Executive progress

If we are serious about improving delivery at Executive level, then we have to be clear about both the causes of failure and the limits of what so far the private member or perhaps more accurately party motions alone can achieve.

I was elected to this Assembly to be a legislator to improve the lives of my constituents by changing and improving our laws, yet in this mandate so far precious little has been achieved.

Alliance is in the Executive not to defend its shortcomings, but to change how it operates. We believe that government should work as a single team, focused on outcomes, rather than as a set of competing departmental silos.

What we need is structural reform, clearer accountability, and a system that is designed to deliver, rather than one that fails to deliver.

That is why Alliance have been arguing for change for more than a decade. Arguing for multi-year budgeting, because without it departments are forced into short-term decisions that undermine long-term value for money and effective service delivery.

We have been clear that a Programme for Government must be more than a document agreed at the start of a mandate. It must be accompanied by measurable outcomes, regular reporting to this Assembly, and a real willingness to be held accountable for progress.