Two station closures and a halt to regional news websites are the main results from the BBC’s strategic review. Peter Cheney looks at what lies ahead for the Beeb.

The BBC’s reach within the UK cannot be denied. Ninety-eight per cent of adults click, listen or watch it each week. A third of the population goes to the website each month.

Where its quality is good, particularly in news and natural history, its reputation extends worldwide. However, critics claim that the BBC has overstretched itself by going into magazine publishing and extra digital channels. Free access to BBC News Online also makes it harder for newspaper websites to charge readers to see their websites.

This review takes in all parts of the BBC’s national work – in the TV, radio and online media – and has been carried out by its senior management.

Plans

On TV, there would be more history and science on BBC1, accompanied by extra drama and comedy on BBC2. A more serious tone would be adopted by BBC4 – tasked with reducing comedy and entertainment – and indeed Radio 4 with its increased commitment to “ambitious knowledge projects”. One such example is the planned serialisation of ‘Life and Fate’ – an epic but relatively unknown novel about 20th century Russia – in early 2011.

Elsewhere, BBC 6 Music and the Asian Network are earmarked for closure with BBC Online spending (£177 million) to fall by a third by 2013. Two teenage ‘brands’ for young people – Switch on TV and Blast for learning – are underperforming and so would also end; it recognises that Channel 4 has the lead here. In the long term, the corporation would move away from publishing magazines in the UK.

This is all part of the drive to do “fewer things better”. Fans of 6 Music, which broadcasts alternative music, and the Asian Network have protested. Their budgets, though, would be spent on similar work within the corporation.

The programme library would be opened up to the public and 50 per cent more programmes would be made outside London by 2016. Seventeen per cent of production would take place in the devolved nations. BBC Northern Ireland plans to ‘play to its strengths’ e.g. TV drama production and investigative journalism.

New boundaries must be set. Some of these involve “limiting activity” through the cuts described above. Others focus on “clearer BBC behaviour” i.e. always putting quality before volume, and defending impartiality and independence from political and commercial influence.

The media is in flux, the review claims, so now is the “right moment to take a hard look at what the BBC should do and where it delivers most value.” Key ongoing changes include the digital TV switchover (agendaNi issue 34, pages 40-41), the move towards universal broadband and uncertainty in the commercial media sector.

In the midst of this, the BBC claims to offer a “civic and universal” service, which the markets cannot guarantee alone. It would also be able to spend more of the licence fee on content after the switchover ends in 2012. Overhead and infrastructure costs, cut by half over the last 10 years, would fall by a further quarter by 2016.

The review was presented to the BBC Trust, which sets overall strategy. The trust has, in turn, published the proposals and its initial response.

“The public pick up the bill for the BBC and it is right that it constantly evolves to meet their expectations,” said Sir Michael Lyons, who chairs the trust. He foresaw a “more disciplined and sharply focused” organisation but some difficult choices also had to be made.

Comments can be made up to Tuesday, 25 May. Provisional conclusions will be published by the trust over the summer with a final strategy following in the autumn. The BBC’s management will then be expected to put forward formal proposals to put those changes into effect. More consultation will follow at some stage.

Director-General Mark Thompson said that these would be “easy decisions” and this was a moment for “focus and rationalisation” after a time of growth.

Reaction

Commercial competitors are naturally jealous of the Beeb; recession-related falls in advertising revenues have hit them hard while the licence fee guarantees a steady, permanent income. Foremost among the critics is Rupert Murdoch’s News International but other newspaper groups also object to BBC News Online’s increasingly local reach.

A commitment to not launch any new online services at a more local level was met with suspicion by the Newspaper Society. “In view of past experiences, the industry will need to be convinced that any limitations will be imposed or will work in practice, enabling local newspapers to develop their digital services,” a spokeswoman said.

In writing, the commitment only applies to England. However, BBC Northern Ireland has also confirmed that it will not be launching any more new local services.

Four journalists will be redeployed outside Belfast, a spokeswoman added, to bring in stories from “all parts of Northern Ireland that reflect the interests and views of the wider community.” Their reports will go on TV, radio and online.

The Conservatives are also seen as BBC ‘sceptics’ or are at least portrayed that way by Labour. That impression was apparently built up in the past because the Tories were for private investment and against public subsidies. However, the party now sees itself as a strong supporter of the corporation.

Culture Secretary Bed Bradshaw has warned against a political “running commentary” on the corporation’s decisions as this would compromise its independence. Bradshaw, though, has been a critic in the past, especially over bonuses, and has suggested reducing the licence fee.

Opposition spokesmen were more vocal with Tory Jeremy Hunt suggesting the BBC should be “less expansionist”. Don Foster, for the Liberal Democrats, said the overgrown organisation needed “pruning” and the report signalled “the end of the BBC roaming wherever it fancied.”

agendaNi did contact the main local parties for their views on the plans but none were available to comment by the time of going to press.

More than 7,000 jobs have been cut at the BBC over the last five years and the broadcasting union Bectu expects 600 more losses if the proposals are confirmed. The NUJ has demanded savings in executive pay instead of programmes and content.

Part of the perceived problem is that the BBC is trying to be all things to all people. However, unlike the rest of the media, it is a public service so, in essence, it needs to give something to all people.

Striking that balance is neither easy nor cheap.

