To ask the Minister of Finance (i) for an update on public services transformation; (ii) whether the Public Service Transformation Board has approved the 2024-25 of £47 million to be released by the UK government; and (iii) to detail the Executive’s plans and timeline for this year’s funding.

The Executive agreed to my proposal for an interim Transformation Programme on 9 May. I quickly established the interim Public Sector Transformation Board, who are giving consideration to proposals to utilise the transformation funding from the financial package.

The interim Board’s role is to provide advice to me, after it completes its assessment of proposals, indicating those it considers to be transformative. I will then bring recommendations to the Executive. It is important that the interim Board is given the space to carry out its work.

The interim Board has completed its first stage assessment. 47 proposals were received in total. 29 proposals are continuing to move forward, 11 of which have moved to a Stage 2 assessment, 18 others have been included within a Digital Landscape Review, which will conclude later this year.

A final terms of reference is to be agreed for the Public Sector Transformation Board, recognising the appropriate parameters and responsibilities for transformation locally. My officials are continuing to press for progress with their British counterparts so that there is no undue delay in allocating this critical funding.

Clearly £235m of transformation funding, across 5 years, will in no way tackle the magnitude of the issues at hand. However, reform and transformation cannot just be about money and how it is allocated. The focus also needs to be on what we do, how we do it, and being held to account for the results we achieve. To ensure we lay the foundations for this scale of change, a new Reform and Transformation Unit will be established by the Executive Office.