Debate contribution: Northern Ireland Civil Service: Reform

Debate contribution by Mr Jon Burrows on 3 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Jon Burrows

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

3 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Northern Ireland Civil Service: Reform

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5363134

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Mr Deputy Speaker, I am sorry that I was a little late for the start of the debate. There is no doubt that we need strong leadership and real change in the Civil Service. I echo what everyone else has said: the motion is not a criticism of the hard-working men and women who are the rank and file of the Civil Service. It is about culture and about senior leadership, but I want to start with political leadership. It is unhelpful for any type of transformation if the Stormont institutions are not in existence for a period of time. That is not helpful. The lack of focus, particularly on this side of the Chamber, on issues not in Northern Ireland is not helpful. These are the deep-down issues that we need to be focused on, and I want to make sure that I acknowledge that. Let me say with real sincerity that there is an absence of real accountability in the culture in Northern Ireland. That has maybe come from our peace process. Sometimes just existing and not excelling is OK. We need to have real accountability as a culture in the Civil Service and in all aspects of our public life so that there is proper performance management. You can still be compassionate with sickness — I have had periods of sickness and have battled hard to overcome them — but there is a lack of real accountability around issues such as performance, absence management and honest conversations. Those need to be trained in our Civil Service at all levels of line management. That is the first thing. In a second, I will come on to how we record and measure sickness, because there is a perversion in that system, but my second point is about how we reward those who turn up time and time again. I have spoken to many people who have said, "I have not taken a day off in 10 years, and that has never been acknowledged". If we want to change the culture, it is important that we acknowledge those who turn up and that we reward and recognise that. Likewise with promotion: I do not know the inside track of the Civil Service, but I know from experience in the Police Service that there is often a feeling that we have got our promotion system entirely wrong. The wrong people get promoted, and it is not done really on merit. I want to talk about sickness and one reason why you might have high levels of sickness. Yes, there are issues with stress, with demands and with making sure that there is good, supportive leadership, but the way that sickness is calculated can often be perverse. One day's sick is one incident, and seven days' sick is one incident. I have spoken to people who have said to me in all honesty, "There was no incentive for me to come back to work any quicker. If I am going to go sick, I might as well get my seven days out of it". We must have a system that properly measures whether you have hit a point of unsatisfactory sickness absence. We also need an entire culture of training people in how to have proper sit-down conversations around issues of welfare and performance.

We shirk from those in Northern Ireland. I listened attentively to someone on the radio recently talk about performance management for people in the Civil Service in England being much higher than here. People do not want to have uncomfortable conversations. If your performance is not good, why is that? Is there a welfare issue? Is there an issue with training? Is there an issue with your level of engagement or commitment? That is a culture that needs to be brought in at all levels. Skill people up to have those conversations. I want to say one final thing about the Civil Service, about that very senior leadership and how it transcends in what I have seen since I have come here. Committee after Committee, report after report: mumbo jumbo. It is full of flannel. A report that could give you the nub of an answer in a concise, precise and relevant way is dressed up and camouflaged with hundreds of words, when actually, at the end of it, you cannot understand it. I have gone through some education. I have three degrees, and I cannot understand it. Actually, I have a degree in one of the things that was being discussed. Let us cut the mumbo jumbo. Let us cut the claptrap. Let us have a system that rewards those who turn up, rewards merit and says to those at the top of the organisation, "You get eye-watering salaries. You're paid more than anyone here. Do your job or find a different job." We need to have real accountability at every level but also real reward for those who are working. We need to change; we need to stop focusing on things in Gaza and around the world and to focus on things here in Northern Ireland.

Thank you.

852 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:30 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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