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Alliance Works
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Manifesto for the
Northern Ireland
Assembly Elections
26November 2003
Introduction
1. Governing a Shared Northern Ireland
2. Building a United Community
3. Strengthening Our Economy
4. Taking Responsibility for Finance
5. Justice and a Culture of Lawfulness
6. Realising Potential through Education
7. Health and Social Services for a Better Life
8. Protecting Our Environment
9. Supporting All in Our Society
10. Revitalising Our Culture, Arts and Leisure
Making Devolution Work
This election should be about bread and butter issues, and what an Assembly can do for you.
Our devolved Assembly has given the people of Northern Ireland the opportunity to choose their own future. Decisions can now be taken, policies implemented, and legislation passed which are much more responsive to the needs of the people that they affect.
In recognition of this new opportunity, Alliance is issuing its most detailed manifesto for any election. It has been shaped through a wide consultation with Party members, representatives of the business, voluntary and community sector, and most importantly, ordinary citizens.
Building a united community and creating a shared future lie at the heart of the Alliance policy agenda. Tackling the divisions within our deeply divided society must be the greatest priority for our political institutions. Unless we seriously address these problems, they will eventually destroy the Agreement and all that has been achieved so far.
The Assembly is also the representative voice of the people of Northern Ireland—in dealings with the United Kingdom, both centrally and in the devolved nations and regions; the Republic of Ireland; the European Union and even further afield.
Alliance is looking forward to the time when policing and criminal justice functions can be transferred to the Assembly. We have included a substantial section on justice and the rule of law, issues on which we will lobby the Government until responsibility for justice is devolved. It is a matter of great concern that Northern Ireland lags so far behind the rest of the UK in this area.
Sectarianism and segregation carry considerable human and financial costs. We have identified hundreds of millions of pounds wasted in needless duplication of facilities to cater for separate demands. These resources could be put to much greater use in improving public services.
Devolution offers so much potential, but instead we have had five years of wasted opportunities.
The record of the parties in the Executive to date has not been impressive. Even allowing for the stop-start approach to devolution, they have made little difference to people's lives. Much of the legislation introduced by Ministers has been merely copied from Westminster, with little consideration of local needs and concerns. Decisions on some of the most pressing issues facing Northern Ireland have been postponed.
Most importantly, those charged with the responsibility of Government have not even begun to address the biggest problem—the continued deep divisions within our society.
Making the Agreement Work
However, this election is also about restoring trust and confidence in the political process.
In 1998, people voted for a new beginning. While in many respects Northern Ireland is better than it was a decade ago, the progress that people had a right to expect over the past five years has not occurred. Instead, the Unionist and Nationalist parties have wasted time with their continued squabbling and failures to implement the Agreement.
Rather than working together for the good of all, they have pursued their own narrow agendas and have bickered over issues like policing reform.
Even today, rather than looking to a shared future together, the UUP and SDLP are moving to the extremes, looking over their shoulders at the DUP and Sinn Fein.
The Agreement remains the only way forward to peace and stability in this society. The demands from others for `renegotiation' are completely unrealistic. We cannot allow others to rip it up and start all over again.
Instead, Alliance will push for positive changes to make the Agreement work better for all. Our priorities will be to:
remove the sectarian aspects of the Agreement, such as designations
provide for more effective government with collective responsibility
ensure that Loyalists and Republicans complete the final journey from violence to democracy
Alliance — Making the Difference
Alliance is the political voice of those who work to create a united community, one characterised by sharing, not separation. We offer everyone an invitation to join something different, something better than tribal politics — a genuinely shared and non-sectarian future.
Only Alliance rejects the notion that we must all be pigeon-holed into `two communities', only Alliance respects personal choice over identity.
The Alliance alternative is an open, free and fair society, where we are all equal citizens — not a society where we merely tolerate difference, but rather a society where we celebrate diversity and cherish individuality.
We can achieve this vision within the Agreement, an updated and better Agreement. For Alliance, the Agreement is not the ceiling of our ambition. It is the foundation on which we can create a better future.
I hope you share our vision and can support our action plan for Northern Ireland, as presented in the following pages. Every first preference vote will help us as we work to realise a better future for all of us.
