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Policy Copying and Public SectorReform in Northern IrelandDerek Birrell aa School of Criminology, Politics and Social Policy,University of Ulster , Coleraine , Northern IrelandPublished online: 02 Aug 2012.

To cite this article: Derek Birrell (2012) Policy Copying and Public SectorReform in Northern Ireland, Regional & Federal Studies, 22:3, 309-321, DOI:10.1080/13597566.2012.688273

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Policy Copying and Public SectorReform in Northern Ireland

DEREK BIRRELL

School of Criminology, Politics and Social Policy, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT Policy copying or transfer has been identified as a significant feature of theoperation of devolution in Scotland and Wales. Little attention has been paid to policycopying in relation to the system of devolution in Northern Ireland, particularly since 1999.One of the most important areas of change and policy implementation has been public sectorreform. This paper examines the three main areas of public sector reform: the civil service,local government and the large quango/public bodies sector. Northern Ireland is compared toEngland, Scotland and Wales to identify examples of policy copying in changes to publicsector governance. Following this analysis a number of factors which have determined theextent of policy copying are discussed. These include; a weak policy-making capacity, thedominance of managerialist and technocratic approaches, priority for cost-cutting measuresand a lack of consensus on reform among the political parties along with the operation ofveto mechanisms. The paper concludes by noting that Northern Ireland has not adopted someof the policies and changes introduced in Scotland and Wales in relation to the public sectoreven though these may have improved the operation of devolved governance.

KEY WORDS: Policy copying, Northern Ireland, devolution, public sector

Introduction

The terms policy copying and policy transfer have become established as describing

the process by which policies are transferred between political jurisdictions. Dolowitz

and Marsh (1996) describe policy transfer as a process by which actors borrow policies

developed in one setting to develop programmes and policies in another. Dolowitz and

Marsh (2000) also identified eight different categories of what is transferred: policy

goals; policy content; policy instruments; policy programmes; institutions; ideologies;

ideas and attitudes; and negative lessons. Policy copying and policy transfer assume a

process of awareness, deliberation and a decision to copy and transfer. Thus the identi-

fication of policy copying differs from the identification of policy convergence which

may have a range of causes and motivations (Jones and Newburn, 2006). Policy

copying is also normally seen as covering a spectrum from identical copying to

Correspondence Address: Derek Birrell, School of Criminology, Politics and Social Policy, University of

Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland. Email: WD.Birrell@ulster.ac.uk

ISSN 1359-7566 print/1743-9434 onlinehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2012.688273 # 2012 Taylor & Francis

Regional and Federal Studies

Vol. 22, No. 3, 309–321, July 2012

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partial or selective copying. Policy copying and transfer was originally studied as a

concept involving policy transfer between states but it can be applied equally to decen-

tralized forms of government (Cole, 2006) and to the context of devolution (Cairney,

2009). In the system of devolution within the UK, Keating et al. (2012) identify three

possible flows: (a) from the centre to the periphery; (b) from periphery to periphery;

and (c) from periphery to the centre. A system of devolution seems likely to facilitate

and lead to policy copying for a number of reasons. These include geographical proxi-

mity, close institutional relationships, access to similar information and knowledge and

the influence of national organizations. These may include the UK Parliament, the

Home Civil Service, professional bodies, trade unions, national research and policy

institutes, pressure groups and the media. Special mechanisms related to the devolved

arrangements have played a role in encouraging policy copying, such as the British–

Irish Council and the now reconvened Joint Ministerial Council. There are obvious

potential attractions in copying if similar problems are being addressed and if

innovative and successful practices are produced in one country. Parry (2010) saw

the UK governments as well placed to facilitate compatible borrowing of practice

and transferable innovations in the public administration field. The process and oppor-

tunity for policy copying and transfer is more likely to occur when a government is

making a decision on changes or reforms to an existing system.

