Politics

Stormont departments to be cut from 12 to 9

Stormont's departments are set to be cut from 12 to nine ahead of next May's assembly election ..
Stormont's departments are set to be cut from 12 to nine ahead of next May's assembly election .. Stormont's departments are set to be cut from 12 to nine ahead of next May's assembly election ..

Plans to reduce the number of Stormont departments will be in place ahead of the next assembly election, according to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM).

The proposal to cut the number of departments from 12 to nine was tabled during last year's Stormont House talks and unveiled in March.

It would see the departments of environment (DoE), employment and learning (Del) and culture, arts and leisure (Dcal) dissolved and their functions merged into other departments.

Del would merge with enterprise, trade and investment (Deti) to make a new Department of Economy and Skills, a move first mooted in 2012.

Asked in two separate assembly questions for an update on how the plan was progressing, OFMDFM said subject to passage of the legislation in the assembly, it was expected that the restructuring would be complete "at the time of the 2016 election", which is scheduled for next May.

OFMDFM said a Departments Bill had been drafted to establish the new framework and work was under way to prepare for a reallocation of statutory responsibilities between departments.