The Anatomy of Government - Resources Pack

This information pack is based on a seminar organised by NICVA as part of the ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about policy but were afraid to ask 2006’ series of seminars. The seminars aim to provide practical information on areas of policy that voluntary and community organisations are aware of but have never really fully got a handle on what they really mean.

Resources Pack One

The Anatomy of Government

How do all the bits of government work together? What relationship does a Trust have to a Board and who actually makes the decisions that affect us? By looking at the largest department, DHSSPS and smallest, DCAL, we take a close look at where the power and the budgets actually lie.

This seminar took place on 20 January 2006, and the speakers were Nigel Carson from DHSSPS and Victor Douglas from DCAL.

Summary of Speakers’ Presentations

The Anatomy of DHSSPS – Presentation by Nigel Carson

This presentation gives an overview of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, including the structure and scale of the Department and its public bodies, and some detail on their roles and responsibilities.

The figures given show that almost half of the Northern Ireland Expenditure in the last financial year went to DHSSPS. Of this, the vast majority was spent on hospital, community health and personal social services. The Eastern Board area is shown to have a higher expenditure, which is based on not just population but also a complex analysis of health and social service needs.

The presentation goes on to give some figures on the number of agencies and employees, and some general health statistics for the population of Northern Ireland. Some details are also given on what the HPSS will look like once the Review of Public Administration has been implemented. This will lead to a smaller, more strategic role for the Department, with more responsibility going to the new structures at a local level.

The Anatomy of DCAL – Presentation by Victor Douglas

This presentation begins by showing how small DCAL’s budget is in comparison, whilst also showing that ‘culture’ issues range across many other Departments.

Several slides show how many, sometimes conflicting, areas the Department has a role in, and these are all based around outcomes for the citizen. The main areas of work are in advising and supporting the Minister, accounting for resources and sponsoring delivery agents ie the Non-Departmental Public Bodies and agencies of DCAL. Around half of the Department’s expenditure plans are intended for libraries and museums.

This presentation illustrates, by means of a very complicated-looking slide, how many varied and complex relationships there are across government. It ends by looking at the role of the voluntary and community sector in policy and delivery, and looking to the future and RPA reforms.

Also included in this information pack are:

The Anatomy of DHSSPS slides ( ppt, 475KB)

The Anatomy of DCAL slides ( ppt, 234KB)

NI Civil Service Grades ( pdf, 55KB)

Departments and their functions (Internal web page)

Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure ( pdf, 70KB)