirement as Northern Ireland first minister and leader of the Democratic Unionists has
led to a ministerial reshuffle of DUP Executive ministers.
 
The new DUP leader and first minister is Peter Robinson, who has removed one DUP minister and moved all his other Executive ministers. Edwin Poots has been [...]

An imposing environment: Public Finance

 
An imposing environment
 
Local authorities are operating in a legal environment that is imposing more responsibilities and demands on them. Councils must pay special attention to the Corporate Manslaughter Act and the Civil Contingencies Act.
 
Corporate Manslaughter Act
 
The Corporate Manslaughter and Criminal Homicide Act came into force in April across the UK and makes it much more [...]