Minister announces £129m for transformation projects in Northern Ireland

Projects to speed up the justice system and support children with special educational needs (SEN) are among those to receive funding as part of a drive to transform public services in Northern Ireland.

Finance Minister John O’Dowd has announced £129 million will be distributed to six projects across a range of Stormont departments.

As part of the financial package which led to the restoration of the devolved powersharing institutions last year, £235 million was committed by the UK Government for transformation funding over a five-year period.

Reform and transformation of public services was also one of the priorities in the programme for government published this week, Mr O’Dowd told the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He said: “As our society changes, we must ensure our public services adapt and evolve to meet the new and changing needs of communities.

“As an Executive we have been clear that we want to transform the delivery of public services and make life better for the people we serve.”

The minister announced the first six projects which would be funded by the scheme:

– £61 million for the Department of Health’s Primary Care Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) proposal. MDTs are a partnership between GP federations and health and social care trusts that has introduced new early intervention physiotherapy, social work and mental health roles into general practice to work alongside existing teams.

– £27.5 million for the Department of Education’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) proposal. This proposal will support pilot programmes focused on early intervention.

– £20.45 million for the joint Department of Justice and Public Prosecution Services proposal on speeding up and transforming the criminal justice system. This proposal aims to reduce delay and maximise efficiencies through the promotion of engagement between the PSNI, prosecution and defence services. It will also target alternative approaches for out of court disposals for lower-level crime, freeing up capacity in courts for more serious cases.

– £2.19 million for the Department of Justice’s modernisation of electronic monitoring proposal. The funding will enable the creation of a multi-disciplinary team to examine the technical and policy implications of implementing GPS location monitoring for those on bail or on licence fitted with an electronic tag.

– £15 million for the Department for Infrastructure’s urban drainage proposal. This will fund a pilot project to demonstrate the benefits of managing rainwater naturally on the surface, to slow its flow into rivers and piped drainage systems.

– £3 million for the Department for Infrastructure’s transforming planning proposal. This will lead to the appointment of independent persons to deliver reports on planning and environmental considerations in major projects.

Mr O’Dowd said that approximately £102.5 million remains for further distribution.

He said: “While the £235 million in funding will in no way tackle the magnitude of issues at hand, it will be significant in helping to develop and implement a model of delivery, to stimulate the wider transformation of public services.

“Transformation will take time and this is a step on that journey.”

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the task of stabilising and transforming Northern Ireland’s health and other public services is a priority.

He added: “This allocation of UK Government funding is a really important step towards this, and in this UK Government, the Executive will always have a partner that is committed to supporting this work every step of the way.

“I am delighted that Northern Ireland will this year receive its largest real terms financial settlement since devolution, supporting growth and investment.

“Today’s additional funding will go directly towards the transformation of public services, which the people of Northern Ireland want to see.”