The CBI engages with the devolved ministers of Northern Ireland

Minister Dodds (Department for the Economy) 

The CBI NI Chairs and Director met with Minister Dodds on 13 February. Discussions centred on skills, energy, Brexit, and wider concerns.  

The Minister was very open to listening to solutions and agreed we have all had different views on Brexit in the past. Since the UK formally left the EU on 31 January, the Minister also noted that now it is in all our interests to make the NI Protocol work for NI. She is very keen to get the economy working for everyone in NI, but noted we have a short window in which to get things done. Our biggest challenges in her eyes is the budget and available funding. 

Minister Dodds noted that there was an open door for business in her Department as she is keen to hear the needs of industry. 

Skills

• The CBI raised the issue of immigration and the need for people and alternative action to be taken for NI (as proposed in the MAC report). Shortage Occupation Lists was raised, and the Minister acknowledged that NI is different w.r.t accessing labour. She talked of having a regional arm of the Home Office based in NI
• The CBI raised the shortage of people locally and the need for upskilling and reskilling of the local labour pool. The Minister was aware of the report and acknowledged the CBI's work in this area 
• The CBI raised Further Education funding and the Minister agreed skills are a hugely important area for growth  
• The CBI raised the Apprenticeship Levy and the fact that it was not working for many businesses or the economy at large. The Minister agreed that there needs to be a clear way forward for Apprenticeships to work. The CBI noted the successful examples such as Assured Skills – but not all companies are clear about how they can upskill or reskill their workers. 

Energy  

• The CBI informed the Minister around our Energy Working Group / recent publication “A balanced Transition” 
• The CBI discussed the need to get the Energy Strategy published and how we would be feeding into the call for evidence (before 20 March)
• Discussions moved to the N-S Interconnector and the importance of getting it up and running in the interests of security of supply and bringing down prices. 

Brexit  

• The Minister said that companies are grateful that a ‘no deal’ has been avoided, but now we must find innovative solutions to make the NI Protocol work   
• The Minister said that GB-NI trade is a huge priority and she fully understands the need to make any trade between GB and NI as simple as possible.   
• The CBI asked about NI representation on Sub-Committees and Minister agreed that we need the NI voice. The Minister informed that Executive’s Brexit Committee has met twice and hopefully that Committee will reach an agreement on what is good for the NI economy. 
• The CBI raised concerns from business about implementation period and cost of changing IT systems if needed – support would be needed from UK government.   
• The CBI noted - ultimately, high alignment with EU would be the best solution for NI companies
• The need for a good deal for Services as significant proportion of local economy.

Wider concerns

Corporation Tax: the CBI asked if this is still on the agenda. The Minister was very clear it should not be taken off the table even though it is not the main priority right now. 

COV-19: the CBI raised issue of COV-19 and potential of economic global shock in 2020, stressing the need to press Whitehall around COV-19 - the virus combined with Brexit uncertainty would leave a lot of companies in a very precarious position. Therefore, UK government should be advised to take pragmatic approach to talks and not create too much uncertainty in months ahead.  

Minister Murphy (Department of Finance) 

CBI NI Chairs and Directors met with Minister Murphy and Permanent Sec, Ms Sue Gray on 13 February. 

Conversation points included: 

• The Budget and Funding for New Decade New Approach 
• CBI push for Workable Funding Models for Water, HE, Large projects 
• CBI highlight business desire to help Executive delivery outcomes in PfG.

Minister Murphy gave a quick update in terms of the local budget situation: 

• His top priority is to pin down funding for New Decade New Approach 
• He is not keen to shoot ahead with a negative budget before 11 March as he wants to see if the PM’s promises on greater infrastructure spending will come through in Barnett consequentials 
• By Autumn there will be a clearer picture on Brexit, RoI political situation and UK Budget position  
• There will be a Spending Review in late Spring.

When questioned around the lack of funding relative to what is needed, the Minister said they are looking at making savings where they can. Transformation also requires money. The CBI highlighted the need to bring private sector money in, but note that public debate is needed in NI around how to pay for infrastructure. The CBI raised issues with planning too and the Permanent Secretary advised having a conversation with Infrastructure Commission UK around how things could be done better. 

The Minister agreed that it would be beneficial if there were more conversations around alternative funding models with the CBI. 