• £131m BBC contribution to Northern Ireland economy (estimate)
• 40% Radio spend target outside London
• £10m Annual increase in children’s programming
• 90% Share of licence fee for high quality content
• 20% Cut in import programme budget

agendaNi looks at the agreed planning reform proposals.

Extra powers for new councils and a new hierarchy to categorise developments are the main elements in the planning reforms, finalised by the Executive after a long wait. The plans, which met with no major Assembly opposition, are now due to be written up in law but time is again tight.

A consultation on the proposed reforms to the planning system opened in July 2009 and in January this year Environment Minister Edwin Poots presented the final proposals to the Executive.

The reforms were passed by the Executive on 25 February and the Minister announced them that night at a Royal Town Planning Institute dinner in Belfast. These “most far-reaching changes to our planning system in over 30 years” were explained to the Assembly on 2 March.

The final policy was not immediately published but is to be made public “in the coming weeks.”

A DoE spokeswoman explained that the public consultation demonstrated “broad support” for most proposed changes. Many aspects were unchanged but in some areas, the views expressed in the consultation resulted in a change being made.

Described as “streamlined, fit for purpose and responsive”, the new system aims to get district councils, communities and developers working together to prepare plans.

These documents would set a “clear and realistic” vision of how places should change and what they will be like in the future. They will clearly indicate where development, including regeneration, should take place and its form.

Each plan would consist of two separate but related documents, prepared at an early stage of the process. Pilot studies will be taken forward through the council transition committees. A ‘preferred options paper’ will also be introduced in public consultations.

The list of statutory consultees will be expanded too and those contacted will also obliged to respond within a specified timeframe.

To help change the system’s culture to a more responsive one, a new development management regime is being introduced. This categorises the different types of proposals and aims to speed up decisionmaking. Indeed the appeals process will also be subject to a four-month time limit, whether submitted orally or in writing.

Community involvement will also be used more widely at “appropriate points” in the planning process.

The following proposals went through unamended:

• A new hierarchy of development with three defined tiers i.e. regionally significant, major and local;
• A requirement for pre-application consultation on regionally significant and major proposals;
• The power to turn down applications where these consultations have not properly taken place; and
• The power for new councils to hold pre-determination hearings (for major developments and potentially others).

During the debate on 2 March the Minister reminded MLAs of the “extremely tight” timescale if the proposed changes were to become law before spring 2011. A Bill and a “huge raft” of subordinate legislation would be brought forward and he said ministers were committed to do all they could to meet that deadline.

A full suite of planning policy statements is to be in place by March 2011, he confirmed, including PPS1; this would set out general principles for formulating planning policy. Such statements would sit alongside the revised Regional Development Strategy to provide a “robust and consistent” framework.

RTPI policy officer Brian Sore welcomed the announcement, saying it gave “clarity to the way ahead.” The institute had objected to the local member review panels, which would allow councillors to decide some minor appeals, and was pleased that the Minister agreed not to proceed with this.

Mandatory pre-application community consultation for major projects was welcomed. The institute saw the reforms as an “essential foundation” for transferring powers to new councils, although the Executive needed to ensure that councillors, council officials and planners had the right skills “to enable the new system to be used effectively.”

“The potential for delay in implementing RPA,” he warned, “will cause frustration and a potential for confusion of responsibilities across councils.”

Some of the province’s Catholic grammar schools could lose this status and become comprehensive or co-educational, depending on the outcome of a consultation launched by the Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education. NICCE is the body comprising of religious and diocesan trustees who formulate the overall policy for the network of 104 post-primary maintained schools; there are 30 grammar schools and 74 secondary schools. The post-primary review was first announced in 2006 following the passing of the Education Order, which set 2013 as the date for the implementation of the Entitlement Framework, whereby schools will be required to provide 24 subjects pre-16 and 27 subjects thereafter. The consultation entitled ‘Catholic Education for All’ is part of this ongoing review and it outlines ways in which the school estate can be reduced.

Following the Education Minister’s announcement in 2007 that academic selection must end, the NICCE issued a policy statement in March 2009 agreeing that it should be phased out by 2012. However, grammar schools in the maintained, voluntary and controlled sectors have opted to use unregulated tests as a means of determining their intake for the last two years.

Last month Cardinal Séan Brady urged all involved to “move beyond the tired, narrow focus on academic selection and consider the full range of challenges facing post-primary education in Northern Ireland.” However, DUP leader Peter Robinson pledged to ensure academic selection would remain, and suggested that many Catholic parents would send their children to participating schools. There are currently no corresponding consultations taking place on the non-Catholic sector, but options contained in a previous education and library board consultation are being considered by some schools.

The commission has recognised that “significant changes” in government policy, the continuing demographic downturn and financial challenges will “undoubtedly have major implications for their schools.”

The document proposes 16 project groupings for the region’s five catholic dioceses: Armagh, Clogher, Derry, Down and Connor, and Dromore.

The schools in these groupings would be required to work together to investigate various options for collaboration and are instructed to find a “broad consensus of support.”

This support will be difficult to come by judging by the controversy in education since the department stopped regulating the process of academic selection.

Options include the end of single-sex schooling in Newry, where there are currently four grammar schools. Our Lady’s Grammar, Sacred Heart Grammar, St Colman’s College and the Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar would be merged with two non-grammars to form new all-ability schools.

