Pivotal Tracker – policy priorities for Northern Ireland September 2021

After overshadowing all government business last year, Covid has continued to dominate the Northern Ireland Executive’s agenda. While there have been some important achievements, the Executive has again struggled with instability and strained relationships. No Programme for Government has been agreed and there is little evidence of ministers working together on longer term strategy. As next year’s Assembly election approaches, renewed focus is needed on government that operates together to address Northern Ireland’s long–term economic and social challenges.

“This short tracker report reviews the Executive’s performance in 2021 so far and suggests priorities for the future. It has a particular focus on Northern Ireland’s long–term policy challenges in health, education, economy, infrastructure, climate change and environment. In the absence of a Programme for Government, the report considers whether the commitments in New Decade, New Approach have been achieved.

Pivotal plans to publish regular updates of this tracker report to review the Executive’s performance and to give a revised assessment of policy priorities. A data annex is included to provide latest information on some headline indicators

In our Vision 2040 project, Pivotal is exploring public opinion about ideas and aspirations for the future in Northern Ireland. We would welcome participation in our research survey about policy priorities:

https://bit.ly/2Ty51pu