Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 5 October 2020 to Question 97062 on UK Government-Northern Ireland Executive Joint Board, what assessment he has made of the progress being made on transformation in the areas of (a) health, (b) education and (c) justice.

Those matters are of course devolved and a matter for the Executive.

We have, however, seen the ending of the nurses’ pay dispute and the Executive reaching political agreement on the creation of a new Northern Ireland Graduate Entry Medical School in Derry/Londonderry.

The Executive’s focus, rightly and understandably, has been on Covid-19. But the pandemic has highlighted the need for urgent health reform in NI and as a result, the Rebuilding Health & Social Care Strategic Framework was published by Minister Swann on 9 June.

The UK Government supports the Executive’s commitment to speed up the criminal justice system, benefitting victims and witnesses. We also support the Executive’s progress towards building a shared and integrated society, including educating children from different backgrounds in the classroom.

A further meeting of the Joint Board took place on 21 October. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland discussed the importance of delivering transformation in public services and establishing an independent fiscal council to support the Executive in developing long-term spending plans with the First and deputy First Minister.