Northern Ireland Civil Service
The Northern Ireland Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy of employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved government of Northern Ireland.
The NICS is one of three civil services in the United Kingdom, the others being the Home Civil Service and HM Diplomatic Service. The heads of these services are members of the Permanent Secretaries Management Group.
History
1921–1972
was established by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and the first devolved Parliament of Northern Ireland took office on 7 June 1921. The first civil servants were transferred from the Irish civil service headquartered at Dublin Castle. The departments of the Northern Ireland Government were initially the following:- Department of the Prime Minister
- Ministry of Agriculture
- Ministry of Commerce
- Ministry of Education
- Ministry of Finance
- Ministry of Home Affairs
- Ministry of Labour
1972–1999
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was dissolved on 30 March 1972, when direct rule was imposed by the United Kingdom Government. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland assumed responsibility for government and was assisted by a new Northern Ireland Office. The NIO absorbed the Ministry of Home Affairs and took direct responsibility for security, justice and constitutional policy.Following the Sunningdale Agreement, a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive briefly held office between 1 January 1974 and 28 May 1974. The following departments were accountable to the Executive:
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Education
- Department of the Environment
- Department of Finance
- Department of Health and Social Services
- Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning
- Office of Law Reform
Between May 1974 and December 1999, departments were led politically by junior ministers in the Northern Ireland Office. UK Governments alternated between the Conservative and Labour parties, neither of which included Members of Parliament from Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Civil Service, uniquely in the British Isles and Western Europe, was not accountable to locally elected political representatives during this time.
From 1982 to 1999, there were six departments:
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Economic Development
- Department of Education
- Department of the Environment
- Department of Finance and Personnel
- Department of Health and Social Services
1999-2016
Devolution resulted in an increase in the number of Civil Service departments, accountable to a cross-community Executive of 11 ministers. The Executive initially had 10 departments, which were often described by the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the media through abbreviations :
- Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
- Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
- Department of Education
- Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
- Department of the Environment
- Department of Finance and Personnel
- Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
- Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment
- Department for Regional Development
- Department for Social Development
2016 onwards
Following the Fresh Start Agreement, the parties of Northern Ireland agreed that the number of Executive departments should be reduced. This took effect following the next election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016 and reduced the number of Civil Service departments. The departments are as follows:- The Executive Office
- Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
- Department for Communities
- Department for the Economy
- Department of Education
- Department of Finance
- Department of Health
- Department for Infrastructure
- Department of Justice
Each department is currently led by a Permanent Secretary, or the Head of the Civil Service in the case of the Executive Office. The Permanent Secretaries Group meets monthly and effectively the highest level of government in Northern Ireland in the absence of the Executive. Since June 2017, the interim Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service has been David Sterling.
Composition
As of June 2011, the Northern Ireland Civil Service employed 25,847 staff. The breakdown by department was as follows:Department | Employment |
Office of the First and Deputy First Minister | 384 |
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs | 3,040 |
Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure | 274 |
Department of Education | 613 |
Department for Employment and Learning | 2,109 |
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment | 583 |
Department of the Environment | 2,683 |
Department of Finance and Personnel | 3,589 |
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety | 732 |
Department of Justice | 1,633 |
Department for Infrastructure | 2,279 |
Department for Social Development | 7,458 |
Public Prosecution Service | 470 |
Northern Ireland Civil Service | 25,847 |
Other major public sector employers included National Health Service trusts, schools, colleges and education and library boards, local government and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The public sector constituted 31.3% of the region's workforce.
Ethics and accountability
The Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland are not civil servants and are independent of the Executive. The Commissioners are responsible for ensuring that appointments to the Northern Ireland Civil Service are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition; they also have a role in hearing appeals made by existing civil servants under the Northern Ireland Civil Service's Code of Ethics.Under the Code of Ethics, each civil servant is expected to carry out his or her role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality, defined as follows.
- Integrity - putting the obligations of public service above your own personal interests
- Honesty - being truthful and open
- Objectivity - basing your advice and decisions on rigorous analysis of the evidence
- Impartiality - acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving equally well ministers of different political persuasions
Organisation
There are three staff groups within the Northern Ireland Civil Service: Senior Civil Service, Non Industrial, and Industrial. The Senior Civil Service has four grades:- Grade 5 – normally the head of a division
- Grade 3 – head of a directorate or executive agency
- Permanent Secretary – head of the department or Government Legal Services
- Head of Service – Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service
- Administrative Assistant
- Administrative Officer
- Executive Officer II
- Executive Officer I
- Staff Officer
- Deputy Principal
- Grade 7
- Grade 6