Written evidence submitted by Stratagem and the John and Pat Hume Foundation, relating to the effectiveness of the institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement inquiry (GFA0026)

Who we are

Future Politics: Delivering Effective Government conference took place in September 2022 and is a partnership between political consultancy Stratagem and the John and Pat Hume Foundation.

The conference was an opportunity to reflect on how the political system in Northern Ireland operates, its relationship with policy development and the wider political framework in which it sits and consider workable solutions that could help deliver better outcomes for people and communities. 

Importantly, the conference did not seek to pre-empt, or speculate on, any proposals for changing rules or structures in our institutions, but instead to provide a space for a more reflective and solution-focused political discourse.

The conference featured a range of expert panellists who reflected on the following areas:

• Almost 25 years since devolution: what does good government look like and how do we achieve it?
• Cutting through the noise: creating a more reflective political discourse 
• Delivering better outcomes for people: the architecture and culture of policy making
• Whose culture is it anyway? Moving away from a binary state
• Our place in the world: resetting our Transatlantic relationship
• Making the three strands work for prosperity: North-South, East-West in a post-Brexit world

We have produced a summary report of the conference (available here) with associated actions that we hope to progress over the coming months through a series of mini-events, with the intention of delivering the second annual conference in Autumn 2023.

We believe that the work emerging from the conference is relevant to the institutions, both in their current form and in relation to any future changes, providing ideas and proposals for how we can better underpin the structures of government and ultimately, make it more sustainable.

Key Themes and Work Streams

How this relates to the consultation

In responding to this consultation, we wanted to highlight some key issues that can helpfully frame any conversations around institutional reform as they are central to the delivery of more effective and sustainable government.

We would encourage the Committee to consider the impact of reforms on all parts of the system, namely the policy and political infrastructure, behaviours and culture. This includes the delivery of policy through the NI Civil Service, local government (particularly where it interacts with central government), and the interaction on policy matters between Westminster and Stormont.

We would also point to the need to continue this conversation even if the institutions are re-established in the months ahead. Twenty-five years after the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, we are at an inflection point whereby the sustainability of government has become increasingly problematic.

As the interludes between stable government are reducing it essential that these issues are addressed outside of a crisis or political negotiation and taking account of the wider system beyond the immediate parameters of the Northern Ireland Act.

It is clear that there is a willingness for the institutions to work and ideas for how this can be supported. We believe that any process should include voices outside of the political parties and government departments, and draw on expertise from across society.

Recommendations

We would like to lodge the following considerations that emerged from the Future Politics: Delivering Effective Government conference and that we believe are essential in making our political institutions more sustainable, regardless and including in the event of any changes.

1. An audit of policy and political frameworks should be undertaken to inform a whole-systems approach as part of or in advance of a review of the institutions as created (and amended) under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements.

2. Politicians elected to serve in the institutions need to be supported in a range of ways. This includes leadership and capacity building; cross-party networks with a particular but not exclusive focus on more recently elected both at Assembly and Council level. While there are existing programmes, there is an opportunity and need to enhance, formalise and innovate following the disruption of COVID-19 and the outworkings of the UK’s exit from the EU.

3. A shared functioning, remit and interrelationship of North/South/East/West institutions is also required particularly in a post-Brexit context. At an East/West level, this includes how the Home Civil Service interacts with the NI Civil Service in policy development.

4. Following on from the policy audit, we recommend that the Committee explores the interaction and interface of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive with the NI Civil Service which is critical in the delivery of public policy, and, ultimately, outcomes for citizens. Over time and through the evolution of our political and policy landscape and ambitions as reflected in the move to an outcomes-based Programme for Government, key components of the system do not align. This approach to public policy and service delivery, developed in various forms and degrees in all three devolved jurisdictions, is not best served by siloed departments but can be unlocked by solutions such as introducing a Statutory Duty to Cooperate and multi-annual, outcome-based budgets. We believe that this is something the committee should consider in reflecting on the effectiveness of the institutions, and how this interacts with policy delivery.

Closing remarks

Future Politics would welcome the opportunity to engage with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on the above submission and will be extending an invitation to attend a roundtable event that we are delivering in partnership with the Institute for Government on 31 January in London which will reflect on East/West political relations and the policy making process. Details to follow.

December 2022