Empowering civil servants not ideal

LAST Thursday, we were promised a ‘major/significant’ announcement from the Secretary of State. The subsequent media attention focused around the cut in MLAs’ pay — an announcement that could more accurately be described as ‘long overdue’.

I welcome this decision, which the Ulster Unionist Party fully supports and has long called for. What was far more significant was the Secretary of State’s announcement that she would bring legislation to allow civil servants to make ministerial decisions.

This can only be described as a cop-out and an abrogation of the Secretary of State’s responsibility to govern Northern Ireland effectively in the absence of an Executive.

A preferable option, in the absence of a productive talks process, would be the appointment of direct rule ministers who would have at least faced some scrutiny and accountability through Northern Ireland’s members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

As a local government representative, my experience of dealing with civil servants who are not presently answerable to a local assembly is entirely negative. Civil servants will invariably shy away from major and controversial decisions if it can possibly be avoided.

What Northern Ireland needs is a locally elected and accountable legislature and Executive. We are currently being denied this by the impasse between Sinn Fein and the DUP. While empowering civil servants is marginally better than the present situation, I expect it will lead to a continuation of the sclerosis which currently besets our public services.

CLLR ALEXANDER REDPATH (UUP)

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council