David Ford
Party Leader
The Agreement
Alliance reiterates its full support for the Good Friday Agreement. The Agreement represents an historic accommodation among the various political traditions in Northern Ireland, north and south, and all of these islands. Its major strength continues to be the creation of a set of political institutions with cross-community legitimacy within a deeply divided society. The Agreement also provides the opportunity to discuss and develop some fundamental aspects of a shared society, like human rights, equality and social justice.
Yet the implementation of the Agreement has been undermined by continued bickering among the pro-Agreement parties and their failure to rise above narrow sectarian concerns to work for the common good. At the outset, the Agreement was seen as a win-win by all sections of the community. Sadly, it is today regarded in zero-sum terms, with a gain one for one section of the community being perceived as a loss by another.
Most crucially, we have witnessed a deterioration in community relations and an increase in sectarianism, racism and segregation on the ground. Regrettably, the Agreement has played a major role in contributing to an institutionalised sectarianism in Northern Ireland.
Comprehensive Review
Several years on, it is possible to view the Agreement and its implementation from a clearer and more critical perspective. Over the past five years, these deficiencies and flaws in the Agreement have come into much clearer focus.
Fortunately, the Agreement does provide the terms for its own comprehensive review. It is now necessary to review its terms and structures, and to learn the lessons of experience.
This will not be a renegotiation, but rather improvements to the working of the Agreement, firmly based on the principles of the Agreement.
Alliance's proposals for the Comprehensive Review are rooted in the party's key values:
Commitment to exclusively democratic and non-violent principles.
Opposition to sectarianism, racism and other forms of arbitrary division.
Commitment to human rights, fair play and social justice.
The `constitutional issue' is not a defining issue that preoccupies the Alliance Party. In keeping with the three core values the party's main concern is that the people's consent is paramount and that the legitimate interests of all are safeguarded.
Alliance is firmly committed to the principle of power sharing. We favour a move away from the rigid, consociational form of power sharing contained in the original Agreement, towards more flexible and integrated versions of power sharing more appropriate for an evolving and diverse society. Ultimately, our objective is to fashion Northern Ireland as a model European liberal democracy.
Alliance Proposals for the Review
Before the commencement of the scheduled formal Review of the Agreement, Alliance will be presenting a detailed paper setting out our proposals for making the Agreement work better. Our full proposals will include the following:
Constitutional Status
Alliance restates its support for the Principle of Consent. Alliance believes that the people of Northern Ireland should not be restrained from devising and advocating any constitutional outcome, not merely a straight choice between the maintenance of the United Kingdom or a united Ireland.
Size of the Assembly
Alliance believes that the Assembly is too large, and consequently too expensive. Alliance will support moves to reduce the size of the Assembly.
Designations and Voting System
Alliance is concerned at the sectarian nature of the Assembly designations and related voting system. It is crucially important that, in a deeply divided society, significant matters in the Assembly are decided on a cross-community basis. However, there are several different forms of cross-community voting, not confined to the two versions in the Agreement. There are four particular problems with the current system:
the institutionalisation of sectarian division
a lack of equality of votes between MLAs
an inability to adjust to changing demographic and political circumstances
the ability of minorities to effectively hold the process to ransom
Alliance strongly advocates the use of a weighted majority, free from any communal designations, for key decisions in the Assembly.
The Executive
The NI Executive has not performed as expected. Much of this is due to poor design. Through an involuntary coalition, there is no requirement or incentive for parties to abide by collective responsibility. Ministers can run their Departments as personal fiefdoms. There is little scope for removing a Minister who is underperforming or who is politically inept.
Alliance argues that the Executive should be formed as a voluntary power-sharing coalition, endorsed by a weighted majority vote in the Assembly to ensure a cross-community composition. It should be possible for parties to negotiate a balanced executive, with an agreed programme for government. This would be required to achieve a cross-community weighted-majority vote in the Assembly in order for it to come into effect.
Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister
Alliance advocates the abolition of the current Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister, to be replaced by a more streamlined office, with appropriate functions being reallocated to dedicated Departments.
