Debate contribution: Regional Balance Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mrs Julie Middleton on 8 September 2026.

MLA: Mrs Julie Middleton
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 8 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Regional Balance Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5674484

Text

As a Member for Foyle, regional balance is of the utmost importance to me, my constituents and the businesses and entities in the area that I represent. I thank and congratulate you, Sinéad, for the genuine effort and really hard work that you have put into the Bill thus far, and I will be clear at the outset that I support the principles at the heart of this Second Stage. Every part of Northern Ireland should have access to opportunity, not least our lovely north-west, which is the area that I am so proud to live in, to bring up my young children in and to represent. It goes without saying that every community should have access to good jobs, proper infrastructure, skills and training, quality public services, housing and investment. As someone who represents Foyle and, of course, the wider north-west, I know only too well that regional balance matters very much. I am not naive to the fact that many people in the north-west will say that they have heard promises about unlocking the potential of the region before. They have heard about strategies, plans and investment programmes. They have heard about the importance of the north-west to our overall economy, and we know that to be true. The people of the north-west want to see those promises come to fruition. Through departmental development, we have, of late, seen not only the potential but the tangible results that can be unlocked when the north-west is given fair opportunities and the investment that it deserves. Whilst it is not unreasonable at all for people to ask when they will see the results on the ground, I say this today: we are already starting to see fantastic development. The investment from the Executive Office at Ebrington Square has allowed for restaurants, a hotel, technological businesses, a hairdresser, a bakery, many office spaces and space for enterprises. Our Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons MLA, has ensured regeneration of the Austins building and the old Danske Bank building, and housing has been prioritised alongside important heritage sites. The groundwork is there. The test of when we will see results on the ground is the very thing that I and, I am sure, all of us want to see the Bill meet. The question before us today should not simply be whether we can produce another strategy. We know that Northern Ireland and the north-west have strategies. The question is whether the proposed legislation will actually change our decisions, direct investment where we need it, improve outcomes and give our community confidence that the Government understand the particular challenges that we are facing. I therefore welcome the Bill's intent to put regional balance more firmly into the Executive's decision-making process. Clause 1 proposes a strategic framework that will set out outcomes, departmental responsibilities, targets and mechanisms for delivery. That could be useful but only if it is connected directly to the things that actually determine whether a region succeeds. We need to see that connect with the Executive Budget, the investment strategy, the Programme for Government and departmental delivery plans. Otherwise, there may be a danger that we will just create another document, another reporting process or another review mechanism.
I do not want to be looking round, five years from now, at people conversing about how very little has changed. We do not have a shortage of strategies in Northern Ireland, but we do have a shortage of delivery. We all have our part to play in addressing regional inequality. I welcome today's open conversation at Second Stage, which must be the starting point for our scrutiny of the Bill.
I turn specifically to Foyle and the north-west. There is enormous economic potential in our region. We have businesses, entrepreneurs, universities, colleges, a highly skilled workforce, a major port, an airport, a strategic border location and communities with a strong tradition of working hard, of enterprise and of innovation, Potential is not enough, however. Potential has to be connected to infrastructure, transport, skills, investment and the ability of people to access employment without feeling that they are being forced to leave their community or their region to do so. That means that our Executive must look seriously at the infrastructure deficit in the north-west. It also means recognising the importance of strategic transport connections and of our port and our airport; ensuring that our universities, our further education sector, our skills system and all other systems are properly aligned with the needs of our regional economy; and ensuring that public investment does not simply follow existing concentrations of economic activity. There is a legitimate argument that investment should help create growth in places where growth has, historically, been weaker. I want to make an important point today. Regional balance should not become an east versus west argument. That would be a mistake. There is deprivation in rural communities, but there is also deprivation in our cities. We should not have a competition between communities over who is most deprived; we should strive to make life better for all. The purpose of regional balance should be to identify need and respond to it, wherever that need exists. It does exist in Foyle and the north-west, and the statistics demonstrate why that matters. Let us remember that these are not simply economic statistics. Behind every figure is a person, a family and a community. When we talk about regional balance, we should be talking about improving people's lives. There is therefore a legitimate place for comparative economic information. I have questions about where responsibility should ultimately sit. The Department for the Economy has an obvious role, but regional balance is not solely an economic issue. It is about roads and transport, housing, health, education, planning, skills, public services and investment. That means that this cannot simply be a Department for the Economy initiative. There must be genuine, collective ownership across the Executive. If every Department is required under clause 2 of the Bill to have due regard to the framework, there must also be meaningful accountability when Departments fail to deliver against it. A duty without consequence can become little more than an aspiration. The Bill needs to give us confidence that departmental —.

1,039 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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