Just Doing Simple Things Better!

by Ken Maginis

Since the N.I. Assembly will increasingly find itself under pressure due to the economic downturn, it must meet the challenge by learning to 'think outside the box'. What is difficult to understand is why some critical lessons have not been learnt from the National Government while other hare-brained proposals are being pursued with blind dedication.

How, for example, has the Executive managed to ignore the need to ring-fence our Health budget? Why has our largest and most effective Department during the Assembly's lifetime been faced with massive cuts amounting to £113millions? We have an aging population who will suffer hugely as a result of this Sammy Wilson decision. Yet, at the same time, a £60million fine by EU for Department of Agriculture ineffectiveness has been surrendered by Minister Gildernew with hardly a murmur- the first of several penalties that will inevitably follow. Why, when N.I. has two excellent Teacher Training Colleges under financial and throughput pressures does Minister Ruane arbitrarily seek to create a Middletown Centre for Autism - a multi-million pound project, operating in isolation.

Perhaps pandering to the inexplicable and unjustifiable has more to do with who is the Minister; what are the ulterior motives and to a lack of effective analyses by those who should hold the system to account. Back-benchers are just as much to blame as is the current Comptroller and Auditor General's Dept.

But surely it must be in the area of Local Government Reform that heads are buried deepest in the sand.

As I understood it a massive reduction in Councils was proposed as a possible alternative should our attempts to bring about Devolution end in failure. We would have been landed with an extravagant super 7-council system dove-tailing pretty much with Boards, Trusts and the like. But we succeeded in getting our assembly - 108 members and 12 Departments strong. We had been given a massive representation for a population of only 1.7 millions, and Departmental Ministers were never likely to devolve responsibilities to Local Government.

That's where the Assembly has got it wrong in pursuing an out-of-date and unnecessary plan where Minister Poots expects ratepayers to contribute £180 million for a sub-super 11-council system that has no relevance for anyone. Total madness! Well, I'm in rebellion and so every other ratepayer should be.

Let me pose a simple question in my own patch - what have Dungannon, Cookstown and Magherafelt got in common? Why should Fermanagh & West Tyrone be condemned to being an isolated 'Little Donegal'? In fact the existing 26-council system worked tolerably well but, post-direct rule, councils are just too big, both from a staffing and councillor perspective. Where there is duplication of responsibilities between the Assembly and Councils, numbers should be honed down and fine tuned to "Deliver Local Services Locally"!

What are those local services going to be when we know that, for example, waste disposal should be and is likely to be rationalised; were water is the responsibility of the Water Board, Roads of the Road Service and so on?

Well Councils, each with their own identifiable community, could and should play a greater hands-on role with its people. The meeting rooms, theatres, sporting and recreation resources should be the catalyst for real community activity. They should be taking into account the old and lonely, the handicapped and disabled, the parents and children; all of whom could really benefit.

These are areas that are largely ignored and yet are wide open for effective micro-management within the community and by the community. Parents with a disabled child who need those few hours respite care - don't we as a community owe them something? What better than a properly supervised morning in the Park or the swimming pool or the local rugger, gaelic or football club or the church hall. Is the community up to that - certainly there are many good folk and some of the wonderful young students I meet who would be happy to give their spare time to structured activity in their community. Our councils could provide the catalyst?

Voluntary organisations, so often holding the line between the statutory sector and the public, could ideally provide training and expertise. And there are professional groupings only too willing to do similar good work. The successful 'Taggers' at Newforge are known to many and are a prime example of one profession that is contributing effectively to the community and to young folk with disabilities.

The potential is enormous - "Community for the community and by the community". That could not only create a supportive and caring system - it could re-create that true sense of community belonging - which family car and TV and, bluntly, selfishness has eroded over my lifetime.

Now the 'big question' - are our elected representatives up to resolving this issue in a way that would, literally, with a considered and dedicated approach, pay for itself and deliver much more?