The First Minister would fulfil the normal functions of a chief minister, chair meetings of the executive, and provide a representational service. A Deputy First Minister would deputise for the First Minister.
Ministerial Accountability
To date, Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive have been able to take decisions within their own area of responsibility with little or no political checks and balances, and only the minimum protections provided by law. At the same time, the Statutory Committees have not been as effective as envisaged.
Alliance proposes to give the Assembly the power to nullify a Ministerial decision, through a weighted majority vote.
Committee Chairs
The d'Hondt system is a poor form of proportionality that is prone to major distortions. Alliance would replace the d'Hondt system for allocating Chairs of Committees, with a fairer and more effective system, where such a mechanism is required. One possibility would be via an STV election by the MLAs.
NI Assembly and Oireachtas
There is a need for more openness and transparency within the North-South Ministerial Council. Alliance believes that the Taoiseach and Tanaiste, First Minister and Deputy First Minister should make a joint report on the NSMC activities in each of the respective legislatures every year.
Alliance also believes that the Assembly and the Oireachtas should be required to establish a North-South Parliamentary Tier, open to all parties, with each jurisdiction sending equal numbers of participants.
Promoting Community Relations
Community relations must be given a higher profile following the Review of the Agreement.
Alliance proposes to place a statutory obligation on public authorities to carry out functions with due regard to the need to promote good relations between all sections of society. This would be of a similar nature to the current equality duty.
Human Rights
Alliance stresses our continued support for the work of the NI Human Rights Commission. There is a concerted attack on the Commission from both Nationalists and Unionists. The Commission is hampered by ambiguous mandate, related to the `two communities'.
Alliance believes that the NIHRC should be given a clear remit to devise a Bill of Rights to protect individuals, minorities and communities in Northern Ireland.
Definition of a Ceasefire
The Government has maintained a distinction between a ceasefire and a cessation of all violence; Alliance has not. This distinction should be closed. Paragraph 13 of the Joint Declaration should be the basis of any definition of an end to all paramilitary activity:
“Paramilitarism and sectarian violence ... must be brought to an end, from whichever part of the community they come. We need to see an immediate, full and permanent cessation of all paramilitary activity, including military attacks, training, targeting, intelligence gathering, acquisition or development of arms or weapons, other preparations for terrorist campaigns, punishment beatings and attacks and involvement in riots. Moreover, the practice of exiling must come to an end and the exiled must feel free to return in safety. Similarly, sectarian attacks and intimidation directed at vulnerable communities must cease.”
Alliance believes that the above standard should be incorporated into the Pledge of Office.
Review of Public Administration
The current Review of Public Administration does not address the responsibilities of the 11 Government Departments. Alliance believes it is essential that the separate Review of the Agreement recommends a reduction of government bureaucracy at this level first, before the Review of Public Administration agrees changes at lower levels.
Northern Ireland is over governed relative to comparative areas elsewhere in these islands. This is compounded by the unnecessary and expensive duplication of facilities.
The structures for the administration of health and education are clearly identified as some of those most in need of reform.
A number of principles will guide the Alliance approach to the Review of Public Administration:
First, public bodies must be responsive to the needs of communities. Alliance sees a role for a range of regional, sub-regional and local bodies. Services should be delivered as close to the people concerned while taking into account efficiency and effectiveness.
Second, the reform of public bodies should take on board the need to promote integration and better community relations. Administrative boundaries should not be created so as to reinforce separation in society, but rather to promote mixing of people.
Third, reform of public administration must be governed by pragmatism rather than ideology. Alliance will not take an ideological position in favour of either the use of the public or the private sector, but will support whatever approach is the most appropriate for delivering the best quality services in each circumstance.
Wider Relations
Alliance will promote Northern Ireland as a distinct region within a devolving British Isles, and an evolving Europe of the regions. 19th century notions of sovereignty are no longer appropriate in the early 21st century. Although Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom, it should be encouraged to develop a range of relationships with the Republic of Ireland, as well as with Scotland, Wales, the English regions and the Crown dependencies of the British Isles. Furthermore, Northern Ireland should increasingly develop its links with Europe and North America.
Alliance is a strongly pro-European party. We have an excellent record of participation in wider European and international debates through our membership of the European Liberal Democratic and Reform (ELDR) Party, and Liberal International.