This article examines policy transfer in relation to Northern Ireland in the area of

public sector reform. A reform process has been ongoing since the early period of

devolution but, post-devolution, evolved under two separate strands, one covering

the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the other a review of aspects of devolved

public administration, particularly of administration by quangos and local govern-

ment. Translating Keating et al.’s (2012) categories into UK devolution more specifi-

cally, this means examining policy copying in public sector reform (a) between

Westminster practices for England and Scotland or Wales and Northern Ireland,

(b) between Scotland and/or Wales and Northern Ireland and (c) policy copying

from Northern Ireland to England. In terms of terminology, the concepts of policy

copying and transfer are rarely used by the Northern Ireland polity. Preferred in

most narratives is the notion of pursuing, maintaining or rejecting parity, with, for

example, England.

Civil Service Reform and Extensive Policy Copying

The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) had the status of an independent civil

service separate from the UK Home Civil Service since 1921. It retained this status

during the periods of Direct Rule from Westminster and, under devolution, the civil

service is a devolved matter. Historically there has been a pattern of policy copying

with the NICS following Home Civil Service reforms (Carmichael, 2002) but

Rhodes et al. (2003) has referred to the partial, slow and selective implementation

of reforms, and Parry (2005) also noted a slow and cautious application of UK mod-

ernizing programmes. Pressures arising from the conflict, political instability, and a

lack of political will have all been suggested as accounting for delays but at the

same time senior NICS officials were generally supportive of many management

reforms introduced in the Home Civil Service (Carmichael and Osborne, 2003).

310 D. Birrell

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Over time most Home Civil Service reforms were eventually adopted but it is possible

to distinguish between almost complete policy copying and adaptions. Some initiatives

in the past were copied almost exactly: the financial management initiative, the

establishment of a senior civil service and the use of ‘Public Service Agreements’

(performance management measures often linked to targets and funding). Other UK

Civil Service initiatives have been adapted to suit what was usually described as the

special circumstances of Northern Ireland. A reform strategy, Fit for Purpose (DFP,

2004), was tailored in this way, for example, in not adopting a specialist model of

professionalism, which was less viable in the small NICS. The diversity agenda in

the NICS differed from the Whitehall emphasis with a careful monitoring and treat-

ment of the religious composition of employees and nationality restrictions on appoint-

ments. Similar strategies, largely adopted from Whitehall strategy, include action on

the gender composition at senior level, action to address the long hours’ culture and

outreach to under-represented groups. Further initiatives have taken place on diversity

training, a NICS people strategy, equal pay, and partial retirement (DFP, 2009). The

Northern Ireland civil service code of ethics traditionally drew largely on the Home

Civil Service version but also sought to take account of the Northern Ireland context

of a divided society as well as devolution (Birrell, 2009).

After the restoration of devolution in 2007 civil service reforms concentrated on

ICT innovations, seen as providing support to deliver better and higher quality services

and drive efficiencies. The reform projects included such schemes as NI Direct to

improve online access to public services and information. Additional initiatives to

improve working methods were through HR Connect, Account NI and Records NI.

Also created were new technological foundations, with Network NI as a single

managed network service for data, voice and video communications for the NICS, sup-

ported by IT Assist, a shared service centre. This was a technocratic approach to reform

but was not out of line with developments through transformational technologies in

Scotland and the proposals in Digital Britain (BIS/DCM, 2009). This set of ICT-

based reforms has been noteworthy as being presented in public as almost the sum

total of civil service reform agenda 2007-2011 and distinctive from reforms in the

rest of the public sector (OFMDFM, 2009). This list of civil service reforms included

six separate IT projects plus Workplace 2010, which aimed to provide a modern

working environment in the NICS, and the Centre for Applied Learning as an in-

house training service. The reform agenda had underpinning principles of improving

citizen communication, a new technological foundation, new working methods and

a new working environment, plus improving civil service skills. While the reform

agenda has been mostly implemented in recent years, a progress report by the Assem-

bly’s Public Accounts Committee (Northern Ireland Assembly, 2009) found delays in

the successful operation of the projects and procurement difficulties, and suggested that

the total range of benefits from the projects had not been fully anticipated or

articulated.

