Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister, in relation to the recent meeting of the UK Government-Northern Ireland Executive joint board, what assessment they have made of the progress being made on transformation in the areas of (i) health; (ii) education; and (iii) justice.
First Minister and deputy First Minister: The Joint Board received a progress report on the transformation of Health and Social Care services on 14 October. The Board noted that:
£44 million was secured for New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) Transformation as part of the 2020/21 budget exercise.
This was supplemented by reprioritised resources from within the Department of Health’s own baseline, and a further allocation at June Monitoring, to create a Transformation Fund worth £94.4m in 2020/21.
This funding has been allocated to meet the inescapable costs associated with existing Health and Social Care (HSC) Transformation projects, created as a result of the two years of Confidence and Supply funding in 2018/19 and 2019/20.
The onset of a second wave of Covid-19 has the potential to have a significant impact on the continued delivery of Transformation projects.
The pace, scale and direction of transformation activity, and therefore the associated costs going forward, will be informed by the ongoing work to Rebuild HSC services, while managing the potential impact of a second wave of the virus.
The Board will consider the transformation of education and justice at future meetings.
ENDS
Your MLA 