The UK Government has released £129m of funding to help reform Northern Ireland’s public services.
It is the first tranche of money from a £235m fund committed to the Executive when it was restored in February last year.
The funding will go towards six projects across the Departments of Health, Justice, Education, and Infrastructure related to the key priorities set out in the Executive’s Programme for Government, which was published on Monday.
It is to be provided over a five-year period.
A significant portion of the funding, some £61m, will go towards a Department of Health plan to help stabilise the primary care system through the use of multidisciplinary teams (MDT).
MDTs are partnerships between health trusts and GP practices that see health specialists working at GP clinics. The funding will enable the completion of seven existing MDT areas and the expansion into five additional areas.
The Department of Education will receive £27.5m to support children with special education needs through a series of pilot programmes focused on early intervention and building an “appropriately skilled education workforce”.
Some £20.45m is to go towards speeding up the criminal justice system and freeing up court capacity for the most serious cases, while a further £2.19m will be spent by the Department of Justice on improving electronic tagging for offenders.
The Department for Infrastructure is to receive £15m for a pilot project to improve the management of rainwater in our towns and cities, and £3m will go towards addressing resource issues impacting the planning system.
In addition to the £129m allocated, £0.3m has been given to the Executive Office to assess proposals on digital transformation.
The remaining money from the £235m funding package is to be set aside for future proposals.
Stormont Finance Minister John O’Dowd said our public services must “adapt and evolve” to meet the population’s needs.
“This funding will make a real difference improving health outcomes for citizens, supporting children with special educational needs and funding initiatives in our justice system,” he said.
“It will also support infrastructure projects to address pressure on our constrained drainage and wastewater infrastructure and improvements in the planning system which is central to economic growth.”
Mr O’Dowd added that, while the funding “will in no way tackle the magnitude of issues at hand”, it will be “significant in helping to develop and implement a model of delivery, to stimulate the wider transformation of public services”.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said: “Everyone recognises that the task of stabilising and transforming Northern Ireland’s health and other public services is a priority.
“This allocation of UK Government funding is a really important step towards this, and in this UK Government, the Executive will always have a partner that is committed to supporting this work every step of the way.
“I am delighted that Northern Ireland will this year receive its largest real terms financial settlement since devolution, supporting growth and investment. Today’s additional funding will go directly towards the transformation of public services, which the people of Northern Ireland want to see.”