Public Finance

  Northern Ireland government departments face a £1bn revenue shortfall – 10% of their annual spend – finance minister Nigel Dodds admitted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.   Dodds said that the worsening UK economy meant that the Northern Ireland Executive expected to receive a reduced block grant from the Treasury. It also faces spending […]

  The go-ahead for a rapid transit system for Belfast and a £43.5m allocation for a Titanic Museum have been agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive.   Following research into alternative tram and bus schemes, the Executive approved the establishment of a bus scheme that will use dedicated roadways for much of its length, linking

  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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  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

  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