Other than this specific reform agenda a number of other quite important reform

measures have been introduced and their relationship to copying and policy transfer

can be examined, but often there was little acknowledgement of policy copying or

partial adaption from England, Scotland and Wales at the level of the central admin-

istration. An example of adaption can be seen in the response to the introduction of

Policy Copying and Public Sector Reform in Northern Ireland 311

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independent members to the management boards of government departments. The

large UK departments tend to have two per department and the devolved adminis-

trations in Scotland and Wales have only three independent members each, whereas

most of the twelve small NICS departments have two members each. The background

of independent members in Northern Ireland shows a strong bias to business and man-

agement backgrounds, which suggests a lack of confidence in the financial manage-

ment expertise of civil servants. The NICS was involved in a reform initiative, a

decision to reduce the number of executive agencies. This reflected the unusual scen-

ario of executive agencies’ inclusion in the Review of Public Administration (RPA)

while departments were excluded. Executive agencies were reduced to seven from thir-

teen but there was almost no public or official discourse looking at experience in Great

Britain. Also, in contrast to the British reform, the Child Support Agency was totally

absorbed into a Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division of the Department of

Social Development.

The most obvious area to seek policy copying in the Northern Ireland Civil Service

in more recent times lies in the strategies for efficiencies. One initiative can be defined

as partial policy copying. In 2008, a Performance and Efficiency Delivery Unit

(PEDU) was established with the remit to tackle inefficiency, release resources,

address poor performance and improve delivery. This unit was originally advised on

a part-time basis by Sir Michael Barber and was roughly based on the former Prime

Minister’s delivery unit in Downing Street. PEDU had reported on improving the per-

formance of the planning service and land and property services but its main activities

have been devoted to monitoring the delivering of targets within the Public Service

Agreements, which flowed from the Executive’s programme for government. The

idea of PEDU helping departments achieve higher performance and efficiency did

not develop as the ministers in most departments can and have refused PEDU

access (Northern Ireland Assembly, 2010). In practice the efficiency strategy followed

by the civil service, other than pursuing the key service delivery agreements, has con-

sisted of linking the reform agenda to an objective of efficiency savings. The reform

agenda is seen as contributing through shared services, people performance and

more efficient IT support services (Robinson, 2010). On a different track, but following

the UK pattern, there was also a 2.7% reduction in civil service numbers between 2005

and 2011.

Collaborative initiatives is another category of activity which can promote policy

learning, for example, a programme to improve project management skills and

capacity was launched in 2008 on a cross-governmental basis to involve professionals

and leaders in the civil service in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In

2010 an independent review of policy on the location of public sector jobs had

drawn on experience from Scotland, England and Wales and had noted that lessons

from Scotland were relatively easy to identify (Bain, 2008). Recommendations were

made for relocation of some 3000/4000 posts from Belfast to other parts of Northern

Ireland in the Civil Service and other bodies, but none were accepted by the Minister

for Finance and Personnel on grounds of cost.

Two problem areas in the NICS have not benefited from possible policy learning.

Firstly, the lack of policy-making capacity has been identified as an issue (Carmichael,

2002; Greer, 2004). The Fit for Purpose reform document also referred to a lack of

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policy skills. The establishment of devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales did

lead to a commitment to develop a strong policy capacity at the centre (Keating, 2005)

and McGarvey and Cairney (2008) refer to a period of inability to support policy pro-

cesses before a transition to developing more open policy networks. In Wales action

was also taken to increase the policy-making capacity and enhance policy scrutiny

skills (Prosser et al., 2006). Northern Ireland has seen only limited attempts to copy

or learn from this experience. A small policy innovation unit was established in the

NICS to develop the policy-making capacity and promote good practice but lost its

separate identity in 2010. A clear need for greater policy-making capacity remains

(Birrell, 2009: 238; Knox, 2010: 75) with little evidence of learning, particularly

from the Scottish or Welsh experiences.

