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Irish Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Stormont is slow, afraid of new thinking and costly, says report
Reading the latest report by the Belfast-based Pivotal think tank into the operations of the Stormont Executive, Assembly and Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) is like watching an episode of the much-loved 1980s TV series Yes, Minister, but minus the jokes. Throughout, the fruits of months of conversations with 30 former ministers, senior civil servants, special advisers and some of those who deal frequently with Stormont on policy questions reveals a litany of failures, blockages and short-sightedness. As always in organisations, the principal issues centre on culture. 'Civil servants are broadly committed and enthusiastic, but they are held back by a burdensome system. Risk aversion acts as a brake on progress at every stage,' the report says. 'This seems to have got worse in recent years. Innovation is not always encouraged, and change is often resisted. While delivery is a priority in principle, it doesn't always translate into practice.' READ MORE Too often, Pivotal says, officials make decisions out of fear of a subsequent Northern Ireland Audit Office report, or a grilling before Stormont's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), or being the subject of a judicial review. The PAC uses its time and profile to go through departments' 'bad holiday snaps' in search of a 'gotcha' moment that will dominate the evening TV headlines, it says. Even here, it frequently falls short of the mark as a spending watchdog, with one retired civil servant witheringly saying officials 'wouldn't be afraid' of appearing before it given its 'poor questioning and scrutiny skills'. While they are not afraid of audits, or the PAC, they are afraid of the press, something that has got worse since news reporting exposed the 'cash for ash' scandal, which has cost NI taxpayers £500 million that they know about, but probably more. [ Cash for ash scandal: Everybody is to blame, nobody is to blame Opens in new window ] In an effort to avoid taking responsibility, officials are overly willing to hire consultants and, as a consequence, fail to build up the skills of their staff, the report says. The sums being spent are now causing 'alarm' among those interviewed. A business leader, speaking anonymously, as every interviewee does in the report, believes Stormont is 'creating middle-class industries'. Consultants have become 'an ordinary part of working' in Stormont's hard wiring, according to most of those who contributed. Too often, however, as one retired senior official put it acidly, they 'borrow your watch and tell you the time'. Inside the bureaucracy, things move at 'a glacial pace', according to a former minister, with officials unwilling to quickly change their ways of working or move into new roles. 'Pace is not what civil servants do well. They do process well,' said a business leader. If it does process well, Stormont does not do outcomes. Interviewees were, Pivotal reports, shocked at the lack of attention given to whether a programme's aims are achieved, with the focus instead on ensuring all the money allocated is spent. 'The system needs to be turned on its head and see the reason for doing this is not just the pound notes, it's actually about changing the place,' said one business representative experienced in Stormont's ways. Bureaucracy 'can thwart change easily', said one former minister, while a former special adviser believed the system often thought more about 'finding their people something to do' than having them do something productive. Too often, life inside the Stormont bureaucracy is about management rather than change. 'Every day a business will ask 'How do I make my business better – quicker, stronger, better?' There is very little of this in the NICS,' said one business leader. If officials like talking to consultants, they do not like talking to anyone else, the Pivotal report states. They are 'not inclined to engage in difficult conversation' with outsiders, said a former minister. The voluntary sector was scathing of the way it feels it is treated by Stormont. Often, according to the report, the sector gets little more than 'lip service', while consultations that do take place are regarded as box-ticking exercises rather than meetings where they are listened to. Stormont departments operate in silos, the report notes, unwilling to co-operate with colleagues in other departments. Jayne Brady, the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, enjoys no formal authority over departmental permanent secretaries, the report notes, who are instead accountable only to their ministers for policy, to the NI Department of Finance for spending, and to the Stormont Assembly. Ministers are said to get bogged down in day-to-day matters rather than the bigger issues, and they are seen as having a preference for making announcements rather than the drudgery of reaching long-term goals. Their behaviour can delay or even halt delivery, particularly when matters political, or local, get in the way. One former official delivered a backhanded compliment, saying: 'I have never worked with anybody who didn't really care'. Stormont's political structures – where the Executive does not operate by collective responsibility and where ministers are appointed by their parties – does not help, the report finds. 'Many interviewees pointed to political disagreements that slowed down delivery of important policies, whether those disagreements were about policy design, who would benefit, or local impacts.'
