Draft Programme for Government Framework responses complete, what now?

So you have submitted your response to the Draft Programme for Government, what happens next?

Following the eight week consultation period, in which organisations and individuals were invited to submit their views on the new Outcomes-Based Approach (OBA) style Draft Programme for Government Framework, the development of specific Action Plans is critical in determining how the outcomes contained in the draft framework will be delivered.

The Action Plans will be published by September 2016 and will be overseen by a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO), and their aim is to positively impact the Indicators in the right direction; for example, in relation to Indicator 1 "Reduce Crime", the accompanying Action Plan will contain a set of actions that should work towards this indicator, which will ultimately help achieve the Outcome to which it is related; in this case, the relevant outcomes are:

Outcome 3: We have a more equal society

Outcome 7: We have a safe community where we respect the law, and each other

Outcome 9: We are a shared society that respects diversity

Outcome 12: We have created a place where people want to live and work, to visit and invest

These actions will also form part of three overarching strategies, namely the Economic Strategy, Social Strategy and the Investment Strategy. 

Whilst the budget has traditionally been established before the Programme for Government, the new OBA style will see this process inverted, with priorities determined before the money is assigned.

So, the process is far from completed yet, with lots more opportunities to influence the direction of travel for government in Northern Ireland for the next five years and beyond.