Top civil servant: we need Stormont back
THE head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service has said staff must tread carefully when taking decisions while devolution is suspended so they don’t compromise their impartiality.
Speaking in Brussels yesterday, David Sterling stressed that civil servants could never be “a substitute for democratically elected and accountable ministers”.
He also expressed deep concern about the economic impact on Northern Ireland if no Brexit deal was secured. Mr Sterling was addressing the European Policy Centre thinktank.
As the political stalemate continues, Secretary of State Karen Bradley has pledged to bring forward legislation to enhance civil servants’ ability to take decisions.
Mr Sterling said civil servants had been doing their best to manage the situation since power-sharing collapsed over 18 months ago.
“But we are relatively powerless to deal with the most difficult problems,” he said.
“Only ministers can decide what are the best strategies and policies to make a difference, only ministers can set priorities for action, and only ministers can choose how best to allocate the scarce resources, especially financial resources, available to us.
“So, we need our executive back quickly to give us the direction we need to make Northern Ireland a better place to live and work for all our citizens.”
While he welcomed Mrs Bradley’s move towards clarity on civil servants’ role, he added: “Great care will need to be taken so that any new arrangements which may be put in place, no matter how temporary, do not compromise the impartiality of the Civil Service.
“We cannot afford to have our integrity called into question when we are called to serve a new executive.”
Mr Sterling spoke of the challenges of preparing for Brexit with no ministers in place. I cannot stray into political territory, however you will not be surprised to hear that we have deep concerns about the risk that no deal is agreed and there is chaotic exit from the EU,” he said. “Under such a scenario, costs for our businesses could significantly increase or create what might just be impossible for many firms, particularly in our agrifood supply chains, to trade normally in this era of ‘just in time’ processing and manufacturing.
“In the life cycle of many goods they have to cross the land border many times.
“Our research has shown that two-thirds of cross-border trade involves supply chain activity. How would this work if they had to make Customs and VAT declarations each time?”
Mr Sterling said he hoped a Brexit agreement could be reached as “there is too much at stake for all of us”.