The second problem concerns the structure of central administration and govern-

ment departments. There has been criticism of the existence of twelve government

departments, but this topic is politically sensitive with the existing number of depart-

ments arrived at following inter-party negotiations in 1998. This facilitated the sharing

of ministerial portfolios among the political parties, as the basis of power-sharing. A

number of parties and other groups and commentators have advocated a reduction in

the number of departments. The issue has been seen again by an Assembly and Execu-

tive Review Committee only in terms of reducing the number of departments and a re-

allocation of functions (Northern Ireland Assembly, 2012). There has been, however,

little discussion of the appropriateness of the adoption of a mini-Whitehall model of

highly differentiated departments and little attempt to learn any lessons from examin-

ing the Scottish system of directorates instead of departments or the more joined-up

Welsh system. An associated problem has been the continuing treatment of the civil

service departments in Northern Ireland as a very separate sector with little linkage

to quangos or local government. Wales has developed a strong commitment through

the Making the Connections strategy to connecting up the different sectors (Welsh

Assembly Government, 2004) and even prompted discussion of the possibility of a

unified public service.

The Position of Quangos

One of the initial rationales for the RPA was the perception that a very large proportion

of Northern Ireland’s public services were delivered through non-departmental bodies

and that different structures would be required under devolution (Northern Ireland

Executive, 2001). Unlike Great Britain, education, social services, children’s services,

youth services, libraries and social housing were administrated by quangos, accounting

for some 75% of public expenditure. The quango sector dominates the public sector in

Northern Ireland, employing 140 000 people compared to some 26 000 in the civil

service and 10 000 in local government. A major review of quangos aimed at a

reduction in numbers was a policy adopted in all three devolved administrations

after the establishment of devolution, and thus this was a potential area for policy

copying. The review of quangos in Northern Ireland progressed but, after 2005, had

a major focus on health and education administration (RPA, 2005) rather than other

areas. The restructuring process was to be continued by the devolved government

Policy Copying and Public Sector Reform in Northern Ireland 313

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after 2007, resulting in a restructuring completed for health and proposals for

education. The main outcomes can be described as;

. no reduction in the functions of quangos and, in practice, a small increase,with some

health functions of the government department, for example, health estates, moved

to a quango;

. some mergers of quangos but little absorption into central or local government;

. a move to centralized or very large quangos for health and education.

One Health and Social Care Board for commissioning and monitoring performance

replaced four area boards; five delivery trusts for health and social care replaced 18

previous trusts; and three other new centralized quangos were created, a Public

Health Agency, a common Business Services Organization and a Patient and Client

Council which replaced four existing area-based councils. The proposals for education

administration involved greater centralization with the emergence of a proposal from

the devolved Minister of Education for a single body, the Education and Skills Auth-

ority. This would take over responsibility for schools, children’s and youth services

from five existing education and library boards and a number of other existing edu-

cation quangos. There would be a separate centralized quango for libraries, a Northern

Ireland Library Authority. Although legislation to implement the single education

quango was brought to the Northern Ireland Assembly and a chief executive appointed,

the proposal stalled in the Assembly. This was mainly because of unionist opposition to

other aspects of the Minister of Education’s policies, rather than opposition to the prin-

ciple of one centralized quango. The single Libraries Authority did come into existence

and political agreement was reached in the Executive on the implementation of the new

Education and Skills Authority.

