Fewer than half the recommendations of the inquiry into the so-called “Cash for Ash” controversy which led to the collapse of the Stormont Assembly have been fully implemented, according to a new report.
The North's Comptroller and Auditor General, Kieran Donnelly, said it was "disappointing" two years on from the inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme only 18 out of 44 recommendations could be regarded as fully implemented.
He also said it “seems surprising” only one individual had been disciplined following the inquiry but he was “satisfied that the disciplinary process appears to have been followed properly”.
The RHI scheme was set up in 2012 to encourage businesses and farmers to adopt environmentally-friendly wood pellet boilers, but a flaw in the scheme meant the subsidy rate was set higher than the cost of the pellets so the more applicants burned, the more they earned.
The controversy led to the collapse of the Stormont Assembly in 2017 following the resignation of the then deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, in protest at the handling of the controversy by the then first minister, Arlene Foster.
Highly critical
Retired judge Sir Patrick Coughlan, who chaired the public inquiry into the RHI scheme, was highly critical in his March 2020 report of how it operated and said it should never have been adopted, but found there was no corruption or "malicious activity" involved by ministers, officials and special advisers.
The Northern Ireland Audit Office report, published on Tuesday, examined the progress made towards implementing the 44 recommendations made by the inquiry.
The report said that of these 42 related to actions to be taken by the Northern Ireland civil service and the Northern Executive, with the remaining two the responsibility of the Stormont Assembly and the Audit Office.
These included 10 recommendations around ministers and special advisers, professional skills, and governance and financial controls, as well as a number of suggestions regarding raising concerns and record keeping.
A total of 14 recommendations were “likely to be implemented”. Ten were identified where either not enough had been done or was proposed to sufficiently address the concerns raised by the inquiry. These included the suggestion that the Northern parties, supported by the civil service, agree a set of actions to reduce organisational silos and that the code of conduct issued to ministers should be revised and brought up to date to reflect the findings of the inquiry.
Mr Donnelly said he looked forward to seeing further progress on the implementation of the remainder of the recommendations “in the near future”.
The inquiry, he said, “showed it is not enough to simply have rules and policies in place but rather it is much more important to have the proper culture to ensure that the intention of the rules are followed”.
Potential breaches
“Substantial and meaningful change is required, not mere tick-box improvements,” he said, adding that “future reports by my office will continue to look for real improvements based on the implementation of these recommendations”.
In regard to the disciplinary process that was carried out following the publication of the inquiry’s report, Mr Donnelly said the seriousness of the issues “would have led most people to believe that significant disciplinary consequences would have arisen from it”.
Potential breaches of civil servant standards of conduct were considered in regard to 14 individuals. One individual ultimately received a written warning for misconduct.
The Auditor General said it was “important that this experience is closely considered to identify any lessons that can be learned and built into the ongoing review of Northern Ireland civil service disciplinary processes”.