Alliance supports the enlargement of the European Union. Enlargement will create wider markets for Northern Ireland, and bring more and more people into the benefits of EU membership.
Alliance supports the United Kingdom's entry into the Euro at the earliest appropriate opportunity. Alliance believes that UK membership of the Euro is vital to the long-term economic interests of Northern Ireland, particularly given our land border with the Republic of Ireland.
Alliance will establish a European Affairs Committee in the NI Assembly. This committee would monitor and prepare for developments within the European Union. Such a committee has already been established in the Oireachtas.
Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society. But rather than these communal divisions being addressed and overcome, they are becoming institutionalised.
Sectarianism and segregation remain major scars on Northern Ireland, and have even intensified in recent years.
Sectarian attitudes are not restricted to those in and around interfaces, but permeate throughout society. Sectarianism is about prejudice, scapegoating, and putting people into boxes.
The dominant view, both from the Agreement and many aspects of Government policy, is that Northern Ireland is permanently divided into separate Protestant/Unionist and Catholic/Nationalist communities.
The state caters to these `separate communities' with needlessly duplicating facilities, wasting resources that could otherwise be used to improve the quality of services.
Yet there is substantial evidence that a clear majority of the people in Northern Ireland would like to have mixed facilities in which to live, to work, and to be educated. Almost a quarter of Protestants and a third of Catholics do not wish to be described as either Unionist or Nationalist. Furthermore, the 2001 Census showed that 14% of the population do not wish to be described as either Protestant or Catholic.
Skilful conflict management of a so-called `benign apartheid' cannot be sustained. With little or no common bonds, it is relatively easy for `separate communities' to go their different ways with any major crisis.
The healing of our communal divisions must be the greatest priority for our political institutions, and thus lies at the heart of Alliance's policy agenda.
Alliance priorities for the next four years in the Assembly are to—
Develop a new community relations strategy for Northern Ireland. This should challenge how we live and learn, work and play together as a community.
Actively encourage de-segregation and communal integration, through appropriate policies and by placing a duty upon all government departments and public sector agencies. This includes areas such as planning.
Introduce a new form of policy proofing, called Policy Appraisal for Sharing over Separation (PASS). This would ensure that the impact of any new policy upon community divisions would be assessed and taken into account.
Appoint an Integration Monitor. This person would be charged with monitoring progress on the above proposals, and producing an annual audit of the costs of providing separate facilities.
Provide support for the work of the Community Relations Council, and significantly increase its budget, in order to expand its project work. Alliance would increasingly concentrate community investment funds on projects with a strong cross-community element.
Achieve a target of 10% of children being educated in integrated schools by 2010. We set out how we will accomplish this in the Education section of this manifesto.
Make the promotion and maintenance of mixed housing an explicit objective of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
Urge the police and criminal justice agencies to adopt a more pro-active policy of protecting and serving those individuals who choose to mix with others, in the name of preserving a common civic space.
Enforce the civil duties on public agencies, such as the Road Service and the Housing Executive, to ensure that their property is free from paramilitary, sectarian or racist flags, murals and graffiti.
Ensure that public sector agencies build new leisure, educational, health, social and community facilities with an explicit objective to encourage mixing. Best practice should also be developed, regarding the design of the urban environment, in order to maximise cross-community integration.
Promote Northern Ireland as a distinct region within a decentralising British Isles and an emerging Europe of the Regions.
Propose new symbols to be devised to give expression to this regional identity, including a new flag for Northern Ireland. Greater use should also be made of the European flag.
Equality
Alliance will promote equality of opportunity, equality of treatment, equality of access, and equality under the law for all people, irrespective of:
Gender
Age
Marital or family status
Religious belief
Disability
Perceived race or ethnic origin
Nationality
Sexual orientation
We are opposed to all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination. To this end, Alliance makes the following pledges—
Ensure the development and passage of a Single Equality Act. This will provide a holistic approach to combat discrimination and other forms of unfair treatment.
