Response to the Department for Employment and Learning's bids for the 2002/03 Budget

Adult Literacy and Numeracy
The Committee is concerned at the money currently available to address the problems of adult literacy and numeracy, which have been given an increased emphasis in the recent draft Programme for Government and were a major theme in our recent Report into 'Education and Training for Industry.' Action in this area will help to achieve the Executive's aim of tackling poverty and social exclusion. According to the Department for Employment and Learning's Annual Business Plan for 2001/02, a basic skills strategy is to be finalised by November 2001 and implementation is to begin by March 2002. The Committee welcomed the last successful bid for Executive Programme Funds in this area, but consider that more money is needed to enable the effective and urgent implementation of the strategy during 2002/03. We do not wish to see another strategy without the financial resources for its full and speedy implementation. This problem needs action and action now!

Research and Development (R&D)
The Committee considers research and development in the universities to be a major priority and, indeed, following consideration of the Department's draft bids for 2002/03, members had oral briefings from both the University of Ulster and Queen's University. The universities, and their research and development base in particular, are the powerhouse of developing a knowledge-based economy in Northern Ireland, but have been under funded for some considerable time. The universities are the most significant element of Northern Ireland's research base, as it is comprised mainly of Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). It is alarming that over the last decade, funding for university based R&D in Northern Ireland has declined by some 20%, compared to an increase of 20% in Great Britain, thus increasing the differential. The universities informed the Committee that an additional £7 million - £10 million per annum is needed, simply to achieve parity with the rest of the United Kingdom i.e. to remove the historic under funding differential.

There is currently no additional money available to fund the anticipated improvements expected from the Research Assessment Exercise in mid-December 2001. If university departments, and the staff which work in them, are not rewarded for excellence, the current drain of such staff, especially to the Republic of Ireland, will be exacerbated. These are people which the Northern Ireland economy can ill afford to lose.

From its consideration of the Department's draft bids, the Committee understands that a draft bid of £2 million for R&D submitted in June/July 2001 for the 2002/03 budget is no longer present. As this bid was to cover improvements in the RAE process, this is very worrying. However the Committee does fully acknowledge the bid for R&D under Executive Programme Funds. Members would urge the Executive to ensure that a longer-term commitment to research and development, in terms of a major increase in funding, is put in place immediately.

The Committee wishes to emphasise that this is very much a cross-cutting issue. As the universities are the most significant element of Northern Ireland's research base, other government departments such as DARD, DETI and DHSSPS rely heavily on the universities for research and, as such, may be expected to contribute to the funding of their R&D.

The Committee has continually emphasised the cross-cutting nature of university based R&D. Publicly funded R&D has suffered from a piecemeal approach in the past, with little overview as to its strategic effect. In our submission to the consultation on the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) strategy, the Committee offered strong support for the proposed strategy and recommended the creation of a single unit to critically assess all government-funded research in order to prioritise funding to deliver maximum benefits to N Ireland. It is also important that R&D continues to be applicable and we would re-emphasise our support for the Northern Ireland Economic Council's recommendation that 10% of block funding for R&D should be set aside for research which is especially important for Northern Ireland's individual needs. The RDI Strategy should define such priorities and ensure that research is feeding into policy decisions to ensue economic development.

It is also important to note that the universities estimate that, for every £1 allocated to R&D from the block grant, they can obtain £2 from external sources. However these external sources are unwilling to solely fund any areas which they consider should be funded by government.

Northern Ireland Business Education Partnership (NIBEP)
The Committee has previously welcomed NIBEP's extended remit, which was agreed by the Department of Education and the then Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment. However, serious under funding has meant that NIBEP is unable to carry out this extended remit effectively. Although this is a cross-cutting issue, the Committee would welcome additional funding for NIBEP, especially in the area of teacher placements in industry. Members noted the effectiveness of such placements in their recent Inquiry and were concerned that only 0.2% of full-time equivalent teachers in the primary and secondary sectors in Northern Ireland had experienced such placements to date, compared to 7.2% in Scotland.

Disabled access to higher and further education
The Committee is also particularly supportive of the Department's bid in this area. Access to education for the disabled must be considerably improved.

Potential funding needs
The Committee is awaiting the results of the current Needs and Effectiveness Evaluation of Training and Vocational Education Needs, and will be keen to ensure that any recommendations arising are quickly implemented, including movement of funds, where appropriate, to ensure maximum value for money.

Central control and restrictive practices
The Committee is also concerned that the Department of Finance and Personnel did not allow any departments to bid for new projects in funding for 2002/03. The non-allocation of three year flexibility to individual departments may be an example of too much central control restricting effective budget management and, if so, should be rigorously challenged by individual Ministers. This severely reduces the responsiveness of the public sector to changing needs and is in stark contrast to practices in the private sector.

Dr Esmond Birnie, MLA
Chairman
25 October 2001

Minutes of 25th October 2001