THE WEEK THAT WAS….
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
No, and it’s not Superman either, but another equally rare object, Executive Business on the Floor of the Assembly. Indeed, not only was the House treated to some social security regulations which actually varied from Westminster’s provisions to account for local circumstances, there was also a concerted effort at joined-up Government as DETI and DEL made back-to-back announcements to help local firms through the recession.
Alright, so the sums involved wouldn’t be enough to get Lex Luther out of bed early, it’s just £21m, but it’s the thought that counts (to put it into perspective just how small £21m is, the Australian Govt. has just revealed that it’s mistakenly paid A$14m to the dead as part of its fiscal stimulus package).
That aside, it’s been a barren few weeks for Stormont and it’s not hard to see why. Our convoluted system of Government with its community checks and balances just isn’t well suited to the business of governing. The Assembly is the ‘camel’ of parliamentary procedure. Designed by the mother of all committees during years of talks about talks, it’s a little bit of everything, but in this case the sum of the whole is definitely less than its constituent parts.
For instance, the reason why this week’s Social Security regulations differ from Westminster is to take account of Northern Ireland’s poor provision of childcare places. Why is there poor provision? Partly because there’s no childcare policy. In the real world, one Department would take the lead. On Planet Krypton at the top of the Prince of Wales Avenue, it’s shared by Education, Health and DEL.
There’s also a sub-group on child poverty which is convening a meeting in June to discuss childcare policy. Not only are the three ‘lead’ Departments involved, but so too are DETI, DARD, DSD, and the NIO. The D-Day landings involved less planning.
This isn’t Government, it’s death by mandatory coalition, and we’re stuck with it.
