Last week, alongside the annual report into the Programme for Government, the Executive published an annual report on the £235m Public Sector Transformation Fund. The report provides a useful and interesting summary of the process of allocating the Fund and the projects that have been supported.
Six projects were allocated funding in March 2025, with a further six projects announced at the end of May 2026.
Projects are assessed against key criteria for their contribution to transformation:
Their ability to improve financial sustainability and deliver cost savings,
Whether they transform the delivery model to improve outcomes and meet increasing demand,
How they shift the system towards prevention and early intervention.
The Public Sector Transformation Board recommends projects to the Finance Minister, who takes them to the Executive for the approval and allocation of funding. Each project must also have an “independent, external expert to act as a critical friend”.
The Delivery Unit is now focused on transformation projects, ensuring progress and identifying where supports are needed across departments.
A summary of the headlines from the report can be found later in this article.
Pivotal's analysis
This report offers a detailed and informative review of the first six transformation projects, with clear explanations of actions, deliverables, funding, data and outcomes. It is a positive report that conveys energy and ambition behind the use of the Transformation Fund, including its support for much-needed innovation and change in public service delivery. The projects selected have a close connection to the Programme for Government priorities.
Despite only 6% of the total envelope spent so far, the Transformation Fund appears to be in a strong position. Each project is clearly designed to tackle a specific problem, and the solutions seem to be well thought through with clear timelines and milestones for delivery. While there has been some criticism of the time taken to get to this stage (and the small amount spent so far), it is clear that robust assessment of applications has taken place and that detailed plans have been required to help ensure the success of the chosen projects.
Spending is expected to ramp up in the coming years as the projects become embedded and delivery begins properly, which should lead to further results. While some projects are still in early stages, the RAG assessments (shown below) are a useful way to monitor progress against delivery timelines. The publication of these RAG assessments is welcome in providing information about progress and ensuring transparency.
As the Transformation Fund moves into its delivery phase, Pivotal makes the following suggestions:
1. Continued close attention will be needed to ensure projects stay on track to deliver the anticipated outcomes. There has been good work at the planning stage, but the key will be monitoring delivery and responding as required. The RAG ratings are welcome and we would encourage these being made available publicly at regular intervals.
2. A particular focus is needed in the delivery phase on ensuring the projects meet the aims of the Transformation Fund, namely:
improving financial sustainability and delivering cost savings,
transforming the delivery model to improve outcomes and meet increasing demand,
shifting the system towards prevention and early intervention
3. Develop a programme for learning from the Transformation Fund projects and a plan for how these lessons will be shared and embedded across other public services.
4. We would reiterate Pivotal’s call for urgent agreement of the draft multi-year budget. Not only is it important for the wider public finances, but it will unlock funding for a further five transformation projects which could have significant benefits for our public services.
Finally, there is a risk that all the Executive’s efforts on transformation become focused on the Transformation Fund, when it is less than 0.5% of total annual RDEL spending. While the Transformation Fund is welcome as an important catalyst for change, the real challenge will be achieving reforms where there isn’t the same additional funding and focused attention available. There is an urgent need for a plan from the Executive and Departments about how transformation will be pursued more broadly across all public services.
The first tranche
Multi-Disciplinary Teams – DoH, £61m
This project expands MDTs across GP practices in Northern Ireland, providing physiotherapists, social workers, mental health specialists and others, all with the aim of shifting care into the community and away from hospitals.
So far, over 1.1m citizens have access to at least one MDT role in their locality, and three quarters of patients were managed within primary care without being referred to hospital.
By March 2029, it is anticipated that almost 700,000 additional MDT consultations will have been provided, reducing patient flow towards hospitals and resulting in fewer people joining waiting lists.
SEN transformation – DE, £27.5m
This funding supports the Department of Education’s SEN Reform Agenda. It is helping to develop an Enhanced Support Model for SEN statemented children, so schools can adopt a “more flexible, child-centred approach”. A new Learning Support Model will be piloted in a number of schools, Early Years SEN training will be provided to 360 classroom assistants, and seven special schools will be established as Centres of Excellence.
So far, 114 students have participated in SEN-specific accredited courses for Early Years classroom assistants and the Enhanced Support Model has been published for consultation.
Across the next year, all projects will begin a phased rollout, with evaluation and learning points throughout.
Speeding up Justice and transforming the Criminal Justice System – DoJ, £20.45m
This project funds the expansion of Out of Court disposals and improving early engagement. This should speed up decisions about whether or not to prosecute, and providing clarity on the direction of investigations. Out of Court Disposals reduce demand within the system as they do not require court time. This should help to free up capacity to focus on serious offences, reduce delays and improve outcomes.
An estimated 4,000 policing hours have been saved due to diverted cases, reducing court demand. Processing times are down 4% in Crown Court, and Magistrate cases have reduced by 5%.
This year, pilots will be evaluated, leading to improvements or wider embedding into the system, along with consistent monitoring.
Transforming urban drainage – DfI, £15m
This project is “testing an integrated, catchment based approach using sustainable drainage systems, natural flood management and nature based solutions”, managing stormwater, reducing flood risk and improving water quality.
The early stages of this project are underway, with the first collaboration commenced, initial sites identified, and ground investigations completed.
Work will being this year on construction, evaluations, and engagement with residents, businesses and key stakeholders.
Transforming planning: independent inspectors – DfI, £3m
This work aims to increase planning capacity by appointing inspectors to carry out “hear and report” work, consisting of independent examination, local inquiry and evidence gathering and a written report to inform a planning decision. This should reduce delay costs for applicants and help speed up decisions.
Early market interest has been positive, with an appointment process underway to find suitable inspectors.
Over 2026-27, inspectors will be appointed and workstreams allocated. Monitoring will be done to ensure performance, quality and value for money.
Modernisation of electronic tagging – DoJ, £2.19m
A multi-agency delivery model will support a more accurate way to track individuals’ movements through GPS monitoring, allowing police to respond more quickly to issues or violations. This provides a more effective and community-based alternative to custody.
A multi-agency delivery team has been established and proof-of-concept monitoring pilots have been completed.
Over 2026-27, there will be further pilots and phased implementation.
Digital transformation
£300,000 was allocated for a Digital Maturity Assessment. As a result of this, recruitment is underway for a Chief Digital Officer who will provide system-wide leadership for digital transformation.
The Office of AI and Digital is leading on the development of an AI Strategy.
Spending
Over the last year, only around £13m (approx. 6%) of the total funding has been spent, however the chart below shows the projected spend over the course of the next three years. This is a five-year programme, and the bulk of the spending (and therefore rollout of the projects) is still to come, stretching right through to the end of 2028-29 . The chart also indicates the scale of each of the projects, with MDTs being by far the most extensive, followed by SEN transformation, Speeding Up Justice and Transforming Urban Drainage.
The second tranche
Six more projects were announced last week, totalling a further £102.6m spend:
£42m to the Department of Health to digitise 45m prescription items, making them available 24/7, contributing to shifting care into the community and reducing waiting and travel for patients,
£29.2m to the Department of Health to strengthen Family Support Hubs, reduce pressure on crisis services and mean fewer children enter care. This is supported by £30m Lottery funding,
£16m to the Department for Communities to strengthen integration between employability and health services, helping 3,750 people with better work and wellbeing outcomes,
£6m to the Department of Finance to modernise NICS records, reduce duplication, and improve AI use,
£3.5m to NISRA to integrate and link data across government,
£4m to DAERA for a research pilot into tackling bovine TB, supported by £5.6m of Shared Island funding.
