Malcolm McKibbin
Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service
How did you tackle the biggest challenges facing your organisation in 2014?
One over-arching challenge has dominated in Northern Ireland this year: the unprecedented financial pressures faced by the Executive. Significant in-year pressures arose, particularly in relation to health spending and also due to the lack of agreement on implementing welfare reform. This required difficult decisions and a facility was arranged with the Treasury to help address these pressures, although this was dependent on the agreement of a deliverable, creditable plan and draft budget for 2015-16 before the end of October. I am pleased to say that the Executive recently agreed a draft budget which is currently being consulted on. We are now looking at the challenge this presents in how we can deliver the savings required to enable us to live within this constrained budget.
What are your department’s top priorities in the last months before the general election?
A key objective will be assisting the Executive party leaders in making progress on the difficult and deeply sensitive issues around parading, flags and the past. These are concerns that have eluded agreement for generations, and the challenge is to provide the support that allows common ground to be found and agreement fostered.
Beyond this, the priority will undoubtedly be financial once more, as we seek to set the public sector on a sound financial footing for the longer term. This will involve finding ways to implement major budget reductions through downsizing and rationalising the public sector. Work has already begun on a Voluntary Exit Scheme to reduce the public sector paybill, but further initiative and creativity is required to ensure we continue to meet the growing demand for high-quality public services with fewer staff. Reaching agreement on the implementation of welfare reform is also essential to balancing the books in the longer term.
What’s your favourite Christmas treat? And what makes you say “Bah, humbug!”?
There’s something special about my two daughters coming home for Christmas. One lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and the other is a bit of a globetrotter! Although we see them from time to time throughout the year, I look forward to having time off from work when everyone is together and we can all relax with a few drinks and nice food! I have been known to make a mean paté for the occasion!
I love Christmas, so the one thing that makes me say “Bah! Humbug” is the people who say “Bah! Humbug”. However, weight management in the run-up to Christmas can be quite a challenge, especially when you’re caught up in festive party fever. By the end of Boxing Day I’m usually feeling empathy with the poor bird that’s been stuffed to within an inch of its life!