In her first appearance before Northern Ireland’s Legislative Assembly, the new leader of the Province’s Public Service says she wants to deliver “real impact”.
Jayne Brady, who was appointed to the position in June, said she was determined to bring new energies and ideas to the role, referring to the transformation and modernisation of the Public Service.
“Unprecedented though it is, the pandemic is just one of the significant challenges we face,” Dr Brady (pictured) told Stormont’s Executive Committee.
“We need to rebuild in the wake of COVID-19 and also to tackle systemic difficulties which already exist in our system.”
She said she hoped her experience, mostly in the private sector, would help her to bring innovation to the role as well as improving communication.
Dr Brady said her first two months had been a “listening brief” while visiting a number of sites across Northern Ireland from Ebrington Square in Londonderry to C.S. Lewis Square in East Belfast and the Portaferry-Strangford ferry in County Down.
She said she had been struck by the complexities of the service, supporting people, communities and businesses — and paid tribute to the pride, commitment and professionalism of Public Servants.
“I want to leverage the best of the Civil Service to support the Executive and deliver meaningful change for communities; this means delivering cost-cutting and a strategic program of work which sets ambitious and service-wide objectives,” Dr Brady said.
“I will prioritise a small number of areas where Departments work together to deliver long-term and far-reaching improvements.”
She set out four themes — delivery, transformation, innovation and communication.
Dr Brady also said the 1.1 per cent of the Public Service aged under 25 was “not enough”.
She previously worked as the Digital Innovation Commissioner within Belfast City Council, succeeding the interim head of the Public Service, Jenny Pyper.
An initial recruitment campaign for a permanent replacement for Sir David Sterling, who stepped down in December 2020, was unsuccessful.
Belfast, 6 November 2021
