In Pivotal’s Briefing The return of Stormont – time for real change, we emphasised the need for the returning Executive to agree a short–term stabilisation plan for public services and budgets. This should be followed by a Programme for Government and a multi–year budget to allow planning for service delivery, workforce and transformation.

We suggest some of the most pressing policy issues in Northern Ireland. We offer this to inform and encourage discussion. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list.

Making real progress on these issues will require a period of stability, together with a commitment to working with unity of purpose towards agreed goals.  There will be no quick fix for all the issues, particular given stretched budgets and a backlog of problems. However, there is the opportunity to choose some priorities that could bring big improvements to people’s lives.