There has been little analysis of the principles for the distribution of delegated gov-

ernance, despite the RPA. There has also been little policy learning or transfer from the

debates in Scotland and Wales concerning the relationship of quangos to devolved gov-

ernment and principles for reviewing the role of quangos (Birrell, 2008b). In Scotland

this was presented as the argument that, where ministers were directly accountable to

parliament for the execution of a function, quangos imposed an unnecessary barrier. In

Wales a similar principle was expressed—that where quangos undertake functions

which are essentially governmental in character, in that they set or lead policy, then

policy delivery should be merged with the central administration. Subsequent

examples included the Welsh Development Agency and the National Training and

Educational Council in Wales and Communities Scotland. The rationale for a reduction

in quangos in Northern Ireland was to tackle what was identified as over-governance

and over-administration and to make significant savings in public expenditure (Hain,

2005). The overall effect on non-departmental public bodies listed in the RPA was a

reduction from 81 to 53 (RPA, 2006: 3). This meant, in practice, mergers of bodies

rather than their abolition or transfer to central or local government. The quango

sector continues to dominate the public sector landscape in Northern Ireland.

Flinders (2011) sees Wales as following a different reform path, with a focus on the

absorption of functions back within ministerial departments, a policy not copied in

Northern Ireland. Flinders (2011: 20) sees Northern Ireland (like Scotland) moving

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to a smaller number of much larger quangos. The overall extent of the original culling

of quangos in Scotland and Wales was fairly limited (Birrell, 2008: 41) but increased in

Scotland after 2007. The new government in Scotland devolved a strategy, Simplifying

Public Services, intended to streamline bureaucracy, simplify what was called the

complex and confusing landscape of public organizations, and secure more effective-

ness and value for money (Scottish Government, 2008). A commitment was given to

reduce 199 national public service organizations by at least 25%. By 2009 the Scottish

government had announced the completed reduction of 11 public bodies in the simpli-

fication programme and further reductions of another 71 bodies are planned. In Wales

after 2007 the most significant changes occurred in the structure of the NHS, when 22

health delivery boards were reduced to seven.

The new UK coalition government has developed a strategy for drastically redu-

cing the number and cost of quangos. The review was brief but based on principles

of four tests.

. Does the body need to exist to perform a state function?

. Does it carry out a highly technical function?

. Does it need to be politically impartial?

. Does it need to act independently to establish facts?

This UK government policy was based on a review of some 900 quangos, and resulted

in recommendations to abolish 192, merge 118 and further review another 40. The

House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee believed that the

review was poorly managed. The Minister, Mr Maude, in giving evidence, did state

that value for money was “a secondary consideration” (House of Commons, 2011).

The government’s main justification, in the face of criticism that there might be

limited savings, became that the main purpose was to increase accountability, particu-

larly by bringing functions back to central government departments.

Some Northern Ireland politicians have taken a cue from developments in England

to raise the issue of reviewing quangos. A Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) manifesto

in 2010 called for fewer quangos, proposing the amalgamation of the Human Rights

Commission, the Equality Commission and the Office of Children’s Commissioner

(DUP, 2010). There is a unionist/nationalist divide over the role of the Equality and

Human Rights Commissions. Such key issues as the rationale for taking quangos

into devolved government departments, in Wales and to some extent in Scotland,

have not been addressed or discussed. The reform of quangos demonstrates policy

copying in principle between the four administrations of the UK but not always

copying in policy implementation. Following the comprehensive spending review of

2011 the DUP leader and First Minister stated that the DUP believes in cutting back

on the number of quangos and reducing the expenditure on needless government

bodies (Robinson, 2010). Such statements have, however, not copied or discussed

any principles other than saving money and not referred to any of the principles/tests from England, Scotland or Wales. Any discussion of these issues in the Northern

Ireland Executive or Assembly quickly focuses on matters of more intense inter-party

disputes rather than the principles or forms of good governance.