Amend Fair Employment Monitoring Regulations, to stop people being assigned as either `Protestant' or `Catholic' against their will. Similarly, Alliance will prevent the next census from pigeon-holing those who do not declare a religious belief to a `religious community' against their will. Alliance stresses that people should be able to hold open, mixed and multiple identities.
Propose that the list of organisations exempt from Fair Employment Regulations be revised. In particular, the ability of schools to hire teachers and other staff from one or the other `community background' should be reviewed.
Develop an inclusive inter-departmental strategy on gender equality.
Ensure that the interests and needs of persons belonging to ethnic minorities are included in the broader framework of community relations.
Support measures to eradicate age discrimination. This includes the voluntary extension of work, and the provision of health and social services.
Alliance favours a mixed economy, in which a primacy of market solutions is balanced by a government and public concern for social justice. The role of government, especially with the onset of a knowledge-driven economy, should be to create the right framework conditions for a dynamic and high-growth economy.
A successful economy and prosperity are essential to creating the favourable conditions for the development of a shared, non-sectarian society, and giving people a stake in the consolidation of peace.
The economy of Northern Ireland is our own responsibility. We must stand on our own financial feet. What is required is a change of attitude.
We need to encourage entrepreneurship and applaud local success stories. We need to be positive and outward-looking, with confidence in our abilities and skills. We need a `can-do' culture that focuses on results.
We must give greater recognition for the increasingly vital role women have in our economy. This includes removing social barriers to their promotion to upper management, and delivering equal pay. Alliance is confident in the abilities and skills of men and women, equally.
Our economy will be driven forward by private business. Government can encourage this by removing structural obstacles. Our vision must be modernised:
Northern Ireland suffers from the lack of control over fiscal policy. This contributes to an over-dependence on grants rather than tax-breaks and incentives for attracting inward investment. We need to be more financially independent, so we can take more responsibility for our spending priorities.
Northern Ireland has too small a base in new high-tech, knowledge-based industries. We spend too little on Research and Development, which curtails innovation.
The Euro-zone (especially including the Republic of Ireland) and EU enlargement will further force Northern Ireland companies to be more globally competitive.
Alliance priorities for the next four years in the Assembly are to—
Build an economy based on the principles of profitability, sustainable development, enterprise, equality of opportunity and social inclusion. This includes removing all obstacles for equal pay for equal work.
Use tax-varying powers (when achieved) to rate taxation according to profitability, employee size, and/or growth potential. This provision of enhanced tax incentives could be the first of its kind to produce rewards for success, and encourage growth at an exponential rate. For example, Alliance would reduce tax for SMEs with less than 3 years of trade. We would also lobby for the threshold for VAT to be raised to £75,000.
Introduce a new Northern Ireland Quality mark. Cheaper to access than the British Standards kite and ISO9000 schemes, the Northern Ireland Quality mark will create loyalty and trust for local consumers, and sales and growth for Northern Ireland companies. The Northern Ireland Quality mark can also serve to mediate in consumer issues.
Promote best practice in environmental performance. Alliance will expand the availability of tools available to help companies achieve this. (See also our commitment to a Green Economy Task Force.)
Lobby for the introduction of the Euro. Membership of the Euro could bring net benefits such as greater economic stability, lower interest rates, lower inflation, a more favourable climate for investment, greater price transparency and competition, reduced transaction costs, and the reduction of risk associated with fluctuating exchange rates.
Reduce needless regulations and bureaucracy for small businesses. Such obstacles to growth must be minimised.
Lobby for age-positive hiring programmes. Forcing older people to prematurely leave their employment robs the economy of decades of knowledge and expertise. We recommend re-training of the older workforce, and we will provide positive solutions to employers, to employ older workforces.
Lobby for the minimum wage to be extended to those aged 16+. Young employees should not be paid less for the same work, simply because of their age.
Develop Information Technology in Northern Ireland. We will lead a drive to improve the understanding of this sector and support from leading businesses, banks and government departments. We will provide assistance, where necessary, in order to encourage IT to grow.
Lobby for positive change in re-employment schemes. New Deal has been too cumbersome. We need better and more efficient schemes to recruit women, mature trainees and the long-term unemployed.
Support parental leave schemes, so that fathers as well as mothers can address the competing demands of work and family life.