The CBI also raised funding for HE and it was noted that universities can help with the transformation and PfG outcomes too. However, 25% less funding was a problem and would impact their overall competitiveness in world rankings. It was also noted that universities attract investment, so the business community is very keen to see a proper funding model.   

The CBI raised the rising cost of doing business. The Minister acknowledged the correspondence from the CBI on business rates and noted that he felt that the cost should be more widely distributed – with everyone making a contribution. 

Minister Mallon (Department of Infrastructure) 

The CBI NI Chairs and Director met with Minister Mallon and Permanent Sec, Ms Katrina Godfrey on 18 March. The CBI advised the Minister on the CBI’s Infrastructure Working Group and the work with Ibec around connectivity, infrastructure investment and carbon reduction.

The discussion centred on the following: the urgent need for Infrastructure investment, Public Funding and Consideration of alternative models/ revenue streams, LT Budgets, Capacity to Deliver, Planning and Carbon Reduction. 

The Minister made the following points: 

• Recognising the role of infrastructure in growing the economy, raising productivity, empowering rural economies and reducing carbon footprint
• Minister expressed interest in attending the CBI Infrastructure Working Group and any JBC work on all-island carbon reduction 
• The budget will prove a challenge with local funding needs very high - but she anticipates some turbocharging of funding for infrastructure across the UK in next budget and NI should receive Barnett consequentials
• She is prioritising Public Transport to connect communities and bring down carbon footprint
• Safety on the A1 is also a huge concern
• The public inquiry into the A5 is going well and expect it to go ahead in 2020/21  
• She expressed support for a better enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin 
• The need for an Infrastructure Investment Plan and expressed interest in CBI views of the National Dev Plan (RoI) 
• She was open to considering an NI Infrastructure Commission
• She is keen to move the City Deal forward 
• The potential for Digital solutions to improve home working, take cars off road etc 
• An appropriate funding model for water was mentioned and the CBI raised the idea of public consultation on revenue raising 
• Planning in NI was raised and the impact on investors made to the UK where investors hear back in 60 days
• Several projects were mentioned in relation to planning. Minister noted the strategic importance of the N-S Interconnector
• She recognises the problems highlighted in the NI Audit Office report and is awaiting advice from officials in terms of procurement and planning problems.

First Minister and Deputy First Minister

The CBI Vice Chair and Director met with the First, Deputy First Minister and Junior Minister, Gordon Lyons along with other officials and Special Advisers from the Executive office. The meeting took place on 20 February at Stormont Castle. 

The conversation was centred on CBI priorities and an update from Ex Office around their priorities. 

The CBI outlined urgent priorities: skills, infrastructure, trade, and funding 

• The Executive Office highlighted they are keen to work together and take joint approach to meetings 
• On the issue of skills, the CBI informed Ex Office of “lack of skills” problem and our forthcoming work with McKinsey showed NI would be most impacted UK region by 2030 if upskilling and re-skilling are not focused on
• There was broad agreement from Ex Office that the Skills Deficit needs addressing, but there was also a strong push back that health is a priority in NI right now
• There was acknowledgement that Ex office were aware the CBI had good discussions with the Economy Minister and these issues on skills had been fed back to the Ex office
• Executive agree Home Office approach to migration is not right for NI (Executive office were having a Brexit Committee meeting that afternoon and Home Office proposals would be raised) 
• On Brexit – the Ex’s Brexit Committee will be building on the letter from AF and M McGuiness published after the referendum in 2016 to try and establish a joint path in terms of NI asks of the UK government
• Executive Office noted that the Brexit Committee will be inviting the CBI in for advice 
• The CBI urged Ex Office to put out a joint statement assuring EU workers they are welcome and encouraging them to apply for Settlement Status
• Discussions on Infrastructure / planning and funding provided recognition from First Minister that the N-S Interconnector is an important project that the Executive are committed to and that planning reform was needed
• Executive Office stressed they are only back and that there is a huge back-log of issues to address – wanted to highlight they will do everything the can – but need to revise expectations about what can be done in the short-term.

Secretary of State -14 February

CBI Director, Angela McGowan was invited to a small roundtable dinner in Hillsborough Castle with Minister Brandon Lewis MP on the first day in Northern Ireland as SoS.   

Discussion was Chatham House Rules and was broadly around NI’s peace process, sectarianism, the role of peace on the economy and prosperity as well as any opportunities and risks on the horizon.  Issues around trade, economic inactivity, the skills deficit, infrastructure and connectivity were raised.