Waterside House is ‘under review’

Deputy Secretary at the Department of Education John McGrath said the department was looking at its operation in Waterside House as it was probably not as efficient as it should be.

Briefing the Stormont Education Committee on his Department’s Spending Proposals and its Savings Delivery Plans, Mr McGrath said the review of operations at Waterside House should not be misinterpreted and despite changes there were no plans to privatise.

“We have been looking at the operation in Waterside House and accept that it is probably not as efficient as it should be. A great deal of custom and practice has built up there over the years,”

“Some of that was highlighted at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on substitute teacher costs, at which it was highlighted that the definition of sickness depended on the ELB,” he added.

“In some operational areas, we had five sections of staff operating in Waterside House, one for each board. We did not have sufficient flexibility of staff, so we are examining how we can get a more professional operation, in efficiency and cost, as well as in providing the services of a modern system to teachers and pensioner teachers.

“We are progressing that work carefully, but in a way that cannot be misunderstood. Every day in Derry, there is a rumour that we are about to privatise Waterside House, but that is not the case,” he said.

DUP Chairperson Mervyn Storey said an ‘empire’ had been allowed to develop at Waterside House and across the Department.

He said: “Waterside House is under the control of the Department, so it is not as though it is an arm’s-length body over which the Department could have no control.

“Why was an empire allowed to be built?” he asked.

“The Performance and Efficiency Delivery Unit (Northern Ireland’s efficiency taskforce) said that the empire is bigger than it need be, and your comments raise serious concerns about its effectiveness,” continued Mr Storey.

The Deputy Secretary said the Department did take PEDU seriously but that comparing Waterside House with other parts of DE and its arms-length bodies such as the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) - which Mr Storey claimed had grown from a 20-30 to a 300 complement of staff since its inception - was not comparing like for like.

“They are all different animals. Vacancy control applies to all bodies in the education sector.

“It applies to CCEA no less than to boards. Some of those other organisations have the same issues with senior management and vacant posts,” said Mr McGrath.

“The (PEDU) report raises issues about the operation of the Waterside House branch.

“Similarly, some issues, as I said, came out of the PAC hearing and the report on substitution costs to the operation there.

“We take that seriously and will look at in the context of achieving an efficient operation, while taking out the savings in the departmental staff budget that are predicated in the savings delivery plan,” he added.