Latest news with #PaulaBradshaw
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Value of Stormont Executive's office in Beijing questioned
The value for money of the Northern Ireland Executive's office in the Chinese capital has been questioned. The chair of the Assembly's scrutiny committee for the Executive Office suggested it cost around a quarter of a million pounds a year to run the office in Beijing. The Executive also has offices in Washington DC and Brussels. It has had a presence in Beijing since 2014, before then-first minister Arlene Foster opened an Executive bureau in December 2016. Executive Committee chair Paula Bradshaw said she had concerns around its value for money, after the committee heard from the three bureaux during a meeting last month. Executive Office official Brenda Henderson said she appreciated there is frustration around transparency and accounting for what they do. ' One of the things that I want to do is to get that coherency across all three bureaux and with the international relations team in Belfast to make sure that we have a clear narrative, that our communications plans can let you see, and let our ministers see, exactly who we're meeting, what is the outcome of that, what does it mean, the 'so what' question in terms of the Programme For Government,' she told MLAs. 'Work is already under way on that.' Ms Bradshaw followed up by asking at what point would they conclude it is not value for money, and that they could be doing other things with that money. Ms Henderson said there are different ways to measure value for money. 'One of the things that I know that the overseas offices do is that they build relationships, you have to build those relationships before you utilise them, but there are things about companies, investment, increased student places they bring,' she said. 'I think what we need to do is be more absolutely transparent about that and be clear about the metrics, what we can measure and that we stand in front of those.' Permanent Secretary David Malcolm said he can 'see behind the curtain', and knows what the Beijing office is doing, He expressed frustration it was not communicated. He said last month the vice minister for education in China visited Northern Ireland and signed an agreement with the Confucious Institute in Belfast and the Department for the Economy for a £34 million programme over the next 10 years. He also said in Beijing this St Patrick's Day, there were two community organisations led by Chris Hazzard, including young people who had never left Ireland before. 'There is significant work we're doing,' he said. 'We are also talking to the Chinese Consul about a mini conference here later on,' he said. 'The Chinese have agreed to fund three placements in Beijing through the Arts Council to give people the opportunity to break into the Chinese market. There is a tremendous amount we're doing.' He added: 'Not just in Beijing, in Washington, we punch miles above our weight in the representational role we get, and indeed in Brussels.'
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Value of Stormont Executive's office in Beijing questioned
The chair of the Assembly's scrutiny committee for the Executive Office suggested it cost around a quarter of a million pounds a year to run the office in Beijing. The Executive also has offices in Washington DC and Brussels. It has had a presence in Beijing since 2014, before then-first minister Arlene Foster opened an Executive bureau in December 2016. Executive Committee chair Paula Bradshaw said she had concerns around its value for money, after the committee heard from the three bureaux during a meeting last month. Executive Office official Brenda Henderson said she appreciated there is frustration around transparency and accounting for what they do. 'One of the things that I want to do is to get that coherency across all three bureaux and with the international relations team in Belfast to make sure that we have a clear narrative, that our communications plans can let you see, and let our ministers see, exactly who we're meeting, what is the outcome of that, what does it mean, the 'so what' question in terms of the Programme For Government,' she told MLAs. 'Work is already under way on that.' Ms Bradshaw followed up by asking at what point would they conclude it is not value for money, and that they could be doing other things with that money. Ms Henderson said there are different ways to measure value for money. 'One of the things that I know that the overseas offices do is that they build relationships, you have to build those relationships before you utilise them, but there are things about companies, investment, increased student places they bring,' she said. 'I think what we need to do is be more absolutely transparent about that and be clear about the metrics, what we can measure and that we stand in front of those.' Permanent Secretary David Malcolm said he can 'see behind the curtain', and knows what the Beijing office is doing, He expressed frustration it was not communicated. He said last month the vice minister for education in China visited Northern Ireland and signed an agreement with the Confucious Institute in Belfast and the Department for the Economy for a £34 million programme over the next 10 years. He also said in Beijing this St Patrick's Day, there were two community organisations led by Chris Hazzard, including young people who had never left Ireland before. 'There is significant work we're doing,' he said. 'We are also talking to the Chinese Consul about a mini conference here later on,' he said. 'The Chinese have agreed to fund three placements in Beijing through the Arts Council to give people the opportunity to break into the Chinese market. There is a tremendous amount we're doing.' He added: 'Not just in Beijing, in Washington, we punch miles above our weight in the representational role we get, and indeed in Brussels.'