Similarly in County Fermanagh, Mount Lourdes Grammar and St Michael’s College would merge with other secondary schools and create a maximum of three 11-19 schools in Enniskillen, along with one school in rural south east Fermanagh. This would also have a significant impact on the secondary schools in the area.

In the Armagh diocese, one option is to amalgamate St Patrick’s Grammar, St Brigid’s High and St Catherine’s College, in Armagh, Drumcree College in Portadown and St Patrick’s High in Keady to form an 11-19 co-educational school in Keady, two 11-19 single-sex schools in Armagh and an 11-16 co-educational school in Portadown. And in County Londonderry, St Pius X College and St Mary’s Grammar in Magherafelt face a possible merger.

Unsurprisingly, Caitríona Ruane welcomed the consultation saying: “The landscape is changing. We have just had the unregulated test results published by schools and parents have just finished choosing the post-primary school they want for their children this year.

“While it offers a number of possible options in each area, the unifying factor is that Catholic education should no longer regard the selection and rejection of 11 year old children as an acceptable form of education.”

In Northern Ireland there are more than enough people who are sports fans, but that won’t do our health any good. In fact the anxiety associated with all sports fans could be detrimental.

The Programme for Government charged DCAL with stopping the decline in adults playing sport or doing exercise; that document set a target of 53 per cent. The current level is around 30.

Sport NI were the pioneers of the inquiry and to date the committee has taken evidence from the three main sporting bodies in the province.

Research by the Assembly Research and Library Service suggests that groups who do less sport include women, disabled people and people from disadvantaged areas, older people, minority communities and the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community.

Socio-cultural, practical and knowledge barriers all play their part in varying participation levels. The first of the three refers to more traditional deep-rooted problems. Indeed a “significant” problem is that sport and physical activity is dominated by elitism and masculinity and therefore, for the affected groups, there is a lack of “a positive and attainable role model”.

Practical barriers include physical, medical and economic problems. People in more deprived areas, for example, tend to have less time and money. Indeed health problems can affect any group.

The Assembly research also points to knowledge barriers such as educational attainment, relating to the level of physical activity. There is also evidence that the actual benefits of physical activity may not be known, particularly in among older people and ethnic minorities.

In certain cases, that gap in attainment could be due to “differences in problem-solving and coping capacity arising from educational experience.”

Indeed the committee will also read in the briefing paper that people with lower levels of education are more likely to be employed in physically active work but less likely to engage in leisure activity in their free time.

Exposure to sport is also said to be “extremely important during childhood and will affect an individual’s level of activity throughout their lives”. Simply put, active children are more likely to be active adults.

In a Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation study in 2007, for example, a quarter of women said that early experiences of physical education put them off sport in later life. Indeed 26 per cent of women said they were never encouraged to play sport.

People with physical disabilities have suffered in participation terms by disabled sport’s separation from able-bodied sports. That parting has served either to marginalise disabled sports or to give the impression that they are available only to the more gifted disabled.

Committee Chairman Barry McElduff told agendaNi that the issue should not be unique to his committee. “There’s a crossover with the world of health,” he says and indeed he acknowledges that there could be scope for a joint piece of work with the Health Committee.

For McElduff the committee also exists to “support and advise” the department and so the plan is to meet with the department when the inquiry is finished and say: “You want reach 53 per cent participation? Then sit up and take notice of these recommendations.”

The committee is aiming to pass its report to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure by June, but that date could be subject to change.

The groups at a glance

• Women
• Disabled people
• People from disadvantaged areas
• Older people
• Minority communities
• LGBT community

The annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington conveniently came on the back of the devolution of policing and justice thus giving the province’s leaders a bargaining mechanism to entice prospective US investors. Meadhbh Monahan reports.

“Everyone who is anyone” in the Northern Ireland political and economic scene received a warm welcome at the White House on St Patrick’s Day, despite President Barack Obama’s preoccupation with getting his health reform bill passed by Congress.

During a hectic week in the President’s calendar, Obama took time to meet the First and Deputy First Minister as well as Taoiseach Brian Cowen, in keeping with tradition.

Green was obviously the colour of choice with the White House fountains, the traditional gift of a bowl of shamrocks from the Taoiseach to Obama, and even Peter Robinson’s tie, sporting various hues.

Secretary of State Shaun Woodward made the observation about the large troupe of politicians and officials which included: William Hay; Chief Constable Matt Baggott; Civil Service Head Bruce Robinson; the Conservatives’ Owen Paterson; and Queen’s Vice-Chancellor Peter Gregson.

They were joined by Margaret Ritchie, Reg Empey, Danny Kennedy, Basil McCrea, Arlene Foster, Naomi Long and Dawn Purvis. Gerry Adams was also present. He met members of Congress, hosted by the Chair of the Friends of Ireland Committee, where he discussed the un-documented Irish. Adams came under fire from Alliance leader David Ford, who questioned Sinn Féin’s inclusiveness, when he discovered that Adams spoke at an all men’s club and participated in a parade in Boston, where homosexuals were excluded.

A glitch occurred when Margaret Ritchie voiced her upset that she and Empey were not invited into a meeting in the Oval Office between Obama, Robinson and McGuinness, but she met the President as part of the Irish Government delegation.

During their meeting with Obama, Robinson and McGuinness spoke about the transfer of policing and justice powers, an outcome which the President endorsed. They also lobbied for further support for the International Fund for Ireland.

