To ask the Minister of Finance for an update on the interim Public Service Transformation Board.

Dr Archibald (The Minister of Finance)

Public services across many sectors are in critical need of investment to ensure the quality and efficiency of service that citizens quite rightly expect. Transformation is also essential if the Executive are to put their finances on a more sustainable footing. The financial package for the restored Executive includes £235 million of ring-fenced funding for public-sector transformation. That will provide £47 million each year over a five-year period. On 9 May, the Executive agreed my proposed approach for making quick progress on the use of that important funding. I have now established and appointed members to an interim public-sector transformation board chaired by the head of the Civil Service, Jayne Brady. The interim board has been working at pace and, supported by my officials, issued a call for transformation proposals on 31 May. Those have now been received, and I am pleased to report that all Departments have submitted proposals. The interim board is currently assessing proposals to determine which are genuinely transformative and how projects could be prioritised to make the most effective use of the funding available. It will then make its recommendations to me on that basis. Work is ongoing separately to develop the terms of reference for the board. Once all of that is completed, I will bring recommendations to the Executive for agreement. While the funding will in no way tackle the magnitude of issues in hand, I am committed to using it as effectively as possible to develop and implement a model of delivery that will stimulate the wider transformation of public services.

Dr Archibald

The board has been established on an interim basis to allow us to make progress with the funding for this financial year. We did not want to be in a position in which we were not able to receive proposals and thus not spend the £47 million, which would potentially have put us in the position of losing some of the money or having to ask for it to be re-profiled. We will seek to put the board on a firm and permanent footing. I anticipate that, once the board has completed its work on developing them, the terms of reference will come to the Executive. I imagine that that will happen over the summer months. Come the autumn, we will look at the membership more widely and the terms of reference. We have established the board with three permanent members, but we may look at the mechanism for bringing in independent experts who are able to provide specific advice on particular projects.

Mr McGuigan

What criteria will Departments need to meet? How will the proposals be assessed?

Dr Archibald

The letter from the interim transformation board to Departments requested that proposals aim to meet some or all of the following objectives: to increase financial sustainability of public services; to transform the model of delivery of public services to improve effectiveness and efficiency, to meet increased demands and improve outcomes for citizens; and to ensure prevention or cost savings through early intervention. Further guidance was provided through the pro forma that Departments were asked to complete. Large-scale proposals of £10 million or more that pass an initial sift will undergo an additional process for application and assessment, given the higher levels of transformation investment sought. The interim board may also take advice from subject matter experts to inform its decisions and/or ask to meet Departments to discuss and understand their proposals better.