Department for the Economy ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS For the year ended 31 March 2019 Department for the Economy Annual Report and Accounts For the year ended 31 March 2019 Laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Department of Finance under Section 10(4) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 3 July 2019 © Crown copyright 2019 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence visit: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 Where we have identified any third party copyright information, you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Any enquiries regarding this document should be sent to [email protected] or call 028 9052 9900. You can download this publication from our website at www.economy-ni.gov.uk CONTENTS © Crown copyright 2019 Performance Report This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except • Overview 1 where otherwise stated. To view this licence visit: • Performance Analysis 11 www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 Accountability Report Where we have identified any third party copyright information, you will need to obtain • Corporate Governance Report permission from the copyright holders concerned. o Overview 48 o Directors’ Report 48 Any enquiries regarding this document should be sent to [email protected] or o Statement of Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities 53 call 028 9052 9900. o Non-Executive Board Member’s Report 54 o Governance Statement 56 You can download this publication from our website at www.economy-ni.gov.uk • Remuneration and Staff Report 74 • Assembly Accountability and Audit Report Statement of Assembly Supply and Supporting Notes 89 o Other Assembly Accountability Disclosures 96 o o Certificate of the Comptroller and Auditor General 99 Financial Statements • Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure 103 • Statement of Financial Position 104 • Statement of Cash Flows 105 • Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity 106 • Notes to the Accounts 107 Annex A – Financial Data 153 Annex B – Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland 157 DEPARTMENT FOR THE ECONOMY PERFORMANCE REPORT OVERVIEW for the year ended 31 March 2019 Purpose of the Overview Section The purpose of the overview section is to provide information on the Department for the Economy (DfE), its purpose, the key risks to the achievement of its objectives and to show how the Department has performed throughout the year. Permanent Secretary’s Overview I am pleased to present the Annual Report for 2018-19 for the Department for the Economy. The Report provides information about the range of activities in which the Department has been engaged over the past year and its performance against its key objectives and targets. 2018-19 was a very challenging year. The Department, and the Northern Ireland Civil Service at large, spent the entirety of the year without a Minister or functioning Assembly – an unprecedented period of political uncertainty which has had, and continues to have, significant consequences for the plans of all Departments. Against this backdrop, we have also continued to face the significant task of preparing for the UK’s departure from the European Union. With our departure date now extended, this will continue to form a major aspect of our work programme during the 2019-20 financial year. It was also challenging from a budgetary perspective with internal financial pressures, including pay and price increases having to be absorbed by the Department. The absorption of pay and price increases has now occurred over several years and makes the task of delivering more with less resources even more difficult. Since the announcement of additional funding for broadband, officials have been developing Project Stratum – which is primarily focused on increasing access in rural communities. Some of the key project milestone achievements include: the completion of a robust Pre-market Engagement Exercise; development and approval in principle of an Outline Business Case; and an Open Market Review which culminated in a State aid public consultation with over 1,000 responses. Amidst these significant challenges, we have continued in our endeavours to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. Some major achievements during the year include: the development of a sustainable long-term tariff structure for the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, which gained Royal Assent at the end of the year; exceeding targets in the number of students graduating from our higher education institutions in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; and the successful roll-out of the first phase of the Peace4Youth Programme. In Summer 2018, the Department undertook an Organisational Review to consider a number of legacy issues which remained following the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL)/ Department for Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI) merger in 2016 and to provide assurance that DfE was structured appropriately to address the many strategic policy challenges facing the Department in the short, medium and long term. Recommendations from this review will be implemented during 2019-20. Overall, the various achievements and work delivered during the year, of which I have highlighted only a portion above, may be considered all the more commendable in light 1 DEPARTMENT FOR THE ECONOMY PERFORMANCE REPORT OVERVIEW for the year ended 31 March 2019 Purpose of the Overview Section The purpose of the overview section is to provide information on the Department for the Economy (DfE), its purpose, the key risks to the achievement of its objectives and to show how the Department has performed throughout the year. Permanent Secretary’s Overview I am pleased to present the Annual Report for 2018-19 for the Department for the Economy. The Report provides information about the range of activities in which the Department has been engaged over the past year and its performance against its key objectives and targets. 2018-19 was a very challenging year. The Department, and the Northern Ireland Civil Service at large, spent the entirety of the year without a Minister or functioning Assembly – an unprecedented period of political uncertainty which has had, and continues to have, significant consequences for the plans of all Departments. Against this backdrop, we have also continued to face the significant task of preparing for the UK’s departure from the European Union. With our departure date now extended, this will continue to form a major aspect of our work programme during the 2019-20 financial year. It was also challenging from a budgetary perspective with internal financial pressures, including pay and price increases having to be absorbed by the Department. The absorption of pay and price increases has now occurred over several years and makes the task of delivering more with less resources even more difficult. Since the announcement of additional funding for broadband, officials have been developing Project Stratum – which is primarily focused on increasing access in rural communities. Some of the key project milestone achievements include: the completion of a robust Pre-market Engagement Exercise; development and approval in principle of an Outline Business Case; and an Open Market Review which culminated in a State aid public consultation with over 1,000 responses. Amidst these significant challenges, we have continued in our endeavours to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. Some major achievements during the year include: the development of a sustainable long-term tariff structure for the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, which gained Royal Assent at the end of the year; exceeding targets in the number of students graduating from our higher education institutions in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; and the successful roll-out of the first phase of the Peace4Youth Programme. In Summer 2018, the Department undertook an Organisational Review to consider a number of legacy issues which remained following the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL)/ Department for Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI) merger in 2016 and to provide assurance that DfE was structured appropriately to address the many strategic policy challenges facing the Department in the short, medium and long term. Recommendations from this review will be implemented during 2019-20. Overall, the various achievements and work delivered during the year, of which I have highlighted only a portion above, may be considered all the more commendable in light 11 DEPARTMENT FOR THE ECONOMY DEPARTMENT FOR THE ECONOMY PERFORMANCE REPORT PERFORMANCE REPORT OVERVIEW OVERVIEW for the year ended 31 March 2019 for the year ended 31 March 2019 of the uncertain political context in which we have been working. This uncertainty will PURPOSE AND ACTIVITIES continue for at least a portion of 2019-20. I continue to be impressed with the dedication and commitment of staff across the Department and I would like to thank staff for all of Introduction their efforts throughout the year. The Northern Ireland Executive gave a commitment in the Stormont House Agreement to reduce the number of government departments from twelve to nine. As a result, the Department for the Economy was established in May 2016. Noel Lavery Vision, Mission and Strategic Objectives The vision, mission