The pair hosted a business reception in Chicago which was attended by over 200 of the city’s top business people. McGuinness commented: “This is our first opportunity to brief investors and political leaders here in relation to the Hillsborough Agreement which will strengthen our institutions and greatly increase the potential for future investment.”

At that meeting, Declan Kelly announced that an economic conference will be held in Washington in the autumn, hosted by Hillary Clinton and focusing on attracting investment to Northern Ireland.

The annual March 17 breakfast, hosted by the Northern Ireland Bureau, the Stormont Executive’s official presence in Washington was another highlight of the trip. It was attended by 350 key decision-makers in industry, business and tourism.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster told the gathered diners that Northern Ireland is a “hip, historical and happening” tourist destination. In addition she announced a new inward investment project whereby Q1 Labs Ltd, a global developer of security intelligence solutions headquartered in the US, will establish its European, Middle East and Africa headquarters in Belfast, creating 50 high quality jobs.

A business briefing called ‘From Science to Society: A Northern Ireland showcase in cancer genomics and personalised medicine’ also made a good impression on potential US investors.

Speaking at the Friends of Ireland luncheon at Congress, Obama pledged that America will remain “as supportive as possible in advancing the Northern Ireland peace process”.

He also thanked Robinson and McGuinness for “their outstanding leadership [and] their continuing example.”

“The work of setting aside old differences and softening hardened positions, taking the tough steps to do what’s right in the long run over what’s easy in the moment has also paid dividends in terms of the remarkable progress that we’ve seen in Northern Ireland, particularly in recent months,” Obama said.

“It is such leadership that keeps me convinced that our best days – for this legislative body, for this nation, for Ireland, and for Northern Ireland, and for the friendship between our peoples – those best days are still ahead.”

He would not confirm whether he would visit Ireland but thanked the Taoiseach for his invitation and concluded: “To you and to the people of Ireland, America is grateful for our shared past, hopeful for our common future, and I assure you we will be a faithful partner in the work of progress and prosperity, and a just a lasting peace.”

As Stormont prepares to control law and order, as was originally intended, agendaNi analyses justice devolution and the surrounding dispute.

One of the early intelligence reports about Northern Ireland’s Troubles reportedly noted that both communities had long memories and short tempers. Both attitudes were clearly in evidence as the Assembly voted through its formal request for justice powers on 9 March.

Historians, with long memories, will no doubt recall a precedent. Justice powers were not automatically granted to the first Northern Ireland Parliament, when it was formed in 1921; they followed later that year.

Ultimately, Brian Faulkner saw no point in a government without responsibility for security. That prompted Stormont’s suspension and the very start of direct rule on 30 March 1972. Faulkner was the last Minister of Home Affairs, a youthful John Taylor his Minister of State.

Tempers had shortened as the day approached, with pressure increasing on the UUP – last to hold the brief 38 years ago – to accept the deal. Their main objection was that the Executive, as it stood, was not working properly; in addition, they were not involved in the final talks.

On air, the Ulster Unionists were calling for a compromise on education although references to this in the chamber were few and far between. As education has divided the Executive for nearly three years, and Sinn Féin is boycotting the current transfer talks, it is hard to see how that could have been resolved quickly.

However, Shaun Woodward’s linking of Constable Stephen Carroll’s murder, dissident violence and devolution undoubtedly hardened the UUP stance as did the last-minute American lobbying.

“What on earth do they know about about day-to-day security, policing and justice in Northern Ireland?” said Lord Maginnis, on the views of Hillary Clinton and George W Bush.

Motion

Jointly tabled by Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, the motion is the first call for more power from the Assembly. This legally seeks most policing and justice matters in the Northern Ireland Act 1998’s Schedule 3.

The relevant paragraphs are as follows:

• Paragraph 9 – criminal law, the creation of offences and penalties, prevention and detection of crime, powers of arrest and detention, prosecutions, treatment of offenders, surrender of fugitives (between North and South), compensation;
• Paragraph 9A – Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland;
• Paragraph 10 – public order, including related police powers;
• Paragraph 11 – establishment, organisation and control of the PSNI;
• Paragraph 12 – firearms and explosives;
• Paragraph 14A – rights of appeal to the Supreme Court and related legal aid;
• Paragraph 15 – courts and coroners, including procedure, evidence, appeals, juries, costs, legal aid and the registration, execution and enforcement of judgments and orders;
• Paragraph 15A – the Northern Ireland Law Commission; and
• Paragraph 17 – the Social Security and Child Support Commissioners.

Westminster will hold on to some clearly explained exceptions. The main examples are:

• Pardons in terrorism cases;
• The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (i.e. drugs classification);
• Armed forces’ powers in public order;
• The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA);
• Separated prison accommodation e.g. for paramilitary prisioners
• Security of explosives; and
• Parading (potentially soon to be devolved).

In addition, Parliament remains in control of excepted matters which effectively cannot be devolved e.g. counterterrorism, national security, military justice, immigration and extradition.

Debate

The debate, which began shortly after 11.30am and lasted nearly five hours, mixed the jokes, jibes, rebukes and the emotion. The UUP faced a hostile reception, in particular from the DUP, which took every opportunity to align their opponents with Jim Allister’s TUV.

In his opening remarks Martin McGuinness said that the UUP’s proposals sought to undermine the Good Friday Agreement. “It is a party that complains about not being involved in decision-making, yet it refuses to make any contribution and boycotted the final session at Hillsborough,” he said, before mocking the party’s attempt to find a resolution to the education debate.

