Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Public Services

Wednesday 24 July 2024 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister of State and Secretary of State are committed to the effective functioning and stability of public services in Northern Ireland.
  • The Minister plans to meet with the First and Deputy First Ministers and the Health Minister to discuss public service transformation.
  • Money is allocated specifically for transforming public services to enhance service delivery outcomes, addressing issues like NHS waiting lists.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Gavin Robinson DUP Belfast East
Northern Ireland
Context

The question arises from the need to address ongoing issues with public service provision and funding challenges in Northern Ireland.

Question

What steps he plans to take to support public services in Northern Ireland?

Answer from Fleur Anderson

I am delighted to be appointed to this role, and I look forward to working closely with Executive Ministers to see public services transformed in Northern Ireland. I will be meeting the First and Deputy First Ministers tomorrow in Stormont, as well as the Northern Ireland Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific steps and details on how public services will be supported were not provided.

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Q2 Gavin Robinson DUP Belfast East
NHS Northern Ireland
Context

The question stems from ongoing concerns about the adequacy of funding and the effectiveness of fiscal frameworks, particularly after recent interim announcements did not solve existing issues.

Question

I welcome the Minister of State and Secretary of State to their positions. I am delighted to see them in post, and I know they are committed to effective public services and stability of the institutions in Northern Ireland. May I caution that in a number of responses that we have received from the Front Bench, we are having a recurring conversation that the fiscal framework that was announced back in December on an interim basis does not solve the problems we have? Even the stabilisation money that was agreed back in December has already been forecast as necessary to sustain pay in Northern Ireland. Will the Minister of State engage earnestly not only with what the Government—both of this hue and the previous Government—have been saying for the past six months, and recognise that to provide good public services in Northern Ireland we need not only to sustain, but to transform?

Answer from Fleur Anderson

I agree with the right hon. Member. Money is allocated specifically for transformation of public services to improve service delivery outcomes. In Northern Ireland, three in 10 people are on an NHS waiting list; that number is one in 10 here in England. That figure needs to be transformed for health outcomes. I will be talking about funding when I meet Executive Ministers, but I will also be talking about other ways in which our doors, and those of other Government Ministers, too, are open. We are determined to work together to transform public services.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific details on the engagement process with government or concrete steps for transformation were not provided.

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