Zawya
3 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
EAC's invisible walls: Why intra-trade remains stubbornly at 15pc?
The East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers has received a report on a fresh surge in non-tariff barriers to trade in the regional bloc, largely fuelled by contradictory domestic taxes. The EAC Sectoral Council of the Ministers of Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment (SCTIFI) says the number of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) within the bloc increased from 10 in November 2024 to 48 in May 2025, reflecting the challenges member states are facing trading with one another. This has left the intra-EAC trade stagnant at 15 percent. NTBs have impacted trade in various goods and services, including sugar, milk, soft drinks, beer, cement, clinker, road user charges, paints and varnishes, fish, and forest and timber products, according to disclosures by the council. Read: Ugandan traders bemoan erratic road fees on EAC trade routesThe ministers blamed the resurgence of NTBs in the region on the continued enactment of discriminatory laws and regulations by member states. This has led to violations of the national treatment principle and the non-notification of such breaches and the partial implementation of partner states' commitments to EAC integration, including non-resolution of NTBs and the imposition of new ones, which contravenes EAC laws. Other major causes are non-harmonisation of policies and regulations among partner states, especially fees, levies and charges and the non-timely resolution of reported NTBs. Read: EAC is not treating us well, say Rwandan tradersThe meeting noted that of the 48 NTBs, 18 were resolved, 22 are at various stages of resolution, two were operational and were referred to the relevant committees for consideration, and that six were not bona fide. By November 2023, 269 NTBs had been resolved, leaving only nine were outstanding. The resurgence of NTBs raises concerns about the partner states' commitment to regional integration and the promotion of intra-EAC trade. Domestic taxesThe EAC Secretariat says intra-EAC trade has remained low, largely due to NTBs. EAC's total trade with the rest of the world increased by 2.37 percent to $80.6 billion in 2023 from $78.7 billion in 2022, while intra-EAC total trade grew by 13.1 percent to $12.1 billion from $10.6 billion in the same period. However, the percentage share of intra-EAC trade to bloc's total trade was 15 percent in 2023. NTBs have been a major hindrance to the free movement of goods as enshrined in the EAC Customs and Common Market protocols. Ordinarily, NTBs refer to any obstacles to international trade that are not import or export duties and may take the form of import quotas, subsidies, customs delays, technical barriers, or other systems preventing or impeding trade. According to the ministers, the number of NTBs were attributed to domestic taxes such as excise duties and other charges of equivalent effect and that a number of reported NTBs were operational related to service delivery and could be addressed through Trade Facilitation Committee rather than describing them as NTB. The council took note of the 18 resolved NTBs and directed partner states to refrain from enacting laws that impose fees, levies and charges of equivalent effect on goods originating from the bloc and to refrain from imposing quotas on goods originating from the bloc. It also directed the partner states to make budgetary allocation to undertake activities related to the resolution of NTBs and that the EAC Secretariat should convene and coordinate the bilateral engagements among partner states on specific NTBs as they occur in order to resolve them promptly. Customs UnionThe council also directed partner states to treat goods from the region as transfers and refrain from enacting discriminatory laws that treat EAC originating goods as imports and that partner states should timely notify the EAC Secretariat in a timely manner of any new measures that would affect trade. The Customs Union is the first pillar of the EAC regional integration that provides for free movement of goods and services in the region by eliminating trade barriers and fostering a competitive environment for goods produced within the region. Under the region's revised four-band Common External Tariff (CET), which took effect on July 1, 2022, finished products imported from countries outside the bloc attract a 35 percent duty, intermediate products available in the EAC 25 percent, intermediate products not available in the region 10 percent and raw materials and capital goods attract a zero percent import duty. Additionally, there is a list of sensitive items, such as sugar, wheat, rice and milk, which attract a duty of more than 35 percent, to protect local industries from competition.