Danny Kennedy told the chamber that his party was right to “hold back” its position. Recalling the slogan of a trader from his childhood, Joseph Kavanagh’s ‘I buy anything’, Kennedy said that David Ford had now taken on that mantle.

Indeed the mockery for the Alliance leader continued from Kennedy’s party colleague Alan McFarland, referring to him as ‘Lord Ford’.

Clarifying his party’s position, Kennedy added: “The problem is not with policing and justice. The problem is that the Executive [is] not being properly run. [It is] being run for the two and the few, and not for the many.”

Margaret Ritchie reiterated her party’s problem with a perceived DUP veto on any nationalist justice minister.

Edwin Poots gave an emotive speech again centred on his party’s unionist colleagues. He said: “We have heard a lot of huffing and puffing, but one thing is for sure; the Ulster Unionist Party is not going to blow the house down.”

Contrary to the DUP’s thoughts, Brian Wilson said that the motion reinforced the Belfast Agreement. Added to that, justice powers are needed to plug the political vacuum “filled by cynicism, dissident republicans and the TUV.”

Before putting the question to the chamber, First Minister Peter Robinson piled the pressure on Michael McGimpsey, who had warned about Sinn Féin deciding the army’s presence here. Robinson cited the national security protocol, confirming that military assistance is solely a matter for the Chief Constable.

The motion passed by 88 to 17, with only the Speaker, according to protocol, and William McCrea, who was attending a funeral, not voting from the DUP benches. There are 18 Ulster Unionists, of which one was reportedly in London.

The House of Commons approved the transfer on 22 March, without going to a recorded vote.

For his part, John Taylor, now Lord Kilclooney, summed up the occasion with a sense of history but also disappointment at his former colleagues’ stance; Kilclooney is a cross-bench peer.

“The late Brian Faulkner … said that devolution was useless at Stormont unless you had control of the policing and judicial system.”

Republican reactions

There is no doubt that Sinn Féin sees the transfer as a major success but not all republicans see it that way. Des Dalton, President of Republican Sinn Féin, said in February: “There is very little difference between this [justice devolution] and the bureaucracy in Dublin Castle pre-1921 that administered British rule.”

When this was put to Sinn Féin just after the vote, a spokesman commented: “[His] party has stood in numerous elections across the island and, as far as I am aware, he has one town councillor elected. That says all about the level of support Des Dalton enjoys from Irish republicans.”

Responding to the theory put forward by Dalton, he stated: “Irish people administering power over Irish citizens is a good thing. Powers moving from England to Ireland is a good thing.”

Dalton has stood unsuccessfully for Athy Town Council, in County Kildare. Seen as the Continuity IRA’s political wing, it has a small following – 2,522 votes in the 2007 Assembly election and 2,403 in the Republic’s 2004 local poll.

Naivety, he has been accused of. But naive he is not. Duncan Morrow has heard it all before; that he is just looking for people to be nice to each other and that the economy should be the number one priority. He doesn’t dispute the latter, but sees a different route needed to get to there.

The organisation he heads, the Community Relations Council, exists very simply to counter sectarianism and racism. Its work, he says, is threefold: working with large organisations, funding voluntary and community organisations, and lobbying.

“Getting policy on the agenda is the priority, he says, but “an awful lot of this can’t be done on small budgets.” So working with local councils and the Housing Executive is a must, along with the police, the GAA, the Sports Council and the Arts Council.

“Sectarianism and racism isn’t just an attitude. It’s actually built into everything in some sense or other. How it manifests itself is that people can’t live freely, go where they want, live where they want, work where they want,” Morrow states.

It remains “a massive infringement in people’s quality of life”. That conclusion, he states, is one which can be arrived at only if you have worked with communities in the inner city area where residents do not have a real choice as to where to live or work.

“We want to argue that we have to reduce all of that intimidation and all of that threat. And it has eaten into the geography. Small things like 65,000 school children everyday have to take a journey [to school] which isn’t the direct route,” he comments, before adding matter of factly “to avoid having the bus stoned.”

More than one

Duplication of services has had a lasting legacy here. Facilities such as libraries, leisure centres and transport to town centres “are all governed by what people can get to.”

He adds: “If you find yourself in a minority in the wrong place then you can’t actually access these facilities.

“Carrickhill people can’t go to the Shankill Leisure Centre. Everyone thinks that’s normal; it’s not. There are consequences for their quality of life in that they don’t have a swimming pool.” Indeed by extension, mileage then adds up as buses are laid on to take residents to the Falls Road; this is also an economic “threat” to the Shankill facility itself.

Indeed in February Environment Minister Edwin Poots said that the disparity between councils’ rates suggested that “a number of them should be seeking to deliver high quality services more efficiently.”

The cost of duplication, he contends, cannot be estimated in spite of both Deloitte and Alliance trying. The £1.5 billion quoted by the consultants came in the large part from the deterrent effect of economics, but the council estimates it to be much higher.

To Morrow, the biggest deterrent to potential investors here is likely to be the spectre of instability. Quite what the wider corporate world thinks of Northern Ireland is important and for Morrow it speaks volumes that the most publicity Northern Ireland has had in the past year has been that 100 Roma had been forced out of their homes, and the increased terrorist activity.