Introduce an Employment Appeals Tribunal. Combined with more informal arbitration services, we will reform and improve the efficiency of the tribunal system. There needs to be equal representation for both employer and employee in the tribunal service.
Integrate economic and education policy. The needs of business can be compatible with educational provision. For example, collaborative clusters of schools, businesses and colleges should be established. Lifelong learning can maximise an individual's employability.
Give priority to the Belfast-
Dublin, Derry-Dublin and other key cross-border transport corridors. We will also work to establish a central UK-wide plan to develop strategic routes and linkages on the west coast of Great Britain. This includes securing at least 3 direct air routes to continental Europe and 1 to the USA.
Increase funding for tourism product marketing activities, to revise the overall image and profile of Northern Ireland overseas. Furthermore, Alliance believes a public-private sector partnership is central to the success of tourism. We support efforts to involve the private sector more in the growth of the tourism industry.
Lead the way in engaging more actively in European, UK and Republic of Ireland initiatives, especially in areas of technology, competitiveness, IT, and education and training. This will build a wider perspective and international outlook.
Energy
A sustainable energy policy is needed for Northern Ireland, one that aims to maximise energy efficiency and minimise consumption of non-renewable resources. Consumers of energy should become more aware of the true economic and environmental costs of their consumption. Tax and subsidy regimes should be altered accordingly to better reflect the `polluter pays' principle.
Buy out generating capacity currently under contract to NIE. Alliance will introduce a low-cost borrowing mechanism, in order to reduce electricity costs to Northern Ireland consumers. If HM Treasury continues to block this proposal, then Alliance will demand the payback of the 1992 sell-off of our power stations. We must have a fair and cost-effective trading system to reduce electricity prices in Northern Ireland, which are the highest in the UK.
Improve capacity on the North-South electricity interconnector and support measures to access less expensive energy supplies from Great Britain. Alliance will also deliver the extension of natural gas services to the West.
Promote energy efficiency and conservation. Unacceptable amounts of energy are wasted through inefficiencies. Alliance would consider the introduction of energy rating for private dwellings and encouragement for householders to effect energy conservation.
Increase access of renewable energy sources to the general public. With the development of a strategic approach, Northern Ireland is well placed to take advantage of the potential of both wind and wave energy. In a region rich in renewable resources, government policy must emphasise and encourage new, imaginative sources of energy. Energy technology should be supported by government funding as well as by the private sector.
Agriculture and Rural Development
Northern Ireland contains many rural communities that are reliant on the agri-food industry, providing employment and a valuable contribution to our Gross Domestic Product.
Like any other sector, the forces of modernisation and globalisation cannot be ignored or wished away. Alliance will provide the leadership to face these challenges and more, to ensure the vitality and success of our food and drink industries.
Change will also occur from EU and UK-wide legislation. Alliance will assist farmers more in adjusting to new policies, and we will provide an adequate timescale for change.
Implement the `Vision Action Plan', an extensive modernisation programme by DARD. Assisting structural adjustment and raising farm performance are particular priorities.
Bring about greater co-ordination between the Department for Agriculture & Rural Development and the Department of the Environment over agri-environment and planning policies.
Earmark 10% of production subsidies for environmental schemes, as recommended in the report of the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food in England.
Ensure that money directed towards agri-environmental schemes directly benefit farmers. Modulated funds should not be used for other aspects of departmental expenditure. Alliance will explore ways in which farmers can produce environmental benefit while increasing farm income.
Give farmers the option of receiving their direct support payments in euros.
Initiate a re-examination of the Rural Planning strategy, to promote balanced development, including farm diversification, in rural areas of Northern Ireland.
Promote the highest standards of agriculture. We need to move away from commodity production, and develop niche markets, including organic foods, building on our existing green image. Alliance opposes the introduction of genetically-modified crops.
Initiate a pilot scheme of `demonstration farms', based on the New Zealand model, and as recommended in the Policy Commission report. Northern Ireland suppliers will be more competitive and efficient with a more direct, traceable route to market.
Improve the relationship between suppliers and retailers in Northern Ireland. We will highly encourage suppliers, retailers and food service companies to sign up voluntarily to the `Code of Practice on Supermarkets' Dealings with Suppliers'.
