KESS SERIES 9 PROGRAMME (October 2026 – February 2027) The KESS Series 9 Programme features seven themed seminars from 7 October 2026 – 10 February 2027, to facilitate Northern Ireland Assembly scruti...

On 1 August the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Finance can increase the spending authorisation for NI Departments to up to 95% of last year’s budget.

Ann Watt, director of think tank Pivotal, outlines the changes it believes are needed to improve delivery

The Secretary of State has invited the Northern Ireland parties to Hillsborough on Thursday to discuss ‘the exact scale of the financial pressures the Executive is facing, and to offer support to enab...

A report from independent think tank Pivotal with suggested reforms to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive short of removing the 'single-party veto'.

A new report authored by former UK Health Secretary Alan Milburn presents a stark view of the scale and complexity of the challenge of rising numbers of young people not in education, employment or tr...

Yesterday's PfG Annual Report publication is an important moment to step back and measure the Executive's performance against its flagship policies, with a year to go before the next election. Read P...

BH Estates’ new report, Farm2Export: Ammonia, demonstrates how feeding a single bio-based fertiliser plant (with an output of 30,000 tonnes) could conservatively deliver a 12% reduction towards Northe...

Pivotal has responded to the consultation on the proposed draft multi-year budget. The Executive's funding position in 2025-26 is alarming and will put unprecedented pressures on departments' spending...

In recent months, the early positivity of the latest version of Stormont has fallen away

Last week saw the publication in Northern Ireland of ‘State of the State 2026’, a UK-wide review by Deloitte and Re:State of how well government is working. The methodology combines a public survey an...

The NI Executive has been back up and running for two years. The next Assembly election is just over a year away. The campaigning is already underway. Given their track record of delivery, we ask whet...

Pivotal has provided written evidence to the NI Assembly Finance Committee about the proposed draft multi-year budget. The amount of day-to-day funding available to the Northern Ireland Executive in 2...

Across the UK, thousands of parents and carers are balancing employment with caring responsibilities. For many of us, work is more than income

The Education Minister’s draft five-year budget strategy, published last Wednesday, highlights important patterns in education spending and how these needs can be best met in future. It faces up to st...