Those problems, Morrow believes, are not just short-term ones, “especially now when there’s a huge choice of where short international capital is going to be invested.”

For example, in his own view, if we were starting afresh the Royal Victoria Hospital would not be built on the Falls Road as it is not a shared space. Added to that is the difficulty of getting investment into unstable areas which also generally lose its most qualified people. Morrow says that there has emerged a spiral “where the spectre of division and deprivation feed each other”.

Effects

Even tourism, an area Northern Ireland is keen to promote, is still held back by segregation: “If you have in the middle of your summer period, permanent instability around parades … nobody comes. So the occupancy rates of hotels in July and August are low when in fact they should be high.”

“So when I talk about sectarianism, people think I’m talking about people being nice to each other. It eats down to the very fabric of people’s lives – where you can live, feel safe to work, whether employment will come here.”

The council’s job, he says, is to “make clear you cannot tackle the economic problems without also tackling the legacy of sectarianism.” But the people and parties who can do that, he believes, are only now coming round to that way of thinking.

Historically, though, he says the opposite was true. “High fences make good neighbours,” Morrow believes was the default: “The assumption is that safety means keeping people out, but trade means getting people in.”

The age-old idea of community relations constituting simple meetings, likely in middle class areas, he says, has gone. The people who stand to benefit from a change most are not from the middle classes but rather those who live in the most deprived and divided areas.

Likewise, the party which has been the strongest advocate of the community relations line is Alliance and the paradox, Morrow points out, is that “the big beneficiaries of this would not be in Alliance-voting areas. The beneficiaries of this would be in the areas which are most split, in the Sinn Féin-DUP areas.”

Ironically “most of the levers of this society belong with the people who are out of it paradoxically”, but the barrier is that “those people see it as a step backwards, back to some dark distant past”.

“In a sense you can buy your way out of this,” he says. The middle classes are more likely to work in a shared workplace and are more likely to have a car, which allows them to travel in and out of an area, while they also have a greater choice in where they can live.

The danger now, then, is that there is not just the historic split between Catholic and Protestant but also between the have and have nots.

On the right road

While the Executive has, in Morrow’s view rightly, set the economy at the centre of the Programme for Government he is conscious that he has been seen as a nay-sayer: “We’re not saying the goals are wrong, we’re saying you can’t reach those goals unless you actually look at what is obstructing them.”

Speaking to agendaNi a day before the justice powers motion was passed by the Assembly, Morrow was convinced it will only be beneficial for community relations. “To get from a position where the policing and justice system was at the core of the conflict to a position where it’s actually one of the institutions bought into most by everybody,” he says. But, not for the first time, there’s a paradox in that: “There is cross-community support on that ministry but not in any other.”

Putting oneself out of business might not sound like the most popular ultimate goal but that is what the council is looking towards. If there is a point sometime in the future when sectarianism and racism are no longer real threats to people then, by his own admission, he won’t be needed. But there’s still a very long way to go.

“We are the most important committee” is Jim Wells’ contention as he talks through the Health Committee’s work to date. For evidence for that claim, in his view, readers need not look further than the main daily stories in the news.

“There’s not a day goes by that there isn’t a story in the media on a health-related issue. Frequently, it’s the headlines and it’s inevitable that as Northern Ireland becomes a more and more normal society, health will be more and more dominant as an issue.”

In lobbying terms, Northern Ireland’s 169 health charities, the professional organisations and unions are always at the committee’s door. Wells finds himself “constantly in demand” compared to the Regional Development Committee, where he was Deputy Chair and received only occasional requests for meetings.

He succeeded Iris Robinson in the post last July, after the DUP decided to stand down MPs from Assembly chairs. Climbing up Slieve Binnian, in the Mournes, he was offered the choice between health and social development over the phone and asked for 24 hours to consider it: “I think I made the right choice but I never for one minute could contemplate what it involved.”

Health’s complexity can be seen when the basic numbers are added up. Seventy thousand staff are employed and the spending review sets aside £4.3 billion in current expenditure next year, making up 48 per cent of all day-to-day spending.

“Somebody told me recently that health in Northern Ireland spends more than the Government of Afghanistan [on all areas] – and they’ve got 28 million people and we’ve got 1.7 million,” Wells says. He adds that the comparison could be an unfair one, given that country’s poverty, but it shows the size of the challenge.

Scrutiny

While the committee is technically tasked with advising and assisting the Minister, he sees it more to scrutinise and hold him, his finances and policies to account. The Chairman must oversee the committee neutrally and without bias.

“The committees do generally reach consensus and don’t split. We’ve a common aim of holding the department to account,” he states.

Like Barry McElduff, he separates his comments as Chairman from those as party spokesman, although many of his latter views are similar to other parties. He has criticised bonuses for hospital consultants and thinks most other members would do the same. The committee has not had to go to a vote during his term to date.

Put to him that separating the two roles completely would avoid any conflict of interest, he replied that as the Chairman should be the most informed Health Committee member, he or she has a better grasp than another backbencher. Wells thinks it would be unreasonable to put that pressure on another committee member.

“It’s not party political in the sense that there’s no great division between nationalism and unionism or between urban and rural,” Wells says of its work. “The split is between the Minister demanding more resources for health and other members of the committee and other MLAs and ministers saying: ‘Where are we going to get this. Could we not be making better use of the huge budget we have already?’”

