Hamilton appoints reform advisors

A six-strong ministerial advisory council has been appointed by Finance Minister Simon Hamilton as he assesses the next steps for public sector reform.

“I am very clear that the challenge of delivering more and better services with less resources will not be easy,” the Minister said. “We need to develop smarter and better service delivery mechanisms, use the newest technology and learn from international best practice.”

The panel has two members each from Northern Ireland, Great Britain and elsewhere. Its members are Professor Nola Hewitt-Dundas, Richard Ramsey, Lord Michael Bichard, Sir John Elvidge, Paul Haran and Marco Steinberg.

Nola Hewitt-Dundas analyses innovation policy at Queen’s University Management School while Richard Ramsey is well-known as Ulster Bank’s Chief Economist in Northern Ireland. Michael Bichard has extensive experience of implementing reform as a Whitehall Permanent Secretary.

John Elvidge was Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government from 2003-2010 and moved the administration away from a departmental model and towards a ‘one government’ approach.

Paul Haran is a former Secretary-General of the Irish Government’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and established Science Foundation Ireland.

Marco Steinberg, from Finland, leads the Snowcone & Haystack consultancy and was previously Strategic Design Director at the Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra). The fund is independent of government and reports directly to the Finnish Parliament.