Northern Ireland's efficiency drive has been stepped up, following a tight financial settlement in the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). A performance and efficiency delivery unit will be created to drive modernisation and a slimming down of public bodies. The public sector is the biggest employer in Northern Ireland, which has cushioned the blow of the decline in heavy industry and the lack of inward investment during The Troubles. But it has come at a price which can longer be sustained. The CSR confirmed the annual 4% growth would end and brought demands for radical efficiencies. Public sector performance, particularly in health, is the lowest in the UK. With the reintroduction of direct government at the Northern Ireland Assembly, the need for public health bodies and multiple local authorities, which usually divide along sectarian lines, is now less. Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Hain, has already announced plans to cut the number of councils in a bid to save cash.