Ulster Unionists on the committee naturally support the Minister but his view is that any extra money would have to be cut from schools, roads or other areas. Like every other committee, it will be focusing on budgets going forward; the spending review demands £113 million savings in health.

The committee has highlighted where it thinks money has been wasted e.g. employing 57 press officers across the Health Service and the use of branded drugs rather than their generic equivalents. Some GPs, he points out, demand the right to prescribe the branded product, even if it costs £26 compared to £1 for the generic. A “vast saving” could be made here and he claims the Minister has been “very reluctant” to oppose this practice.

“I think the Minister simply has got himself into a repetitive mantra: ‘More money, more money, more money.’ I think before he does that, he has to prove to the public that the vast budget that we have – £1,830 for every man, woman and child in Northern Ireland – is being spent effectively.”

Achievements

Among its success, the committee counts its obesity reports, which highlighted that problem’s potential to overwhelm the Health Service. Twentyfour recommendations were made and Wells is pleased with the positive answers now coming from DHSSPS.

“The value of criticism is greatly devalued if it’s used constantly and without reason,” he points out, emphasising that the committee does work with the department where it thinks the public will benefit.

On swine flu, it strongly supported the department and gave it credit for tackling the problem well. Wells suggested that the staff of special schools should be vaccinated as well as their children, and the department went to work on the idea immediately; it was carried out within two days.

The committee has taken a strong line on public health and wants to see a ban on tobacco displays coming into force in October. Opposition will come from the tobacco lobby, retailers and some constituency MLAs e.g. from North Antrim for the Gallahers factory. However, Wells warns: “You can’t possibly be on a health committee and advocate anything that increases or maintains the use of tobacco.”

It also supports a ban on under-18s using sunbeds, which may be opposed by some beauty salons. Scotland has pioneered this move; MSPs voted it through in June 2008.

“At times, the committee can give political backing to the Minister in doing unpopular things as well as criticising him when he does things we don’t agree with,” he explains.

Plans

Child protection is a major item on its forward work programme. As the committee looks at plans for a safeguarding board for Northern Ireland, it wants to learn from the successes and failures of similar boards in Great Britain. Visits to social services in Bolton and Bradford are planned.

Following the Bamford review, Wells also expects “probably the largest piece of legislation Northern Ireland will ever see” to come forward after the next Assembly election; the last major mental health reforms look place in 1983. New laws on adoption are also due.

Meanwhile, the committee deals routinely with a large workload, including the framework documents i.e. strategies for specific conditions such as cancer and dementia. Following the critical RQIA report in hospital hygiene, the committee held a series of public evidence sessions, which put the spotlight on those responsible for lapses.

Relations between members are “surprisingly good” although he admits the chair would say that. They obviously come from contrasting backgrounds but the meetings are “normally very goodhumoured”. Some have relevant experience from their careers e.g. Dolores Kelly in social care and GP Kieran Deeny.

He finds that people leave their party political baggage at the door but can be forceful when defending their constituencies; with the shortage of acute services in Omagh, it’s no co-incidence that three West Tyrone MLAs are there.

Previously, Wells’ own interests in health policy were also local but he does enjoy his job, despite it coming out of the blue.

“[I] wondered how I would take to it but it has been exceptionally interesting,” he surmises. “It’s never dull. It might be very demanding and frustrating but it’s never tedious.”

Committee members

• Chair: Jim Wells (DUP)
• Deputy Chair: Michelle O’Neill (SF)
• Thomas Buchanan (DUP)
• Dr Kieran Deeny (Independent)
• Alex Easton (DUP)
• Sam Gardiner (UUP)
• Dolores Kelly (SDLP)
• John McCallister (UUP)
• Conall McDevitt (SDLP)
• Claire McGill (SF)
• Sue Ramsey (SF)

Ahead of the spring Budget and the general election, which is expected in May, four major business organisations in Northern Ireland were asked these two pertinent questions.

If you were Alistair Darling, what single initiative would you implement in the Budget as a major economic stimulus for Northern Ireland?

FSB

What is needed urgently is an incentive that will make it possible for small businesses to recruit new staff, innovate and grow. This could all be achieved by cutting employers’ national insurance and in turn would provide the entire economy with a much needed boost. Mr Darling’s decision in November to go ahead with a further 0.5 per cent increase in employers’ national insurance contributions has had a far reaching and detrimental effect on the economy with more than three in 10 (31 per cent) of respondents to the recent FSB/ICM survey saying a cut in employers’ national insurance would improve their economic prospects in the recession.

NICVA

We don’t expect to see much from a spring Budget before an election. It’s what happens after the election that will most affect us. As for now, why can’t Alastair Darling just move ahead on a big idea like the Green New Deal, where most of the levers we need are already within Northern Ireland? The proposed Green New Deal package, supported by the voluntary and community sector, employers, trade unions, economists and many others, offers us the opportunity to act to create local employment, decrease our dependence on imported energy, reduce bills and tackle fuel poverty. We don’t need the Chancellor for this one, although some good news in the Budget on renewables, energy feed-in tariffs and the parallel carbon budget would help. We also know that childcare provision is a major stumbling block to economic participation for many families – a Barnett consequential on this one would be a big help, as long as the Stormont Executive followed through with a proper strategy and services here.

