About us
The Northern Ireland Office is the UK Government’s centre of expertise on Northern Ireland and represents the interests of Northern Ireland in Government.
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) strategic vision is to deliver a stable, prosperous and vibrant Northern Ireland.
The UK Government (UKG) is clear on its priorities for the NIO, which are:
- Working with the Northern Ireland Executive to transform public services and champion investment opportunity.
- Implementing the Windsor Framework and protecting the UK internal market, helping Northern Ireland to stabilise.
- Addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland by repealing and replacing the Legacy Act, including by working on the UKG’s response to relevant judgments in a way that commands the support of the people of Northern Ireland and supports the journey towards reconciliation.
These priorities sit alongside the Secretary of State’s statutory responsibilities, including on National Security. They support the UKG’s missions and foundations with a focus on economic growth, safer streets and health as well as National Security which is one of the underpinning foundations. They also complement the Department’s work to build effective intergovernmental relations and enhance reconciliation.
Lead ministers:
The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Fleur Anderson MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Lead official:
Julie Harrison joined the Northern Ireland Office as Permanent Secretary in September 2023.
She was previously Permanent Secretary in the Department for Infrastructure.
In 2020 she joined the Northern Ireland Civil Service as a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Justice. She was responsible for a broad range of policy areas including Policing, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Crime, Hate Crime, Paramilitarism and Organised Crime including Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery.
Julie has held a range of roles prior to joining the civil service and has a background in research and analysis, social inclusion, grant making and urban regeneration. She has previously served as Strategic Advisor to the Strategic Investment Board, Northern Ireland Chair of the National Lottery Community Fund, a Director of the Building Change Trust and co-optee to Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
Northern Ireland Office aims
To deliver on its priorities and support the UK Government’s mission and foundation delivery, the Department’s work is structured around four interconnected aims:
- Improving Northern Ireland’s capability to deliver better public outcomes: to support Northern Ireland’s capability to deliver improved public service outcomes for its people.
- Promoting economic growth and investment: to promote growth through championing Northern Ireland as a trade and investment opportunity domestically and overseas.
- Building a safer, more reconciled society: to contribute to a Northern Ireland society in which current and future generations feel safer and more reconciled.
- Enhancing delivery and ensuring a mission focused NIO: to ensure NIO is delivery and mission-focused by improving efficiency, digital utilisation, equipping staff and maintaining an agile footing.
Across each of our four interconnected aims, the department has three objectives which will provide a focus for delivering our priorities.
(1) Improving capability to deliver better public outcomes
(1.1) Support allocation of UKG transformation funding and collaborate with the Northern Ireland Executive to transform public services
(1.2) Support the Northern Ireland Executive by facilitating dialogue among political parties and enhancing effective (intra and inter) governmental collaboration
(1.3) Deliver commitments under the Good Friday Agreement, including strengthening British - Irish and Northern Ireland relations
(2) Promoting economic growth and investment
(2.1) Develop a targeted UK Government approach to delivering economic growth in Northern Ireland including the commitments in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper.
(2.2) Establish and regularly convene a NIO Permanent Secretary chaired Northern Ireland Growth Coordination Group comprised of UKG and NI Departments
(2.3) Oversee the smooth implementation of the Windsor Framework and Northern Ireland implications of future UK-EU agreements
(3) Building a safer, more reconciled society
(3.1) Repeal and replace the Legacy Act
(3.2) Promote reconciliation and build a more cohesive society by embedding reconciliation, inclusion and trauma informed practice
(3.3) Support efforts to suppress and reduce the enduring threat and harms posed to communities by terrorist and paramilitary activity
(4) Enhancing delivery and ensuring a mission focused NIO
(4.1) Ensure long term financial stability to deliver our strategic priorities
(4.2) Develop an NIO transformation plan to achieve better departmental delivery
(4.3) Ensure NIO staff, technologies and processes are agile and productive, supporting tangible delivery of the Government’s manifesto and better outcomes
Delivery approach and principles
As our work has to understand and respond strategically to deep interdependencies between issues that shape how Northern Ireland functions, across a range of measures, our delivery approach is based on:
- Planning for outcomes;
- Being agile and productive via our project approach and close team working;
- Organising around our relationships and expertise; and
- Seeing everything we do through a reconciliation lens.
Underpinning this approach are a series of principles to guide the delivery of our objectives. We are:
- Collaborative and outward looking – Building relationships and proactively working with partners to ensure maximum productivity.
- Supportive of our people – promoting wellbeing and enabling and empowering our staff to maximise their potential.
- Ambitious, but realistic and accountable for outcomes – challenging ourselves to maximise delivery within resources while also developing the systems and processes necessary to surface issues, mitigate the risks and provide evidence based reporting.
- Champions of diversity and promote equality of opportunity – ensuring that we take an inclusive, rights based approach.
- Evidence led – drawing on research and insight to make decisions based on a clear understanding of the factors affecting the people we serve.
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