Policy Copying and Public Sector Reform in Northern Ireland 315

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The Limited Reform of Local Government

Of the three sectors of public administration it is local government which demonstrates

a major lack of policy copying. Since 1972 Northern Ireland has had a very weak

system of local government, with 26 councils delivering a limited range of mainly

technical, environmental and community services, with the exclusion of the major

social service responsibilities in place in Great Britain (Birrell, 2009). The Direct

Rule administration, in response to the RPA, had decided in 2005 on a reduction to

seven councils with few new powers but some enhancement of existing powers.

Local government was given only two major new functions, local planning approval

and community planning. Even with these changes the proportion of public expendi-

ture covered would have increased from only 4% to 8% of total expenditure. Early nar-

ratives from the RPA had struck some convergence with narratives in Great Britain.

The rationale presented by the Direct Rule minister for the reformed structure set

out four principles: subsidiarity, delivering services and exercising powers as close

to the people as possible; strong local government with councils at the heart of the

local community; common boundaries or co-terminosity with other public service

structures; and equity and good relations (RPA, 2006: 5). The final decision on a

small number of large councils with still very few traditional local government func-

tions did not realize these principles at all. Research by Knox (2008) has shown how

the empirical evidence of the RPA was ignored and misrepresented in the decisions on

local government reform. With the restoration of devolution in 2007, the reforms were

reviewed by the Northern Ireland Executive in a process which has continued to 2012.

Four aspects of this process can be identified:

. a lack of policy copying from Britain on major principles;

. a degree of policy copying in relation to some details of the implementation strategy

for reform;

. the dominant influence of party political differences;

. the importance given to cost-cutting.

The lack of policy copying from England, Scotland and Wales is seen in terms of a lack

of discussion in transferring any of the normal functions to reformed local government,

in areas such as education, social care, youth work, social housing and libraries. The

proposals under Direct Rule for a transfer of some housing management functions

and roads was actually rejected by the restored Executive. There was also no commit-

ment to the values of localism, responsiveness to local communities or local account-

ability. Both the seven and eleven local council models meant quite large councils

compared to England, Scotland, Wales or the Republic of Ireland. Also no attempt

was made to draw lessons from the Scottish and Welsh experience of collaboration

with local government under the operation of devolution.

It is possible to identify some elements of the reform process which can be linked to

policy copying. This has been most apparent in the new proposed function of commu-

nity planning. Particular attention was paid to the Scottish system of community plan-

ning and this prompted visits to Scotland. Thus a modified copy of the Scottish system

seemed to be the choice for Northern Ireland, made by a Local Government Reform

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Implementation Sub-group. The discourses in Northern Ireland documents have not

acknowledged some of the difficulties with community planning in Scotland. An

Audit Scotland (2006) evaluation raised doubts about benefits to local communities

and the task of integrating a wide range of policy areas. There have been difficulties

with public participation and local authority leadership (Sinclair, 2008). It will

probably be even more difficult for councils in Northern Ireland to lead community

planning given their limited powers, the lack of coterminous boundaries with major

services, and difficulties developing local delivery strategies because of the existence

of large centralized quangos. A pilot study in one district council area in Northern

Ireland identified difficulties with government departments and quangos buying into

the community planning concept as well as a lack of clarity on the status of a commu-

nity plan (Knox, 2010: 251). A consultation paper on community planning

(Department of the Environment, 2010) uses rather vague language in relation to sup-

porting and participation in the process by public bodies outside the local government

sector.

The committees set up with responsibility for detailed aspects of the implemen-

tation of the reforms comprised representatives of the main political parties, the Min-

ister for Local Government and senior advisors from local government and central

departments. This work cumulated in reform proposals on internal governance and

central–local relationships and some of the narratives and proposals indicated a

degree of influence of policy copying. Thus, the cabinet style model from England

and Wales and the streamlined committee structure from Scotland were suggested

but with a checks and balance system for these or the traditional committee structure.