CBI

At the front of our wish list in the spring Budget is for the Chancellor to create the conditions to deliver more robust and sustainable growth. Hence tax policy must be adjusted to help achieve this goal. Firstly, there is a need to reconsider the increase in employers’ national insurance, which is due to rise by 1 per cent in April 2011, adding £120 million to business costs in Northern Ireland. This will damage growth and employment prospects. Secondly, he must reconsider the decision to reduce the climate change levy relief from 80 per cent to 65 per cent for companies participating in climate change agreements. And the Chancellor must also review his decisions to increase taxes on fuel duty, air passenger duty and increase landfill tax on inert wastes, all of which have a disproportionate impact on Northern Ireland businesses.

NIIRTA

The key challenge for the incoming UK government is to urgently address the huge budget deficit facing the economy and the threat to our international credit rating. The Chancellor needs a clear and credible plan for bringing the structural deficit down, and I would also urge him to give serious consideration to the Economic Reform Group report on the need to reduce Northern Ireland’s rate of corporation tax. If our economy is to stand any chance of being fit for purpose we need some new radical thinking. Other measures such as a national insurance holiday for small businesses for one year also deserve examination by the Treasury.

What would your preferred make-up be for the new Westminster Government after the May general election and why?

FSB

As a national organisation we work with all political parties, both locally and nationally. The important thing is that a strong government is elected with a declared commitment to work with small businesses, which represent 98 per cent of businesses in the UK. Importantly, the new government must take on board how small businesses will play a role in rebuilding the economy after the worst recession for decades and address concerns such as access to finance, which have been so damaging to date. The FSB will be campaigning hard in the coming weeks to ensure its message is heard, and loud – and no politician will be in any doubt of where the small business stands.

NICVA

What Northern Ireland and the UK needs in terms of their economic futures is stability and some degree of predictability. A hung parliament would be unlikely to contribute to that. We expect stiff cuts to public expenditure of more than three per cent a year in real terms, regardless of who wins the election, and these cuts will ultimately work their way through the Northern Ireland economy, first hitting the public, private and voluntary and community sectors and then the public at large.

NIIRTA

The key question for the next parliament is not who is in power, but what their policy agenda is. We should not forget that Westminster still bankrolls Northern Ireland and has all the major fiscal levers which could have a real impact on the fortunes of our economy. We are launching our own policy manifesto Programme for Prosperity which sets out our priorities for every one of our government departments. That said, it would be interesting if the Northern Ireland political parties held the balance of power in a hung parliament. Could they use this situation effectively to argue for measures such as reduced corporation tax?

Contributors

• Seamus McAleavey
• Wilfred Mitchell
• Nigel Smyth
• Glyn Roberts

After coping with outbreaks of C.difficile in 2008, the Northern Ireland Health Service is getting better, but there is still some way to go.

With an increasingly ageing population and the cost of chronic illness accounting for an increasing share of spending, the Public Accounts Committee says that it is time the Health Service made “significant progress” in prevention and promotion.

The committee advocates a more “invest to- save” culture, with the aim of “investing in return for savings and/or reform”. However, taking a more individualist approach, the report states that people should take more responsibility for their own health – calling on them to “understand the impact of their actions on the health system”, pointing to chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Health promotion, however, does not rest solely with DHSSPS but rather on a whole-of-government basis, recognising which departments and agencies have a role. DCAL, for example, could promote participation in sport, while DRD often advocates taking the bike to work. But while both could be advantageous, if they are to lead to long-term changes in individuals’ minds then they need to be “paired with other interventions” like individual programmes.

The big problem the committee found is that there are still inequalities in health between more affluent areas and more disadvantaged parts of the province.

Obesity also remains a problem, most especially for young people, which is “storing up health problems for the future”. Consequently, the committee recommends the department should invest in “interventions that will at least pay for themselves”, i.e. stem the problems which could arise in the future.

The school nursing service can play a part in that. While there is already a process of collecting BMI measurements of eight and nine year olds, the committee recommends, that this should be extended to younger children whose physical activity can still be influenced.

Cancer targets remain high on the list of PAC targets and it says that more effort should be made to use comparative data on survival rates to benchmark the ‘performance’ here.

Diabetes is an altogether more difficult illness to benchmark. The committee accepts that there is little any health organisation can do about the genetic form of the illness. It does, though, say that the department should consider implementing targets on type 2 diabetes, specifically reducing the risk of people progressing to that stage, the number of undiagnosed people and the proportion of avoidable hospital admissions.

In spite of a reduction, smoking levels in Northern Ireland are still high and the DHSSPS should, in the committee’s view, provide an effective smoking prevention strategy as well as a service to help smokers quit. It is recommended the latter service should be pharmacy-based.

Underage smoking also remains a problem as children are very likely to continue smoking into adulthood. Although the department agrees, it does point out that the figure has fallen from 14.5 per cent in 2000 to 8.8 per cent in 2007.

Sixty-eight GP surgeries have yet to receive depression-awareness training, the report says. That deficit should be urgently remedied. By extension the committee also says that the department should tackle the problem of suicide by “ensuring that the most appropriate preventative services … are in place.”

The rise of the independent medicine sector could, the committee says, have implications for value for money. It is the department’s duty, according to the report, to monitor the cost of the treatment given and how it compares to NHS fees. Those figures should be regularly reviewed.

There is, though, some good news for the committee to report. There has been “significant” progress on reducing waiting times for primary and secondary care. Death rates from what the committee calls “big killers” such as those illnesses above, also continue to improve.