Department for the Economy Board minutes 2025 - 29 April 2026

Shane Murphy gave a presentation on the Management Services and Regulation Group (MSRG)

• MSRG is large and varied. Its responsibilities include being the corporate centre, budgeting & accounts, corporate communications & Ministerial & Senior Support, research, analysis, statistics & subsidy control. It has some policy, frontline services to businesses & people, regulatory & enforcement activities and some ALBs & independent judicial bodies.
• It is much more front-line orientated than many imagine and has circa 500 staff. Shane discussed the areas of work, the numbers of staff working in each Division and which Director takes lead. Approximately 49% of staff work on service delivery, 41% on internal support and 10% on executive support. Figures showing Divisional breakdown by grade, gender, age profile, alternative working pattern working and partially retired staff were also discussed.
• People survey data shows that the views of staff in MSRG tend towards the DfE average which is better than the NICS average. The area with lowest satisfaction is Pay and Benefits
• There are a number of “under the radar” services to business and people (experiencing difficulties) alongside the central functions.
• MSRG have generally modest spending and mostly staff.
• What they do spend on other than staffing is often inflexible.
• They are highly conscious of what budget adjustment probably going to mean.

Iran War

• There has been a lot of work on a wide spectrum within the Dept. Heating oil support delivered by DfC. Will be able to apply Business Industrial Competitiveness Scheme here. Trading Standards and Consumer Council have been doing good work.
• Impacts are being monitored. No risk to energy security of supply. Energy prices have increased. More diesel cars and heating oil users in NI than rest of UK. Next review of electricity and natural gas prices potentially as early as July. Concerns about supply chains being monitored. Wider economic impacts with inflation expected to be relatively benign compared to 2022. Scenario planning underway.

Legislative Programme

• Insolvency Bill close to being complete.
• RHI Closure Bill close to being complete.
• Petroleum Licensing Bill has had 2^nd reading.
• UR Decarbonisation Bill has had 2^nd reading.
• Good Jobs Bill drafting complete.
• Administrative and Financial Provisions Bill has gone through consideration stage.
• Leave for parental bereavement following miscarriage has been introduced.
• The Smart Electricity Meters Design Plan has been published.
• There has been a 1^st meeting with the AI Advisory Panel.
• There has been a consultation on Aviation policy.
• An MOU has been signed with AstraZeneca which mainly relates to the health sector.
• There has been especially negative commentary around the Minister and the Department for the last few months.

Johanna Park presented

Financial Position as at 31 March 2026

• The position has been tight at end of year. There is currently a small underspend of £2.3m in RDEL mostly relating to a technical issue. There is currently a less than £0.1m underspend in CDEL. However, the figures are expected to change following month and year-end adjustments.

2026-27 Budget

• There is no agreed budget for the current financial year. Detailed guidance has been received from DoF. We are expecting a contingency planning envelope. The Capital position is expected to be significantly worse.

February ARAC Minutes

• NRC featured heavily. Other key issues related to RHI, Risk management, Partner Organisations, External and Internal Audits.
• It was mentioned that the European Court of Auditors have been auditing a range of activity on historic now closed programmes around apprenticeships and employability schemes. They have found some issues and have not yet come to any conclusions. Work is being done to address issues raised. 

Resourcing & People Committee

• The staff resourcing position continues to be challenging. Some controls are in place to discourage seeking additional staff or replacements.
• We will need to make decisions about drawdown from NICS HR competitions as we expect to significantly shrink the number of staff in the Dept. A salary over-commitment with a flat budget for 3 years is expected.
• This is being analysed and proposals will be drawn up.

Information Security Assurance Group

• There is a continued push forward on cyber risk. Training and compliance are looking better. Concern with some legacy systems remaining and replacement is needed to improve situations.