Ethical standards are another aspect of local governance. Northern Ireland differs from

England, Scotland and Wales in not having a mandatory code of conduct for council-

lors and a new statutory ethical standards framework will be introduced copying

experience in Great Britain. The Northern Ireland Executive has recognized the

need for a partnership approach between government departments and local govern-

ment. The implementation group suggested copying, to a degree, the Scottish and

Welsh systems of partnership boards.

While the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment also proposed a part-

nership panel for Northern Ireland, the model proposed a panel having purely advi-

sory functions would represent a minimalist copying. Political party influences have

had a major influence on the reform process in local government (Knox, 2009). The

decision on 11 councils was a political compromise between Sinn Fein support for 7

and Unionist/SDLP support for 15. The original plan to introduce the reformed

structure before local government elections in 2011 was abandoned by the DUP min-

ister because of DUP concerns about electoral boundaries. Despite the SDLP minis-

ter responsible for local government declaring support for 15 new councils, the

majority of the Executive, representing the DUP and Sinn Fein, hope to implement

the 11-council plan by 2015. Wider political considerations have also come into

play. The limited local government system is in place because of pre-1970 contro-

versy over discriminatory practices in local government. Northern Ireland civil ser-

vants who devised the RPA proposals have been reluctant to return major functions

to local politicians, even in relation to such politically uncontroversial functions as

libraries.

Policy Copying and Public Sector Reform in Northern Ireland 317

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Wider Influences on Public Sector Reform

From this analysis of reform in each sector there are clearly a number of wider back-

ground factors which have influenced the outcome of public sector reform processes.

The influence of these factors has also helped determine the degree of policy copying

and can assist in reaching a conclusion on the role of policy copying and transfer. Five

main such factors can be identified. Firstly, there is a generally weak policy-making

capacity in Northern Ireland, which includes the civil service, the Assembly commit-

tees and other public bodies. There has been criticism of the extent of reliance and use

of management consultants to produce mainstream policy analysis, covering childcare

strategies, housing administration and local government reform recommendations. The

weak policy capacity is also demonstrated in the content of consultation documents.

There is, in general, limited knowledge and discussion about public sector moderniz-

ation agendas in such areas as public participation, localism, joined-up governance or

personalization agendas. Northern Ireland has a relatively small policy community and

a lack of research institutes, policy networks and deliberative forums. The landscape

has improved somewhat since devolution, with an Assembly Research and Library

Services unit, some commercial, voluntary or university groups promoting policy dis-

cussion and an increased involvement of a few UK-wide organizations, for example,

the Joseph Rowntree Trust and the Centre for Social Justice. Secondly, there has

been a general ethos and influence of conservatism with little commitment to any

radical changes in public sector reform. This reflects the continuing dominance of

forms of managerialism, as defined by Greer (2004) and originally explained as

based on the importance given to just making sure services could operate during the

years of conflict and upheaval. This managerialist emphasis is found among officials

and professionals in the civil service and particularly on the Boards of quangos. Nar-

ratives in public sector documentation on reforms and restructuring generally lack

references to values, such as social justice, participation, equality, co-production,

active citizenship, or local accountability. This contrasts with the widespread use

and discussion of values and principles in official documentation in Scotland and

Wales. The public sector in Northern Ireland is required by statute to take into

account one value—equality of opportunity—in any proposed change, but again this

has usually been interpreted in a conservative and ‘tick box’ manner.

A major third influence has been that of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Senior

civil servants share many of the values of the UK Home Civil Service and have been

committed to adopting the same principles, policies and often structures as the Home

Civil Service, particularly in areas of management and organization. However, the

NICS has appeared in some areas of wider public sector reform to have taken a self-

interested and protectionist stance. The RPA was conducted by a team drawn

largely from senior civil servants and led by a civil servant, even though civil

service departments were excluded from the Review. This did lead to criticisms that

the civil service had captured the process (Knox and Carmichael, 2006) and that the

review mechanism did not satisfy the need for independence (Knox, 2010: 90).