Codify all existing regulations into a single web site, categorised around events in the lifetime of the farm. We will also seek ways to reduce and improve the efficiency of regulations.
Devise and implement a comprehensive animal health strategy, by working with DEFRA and further consultation. Informed consumers will need to support highest welfare standards with their purchasing decisions.
Develop a strategy for organic food production. This will cover research, development, standards and marketing, and address all parts of the food chain. We will seek practical ways to promote the production of more locally produced organic food.
Extend compulsory country of origin labelling. We endorse the efforts of the Food Standards Agency to improve food labelling policy.
Facilitate more and better quality educational visits to farms, in partnership with the voluntary sector.
Sectarianism costs us money, not only in dealing with its violent manifestations, but in everyday life. The `separate but equal' mindset requires duplicate facilities in our education, health and social services. This wastes money that could be used to improve the quality of services for us all. Addressing sectarianism, first and foremost, could generate the greatest savings in public expenditure.
Alliance accepts that the Executive has only limited financial resources at its disposal. The windfall from the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the continuation of European Structural Funds until 2006 reflects a somewhat artificial position. In the long term, the Barnett Formula erodes the advantages in public expenditure of the Northern Ireland Administration. Therefore, there is a responsibility upon the Executive to spend resources wisely, to invest in the future, and to prioritise addressing the causes (rather than the immediate symptoms) of problems.
Any reform will require phasing in over a number of years, and Alliance would embark upon negotiations with key stakeholders.
Alliance priorities for the next four years in the Assembly are to—
Lobby the UK Government for tax-varying powers. This will give the Assembly a greater ability to reflect the democratic wishes of local people and to have the capability to offer tax incentives to stimulate local economic growth.
Reform the local rating system. We would abolish the regional rate, and replace it with a method based on ability to pay, e.g. a local income tax.
Tax ownership instead of occupation. This will increase the tax base and discourage the under-use of vacant property.
Implement the fairest options to pay for water costs. EU Directives will require directly-linked payments for these costs. However, the recent Government policy initiative was disingenuous; it has an obligation to improve the infrastructure before seeking any reform of the finance and business model of the service.
Introduce a social partnership approach to strategic planning of infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland. We will amend legislation so that the Strategic Investment Board contains business, voluntary and community sector stakeholders.
Promote the greater use of electronic delivery of public services, and the greater accessibility of the public to Information Technology. This includes the application of e-planning. We will set targets focused on higher public usage of e-Government.
Decentralise more civil service jobs away from Greater Belfast, where there is an economic advantage for relocation.
Reform charity law in Northern Ireland. We would also add, as a defined charitable purpose, `the promotion of peace and reconciliation and good community relations in Northern Ireland'.
Award rate relief to tourism business. Alliance recognises the importance of tourism as a growing sector of employment in our economy. Rates are a significant direct cost to hotels and pubs.
Lobby the UK Exchequer to re-establish the link between the state pension and average earnings. This is the fairest means of ensuring long-term confidence in its value.
Alliance is fully committed to the highest standards of justice and the rule of law. We believe that there is a fundamental relationship between democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. The Agreement has not been the source of the law and order problems in Northern Ireland. These problems have persisted and developed despite the Agreement. Alliance believes that the platform of the Agreement provides the best means for asserting the primacy of the rule of law, democracy, and a Bill of Rights.
Our vision of policing in Northern Ireland is of a single, integrated, professional police service that is representative of, responsive to, and carrying the confidence of the entire community. Alliance gives its full support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland in upholding the rule of law. A key element of this new beginning must be an increasingly community-based approach, which will re-enforce the needs of the community.
Action is required at a number of levels:
The creation and maintenance of the required structures, and the provision of necessary resources
The proper enforcement of existing laws, and the application of new legislation
The creation and the maintenance of a culture of lawfulness
Alliance priorities for the next four years in the Assembly are to—
Structures and Resources
Demand that the Government abolish the use of 50:50 recruitment quotas. We would replace this with a fairer form of affirmative action. The quota system is restricting overall recruitment. Alliance supports the objectives of greater representation in the police from all under-represented sections of society. Alliance supports target and affirmative action for Catholic and female recruitment, and proactive steps to attract persons from ethnic minorities, as well as gays and lesbians, into the police service.