Zawya
12-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
EAC ministers order probe on products requiring special tax treatment
East African Community (EAC) ministers have directed the Secretariat to institute measures aimed at abolishing special tax treatment for certain goods in the region in the next 12 months. The EAC Sectoral Council of the Ministers of Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment (SCTIFI) wants an investigation to ascertain the availability of these products in the region and the justification for the special treatment. They say applications for preferential tax treatment by member states must be backed by comprehensive and valid justification. This is in the latest attempt by the regional ministers to deal with persistent stays of application requests by member states, which are believed to be watering down the objectives of common external tariff (CET), including enhancing regional competitiveness and industrialisation. In a meeting held in Arusha May 26-30, the Council directed partner states to submit a list of not more than five products each, which are prone to preferential tax treatment and are available in sufficient quantities in the region by June 30, 2025. Read: EAC ministers suspend new levies on high-risk products pending reviewThe EAC Secretariat and the partner states are expected to undertake a regional study to establish the availability of the products manufactured within the region by the end of June 2026.'The meeting emphasised the need for justification for the requested stays prior to approval,' says according to the report of the meeting. The meeting noted that, despite the comprehensive review of the EAC Common External Tariff in May 2022 aimed at enhancing regional industrialisation, value addition and competitiveness, partner states have continued to submit numerous requests for stays of application on the same tariff lines.'This persistent trend suggests that national interests are still taking precedence over the agreed regional objectives, thereby undermining the uniform application and effectiveness of the revised CET,' says the report. Currently, there are 1,956 tariff lines under stays (22 percent of CET), with potential increase to over 2,000 lines (30 percent of CET).'This upward trajectory raises concerns and undermines the EAC CET,' the Council warns. They noted that some stays of applications were found to have minimal traffic, with transactions as low as $200. The EAC Council of Ministers, in April 2014, decided to do away with stays of applications and directed that a phase out proposal be developed, which was subsequently adopted by the Sectoral Council of the Ministers of Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment in May that year. But the directive is yet to be implemented, as countries still pursue this window of stays of applications and tax exemptions on various sensitive goods. It is argued that the excessive protection granted to sensitive goods should be removed and the products opened to competition, as most member states have abused this window. The EAC Council had agreed that the removal of stays of applications and duty remission inform the comprehensive review of tariffs. According to the ministers, the special tax treatment accorded to sensitive items is not anchored in the EAC Customs law and is stifling intra-regional trade. The ministers have proposed harmonisation of specific duty rates between partner states and verification of products where countries have sufficient production. In last year's budget, EAC ministers of finance agreed on duty remissions on raw materials and inputs used by local manufacturers to facilitate domestic production. Kenya was granted an extension of the current stay of application to import rice at a duty rate 35 percent or $200 per metric tonne, whichever is higher, for one year, instead of the EAC rate of 75 percent or $345 per metric tonne, whichever is higher, in order to meet local demand and enhance food security. It was also allowed to import wheat at a duty rate of 10 percent, instead of 35 percent for one year under the EAC Duty Remission Scheme. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Agriculture Minister arrives at Fieldays
Government ministers will be arriving at Fieldays on mass on Wednesday as the country looks to the agricultural sector to drive the economy over the next year. Agriculture minister Todd McClay spoke to Corin Dann. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Pensions of 13,000 civil servants being checked for errors after ‘serious issues' found
A pool of 13,000 retired civil servants as well as current and former Government ministers are to have their pension deductions checked amid 'serious issues' at the State office that handles pension payments. Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers revealed errors at the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) and said that any money owed to the State will be recouped. The affected former civil servants are all people who were in work-share arrangements and not all may be affected. Meanwhile, it is believed that most current Government Ministers will owe money to the State due to errors in their pension deductions, though some may also be due some money back. READ MORE The pension deductions of ministers in previous Governments are also impacted by the issue. People whose pension deductions contained errors are to be contacted while Mr Chambers also announced a number of reviews into the situation. This is a breaking story and will be updated shortly.
