Lack of Executive could become ‘new normal’: Civil Service chief

THE head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service has warned that the lack of government at Stormont is at risk of becoming the “new normal” for citizens.

Senior civil servants have been running day-to-day department business since the collapse of the Executive more than two years ago.

However, major policy decisions can only be made by elected ministers.

Speaking to the BBC, Civil Service chief David Sterling said the situation could not be allowed to go on much longer.

“My concern would be that in the ongoing absence of ministers people would get used to this, they will think it’s okay when it isn’t and there’s a risk that this could become the new normal — and that would not be good,” Mr Sterling stressed.

In the absence of an Executive, the authority of civil servants to make decisions normally reserved for ministers has been challenged, most notably by a judge in relation to a proposed waste facility in Co Antrim.

In May last year, a High Court judge ruled that Department for Infrastructure official Peter May did not have the authority to approve plans to build a £240m waste incinerator in Mallusk.

Mr Sterling said that “major transformation” was needed in various sectors across Northern Ireland, including healthcare, where rising hospital waiting times have been a significant challenge.

“We haven’t had a cliff-edge moment where public services have collapsed, if you like, but we have seen a slow decay and stagnation in our public services,” he added.

Mr Sterling also said changes to the education system were needed, but because decisions in the sector are “sensitive politically”, it is “only right that those difficult decisions are taken by democratically elected and accountable ministers”.

He also had dire warnings for housing in Northern Ireland, saying that if “big issues” were not addressed, some of the province’s social housing stock may need to be mothballed”.