Oppose the premature phasing out of the Full-Time Reserve. Alliance will also push for the recruitment of the new Part-Time Reserve. We believe that the restriction on part-time reserve officers only serving in their own immediate area be lifted.
Propose that the Government should reassess its strategy and resources for the protection of witnesses.
Lobby for the introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders in Northern Ireland, in order to give the police and public authorities the powers to obtain court orders restricting the behaviour or movements of those that engage in persistent and serious loutish behaviour. These measures should be based upon the relevant elements of the Crime and Disorder Act (1998).
Better regulate restorative justice schemes, to deal with low-level crime and anti-social behaviour, provided that they meet certain minimum conditions. Any community-based schemes should only accept referrals from the police, criminal justice or other statutory agencies. Any referrals that come from `community sources' should be re-directed for screening by the Police Service, at the rank of Inspector.
Encourage the British and Irish Governments to develop a `hot pursuit' protocol. This would enable the PSNI and Garda to cross over into each other's jurisdictions when in pursuit of suspects. Such an instrument could be based on the terms of the EU's Schenegen Agreement, and would be an important tool in the fight against terrorism.
Push for the seizure of criminal assets. We welcome the establishment of the Organised Crime Taskforce and the Assets Recovery Agency. We believe this programme will seriously frustrate the operation of all organised crime and paramilitaries.
Work for the phased devolution of policing and criminal justice responsibilities, and the creation of a Northern Ireland Department of Justice.
Enforcement and Revision of the Criminal Law
Lobby for a review into the procedures regarding decisions on prosecutions and the length of sentences for offences, such as public order and violence towards the emergency services. While it may not always be possible for the police to intervene at the time in public order incidents, Alliance believes that greater use should be made of video evidence for follow-up action.
Urge the Government to consider creating specific offences of engaging in paramilitary-style attacks. This would equate to an extension of the existing offence of Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH).
Lobby the police to adopt a more pro-active policy of intervening when paramilitary flags and other emblems are being erected, and to take prosecutions under the Terrorism Act (2000).
Advocate the creation of specific offences concerning the erection of flags or other emblems, and the painting of murals associated with proscribed organisations.
A Culture of Lawfulness
Lead a culture of lawfulness. The dominant thinking in society needs to be sympathetic and consistent with the rule of law. We must have a zero-tolerance of paramilitarism and organised crime in Northern Ireland. Alliance wants schools and civic organisations to work together to promote a culture of lawfulness. Curricula can be developed to focus on teaching the value of the rule of law, and resulting consequences for individuals and wider society.
Human Rights
As a longstanding supporter of human rights, Alliance believes that Northern Ireland should have the best set of human rights protections possible. These could, in turn, be a model for other parts of these islands and Europe. Alliance welcomes the passage of the Human Rights Act, and supports efforts of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) to draft a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
Lobby the NIHRC to proceed on the basis of drafting international conventions, and properly reflect pluralism and diversity within its work.
Lobby for the enforcement of the Human Rights Act, and any subsequent Northern Ireland Bill of Rights to be mainstreamed through the existing court system. Alliance will therefore reject the creation of a special human rights/constitutional court. Our supported approach will ensure that human rights are a material consideration at all levels of the judicial system.
Lobby the NIHRC to draw up a Charter of Freedom from Sectarianism. This will emphasise the rights of people to live in mixed areas, to attend mixed schools, and to be supported in these choices by the state.
Establish an integration policy for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland. We would abolish the current practice of placing such persons in detention.
Victims
Alliance will work to help our society move beyond a `hierarchy of victims', in order to ensure that those who have suffered throughout the community are supported in an inclusive way. We recognise the tensions in acknowledging all victims in our society, thus commit ourselves to strategies that strive to unite our community (see separate manifesto section, `Building a United Community').
Support both statutory and community projects that help victims build a shared sense of healing and recovery. We aim to remove communal bias in any such work.
Lobby for the creation of a public forum to allow victims (self-defined) to tell their stories, which would be placed on an official record.