Civil service self-interest can be suggested in opposition to the creation of a strong

and more independent local government system. The very large quango sector has

also appeared to have civil service support with a beneficial balance between a

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command and control and an arm’s-length approach. A further attraction was the use of

quangos to avoid the more partisan politics found in elected bodies. The influence of

the civil service can also be seen in a strong determination to maintain political impar-

tiality and not develop a civil service view distinct from any ministerial views in

relation to the more political and value positions on public sector reform. This

would apply to issues such as the nature of the devolved government’s central admin-

istration and more joined-up government, issues where the potential of policy copying

becomes more relevant. Fourthly, great importance has been given by government in

Northern Ireland to cost-cutting and reductions in public expenditure. A reading of

Executive, Assembly, and Departmental narratives demonstrates that little attention

has been paid to any other rationales, new methods of service delivery, localism or

the benefits of bottom-up approaches. A historic factor also comes into play in what

can be called the legacy of Direct Rule when Northern Ireland Office ministers inter-

preted policy learning to adopt the view that a reduction or streamlining of public

sector structures was justified on the grounds that Northern Ireland was over-governed.

Since the restoration of devolution cost-cutting has remained a major preoccupation

during discussions by politicians, the media, and other commentators rather than ques-

tions of good governance or comparisons with Scotland and Wales. The fifth and last

factor is the most important of all. The views and attitudes of the political parties

towards public sector reform can have the determining influence on outcomes. Party

disagreement over local government reform and the proposed single education auth-

ority have been acute. As a result of the system of vetoes in the Executive decision-

making process, and the mechanisms in Assembly voting requiring cross-community

and, therefore, cross-party support, it is easy for an impasse on reforms to develop.

Political disagreements on public sector reform tend to be based on issues of party

advantage or perceived Northern Ireland communal and sectarian interests, rather

than differing positions on the principles of public sector reform or modernization.

Conclusions

It has been possible to identify a strong tradition of policy copying in relation to much

of the management of the civil service, including complete or partial copying of

reforms from the Home Civil Service. In the more politically and policy orientated

areas of the civil service there has been less of a tradition of policy copying or more

salient obstacles to policy copying. There is much less of a tradition of policy

copying in the rest of the public sector. With the reform of local government, policy

copying has been very selective and limited to community planning, standards and

relationships with the department. Northern Ireland’s large quango sector has also

passed through a reform process with little attention paid to policy copying from

Great Britain, other than the establishment of a commissioner’s office for appoint-

ments. There has been some convergence with England, Scotland and Wales

through support in Northern Ireland for a streamlining or reduction in the number of

quangos, but this has only marginally been caused by policy copying. Overall devolu-

tion has not led the Northern Ireland Executive and its ministers to any extensive policy

copying and they have not come under pressure from other politicians or voters to do

so. The strongest lobbying for greater deliberation on policy copying has come from a

Policy Copying and Public Sector Reform in Northern Ireland 319

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number of pressure groups and voluntary groups. The Northern Ireland Assembly has

selected certain items from the Scottish and Welsh experience to date. These are either

specific structures, the Children’s Commissioner, the Commissioner for Older People,

Safeguarding boards, or more general themes, mainly in relation to reducing the size of

the public sector, use of information technology or forms of partnership working.

Northern Ireland’s political divisions on constitutional issues and national identity

also means that unionist politicians and ministers are more likely to look particularly

to devolved government in Scotland and Wales. The SDLP and Sinn Fein parties are

less likely to look closely at Great Britain for policy learning or knowledge transfer. At

the same time they have rarely advocated any copying of public sector practices or

structures from the Republic of Ireland. In general, some of the lessons from public

sector reform produced by devolution in Scotland and Wales—a holistic approach

to different parts of the public sector, amendments to the Westminster/Whitehall

model of government departments, localism and accountability, co-production and

public participation—have not been examined for their potential as reforms that

would benefit Northern Ireland.

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