Citizens Advice hopeful over advancement of RPA

NI Local Government Association (NILGA) president John Matthews has announced local councils will cover the cost of reforms under the Review of Public Administration (RPA), should there be a sound business case. Minister Edwin Poots had written to councils asking them to pay for the proposed changes as part of wider cuts within Northern Ireland. Under the Review of Public Administration there are plans to reduce the number of Northern Ireland’s councils from 26 to 11 which will result in estimated costs of around £118 million. There are concerns that delays in agreeing the way forward may mean the transition could be postponed until 2015, not 2011 as originally intended. 

Citizens Advice is supportive of changes proposed under RPA and the considerable modernisation programme which it will bring to local government in Northern Ireland. Citizens Advice is keen to see councils deliver a wider range of services locally and in a responsive way to their communities, as proposed under the enabling legislation. We would be concerned that reforms may be delayed if an agreement on a way forward at central and local government level cannot be reached.

In particular, Citizens Advice is keen to see the introduction of community planning.  Community planning will see councils working more closely and in a much more structured way with public, private and voluntary sector organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureaux to design and deliver services to local communities. 

Citizens Advice has also been working towards RPA and has undertaken a range of activities to modernise our own network in line with the proposed new council boundaries. 

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