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Value of Stormont Executive's office in Beijing questioned
The Executive also has offices in Washington DC and Brussels. It has had a presence in Beijing since 2014, before then-first minister Arlene Foster opened an Executive bureau in December 2016. Executive Office chair Paula Bradshaw (Brian Lawless/PA) Executive Committee chair Paula Bradshaw said she had concerns around its value for money, after the committee heard from the three bureaux during a meeting last month. Executive Office official Brenda Henderson said she appreciated there is frustration around transparency and accounting for what they do. 'One of the things that I want to do is to get that coherency across all three bureaux and with the international relations team in Belfast to make sure that we have a clear narrative, that our communications plans can let you see, and let our ministers see, exactly who we're meeting, what is the outcome of that, what does it mean, the 'so what' question in terms of the Programme For Government,' she told MLAs. 'Work is already under way on that.' Ms Bradshaw followed up by asking at what point would they conclude it is not value for money, and that they could be doing other things with that money. Ms Henderson said there are different ways to measure value for money. 'One of the things that I know that the overseas offices do is that they build relationships, you have to build those relationships before you utilise them, but there are things about companies, investment, increased student places they bring,' she said. 'I think what we need to do is be more absolutely transparent about that and be clear about the metrics, what we can measure and that we stand in front of those.' Permanent Secretary David Malcolm said he can 'see behind the curtain', and knows what the Beijing office is doing, He expressed frustration it was not communicated. He said last month the vice minister for education in China visited Northern Ireland and signed an agreement with the Confucious Institute in Belfast and the Department for the Economy for a £34 million programme over the next 10 years. He also said in Beijing this St Patrick's Day, there were two community organisations led by Chris Hazzard, including young people who had never left Ireland before. 'There is significant work we're doing,' he said. 'We are also talking to the Chinese Consul about a mini conference here later on,' he said. 'The Chinese have agreed to fund three placements in Beijing through the Arts Council to give people the opportunity to break into the Chinese market. There is a tremendous amount we're doing.' He added: 'Not just in Beijing, in Washington, we punch miles above our weight in the representational role we get, and indeed in Brussels.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Value of Stormont Executive's office in Beijing questioned
The value for money of the Northern Ireland Executive's office in the Chinese capital has been questioned. The chair of the Assembly's scrutiny committee for the Executive Office suggested it cost around a quarter of a million pounds a year to run the office in Beijing. The Executive also has offices in Washington DC and Brussels. It has had a presence in Beijing since 2014, before then-first minister Arlene Foster opened an Executive bureau in December 2016. Executive Committee chair Paula Bradshaw said she had concerns around its value for money, after the committee heard from the three bureaux during a meeting last month. Executive Office official Brenda Henderson said she appreciated there is frustration around transparency and accounting for what they do. 'One of the things that I want to do is to get that coherency across all three bureaux and with the international relations team in Belfast to make sure that we have a clear narrative, that our communications plans can let you see, and let our ministers see, exactly who we're meeting, what is the outcome of that, what does it mean, the 'so what' question in terms of the Programme For Government,' she told MLAs. 'Work is already under way on that.' Ms Bradshaw followed up by asking at what point would they conclude it is not value for money, and that they could be doing other things with that money. Ms Henderson said there are different ways to measure value for money. 'One of the things that I know that the overseas offices do is that they build relationships, you have to build those relationships before you utilise them, but there are things about companies, investment, increased student places they bring,' she said. 'I think what we need to do is be more absolutely transparent about that and be clear about the metrics, what we can measure and that we stand in front of those.' Permanent Secretary David Malcolm said he can 'see behind the curtain', and knows what the Beijing office is doing, He expressed frustration it was not communicated. He said last month the vice minister for education in China visited Northern Ireland and signed an agreement with the Confucious Institute in Belfast and the Department for the Economy for a £34 million programme over the next 10 years. He also said in Beijing this St Patrick's Day, there were two community organisations led by Chris Hazzard, including young people who had never left Ireland before. 'There is significant work we're doing,' he said. 'We are also talking to the Chinese Consul about a mini conference here later on,' he said. 'The Chinese have agreed to fund three placements in Beijing through the Arts Council to give people the opportunity to break into the Chinese market. There is a tremendous amount we're doing.' He added: 'Not just in Beijing, in Washington, we punch miles above our weight in the representational role we get, and indeed in Brussels.'
Belfast Telegraph
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
The ‘valuable scrutiny' into what the NI Executive is actually doing remains largely hidden behind the lavish Stormont curtains
Our MLAs are turning up for work after so many years of inaction. The wheels of government, we're led to believe, are in motion. All smiles and photo opportunities. But try to ask The Executive Office what exactly it's doing, well, that's when the smiles disappear and the struggles to actually get to grips with the task in hand become all too clear. A government is not in place to showcase all things bright and beautiful. It is there to make the hard decisions that affect all our everyday lives. And not all of them will be popular. For a year and a few months, the current Stormont Executive has been living in the honeymoon of a partnership rekindled – a partnership where outward appearances seem to be more important than answering the tough questions when those answers are sought. A keeping up of appearances, perhaps a belief behind the Stormont facade that if people are shown how everything is running smoothly then they will believe that to be so. A good old Yellow Pages mentality. 'We don't just help with the nasty things in life like a blocked drain. We're there for the nice things too.' There for the nice things in life they may be, but they are supposed to be there to help with the nasty things too... But try to ask relevant questions on the more contentious issues and you're often met by a wall of silence, and an 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say nothing at all' attitude, as if that will make the ills go away. It's as though those in the house on the hill are happy to sweep everything they don't wish to engage in under the carpet. The Executive Office has 10 dedicated press officers. A major part of that role is answering queries from the media, either through direct responses or by providing information through freedom of information requests. But rather than providing a window for information to flow through, questions to be answered, the 'valuable scrutiny' of what the Executive is actually doing remains largely hidden behind the lavish Stormont curtains. Even our MLAs who seek to question the Office are finding answers tough to come by. Some of the queries naturally need some research before the answers can be provided. It's never going to be an 'ask a question get an immediate answer' situation. Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw is the chair of the Executive Committee at Stormont. It's supposed to be the main scrutiny body for the Executive Office. But they, like the media, do not always get the answers they seek. And how can they scrutinise the workings of the top level of government if they too are ignored when they seek clarity? Speaking on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme earlier this month she said it is 'not acceptable' that responses to questions from the committee are not always being provided and there is 'a real silence on so many fronts'. The silence over so many questions will only add to suspicions that there's something behind all those smiling images that some would rather the watching public would rather not see or hear of — and if it remains behind that wall of silence, we'll all move on and pretend that everything's okay forever. A spokesperson for The Executive Office said: 'Ministers endeavour to ensure all Assembly questions, committee correspondence and media queries are answered within the appropriate timeframe.' At least an answer was forthcoming. Endeavour they might. That doesn't mean they always do. While those asking the questions might not like the answers they receive, they at least deserve the response.
