The North's Department of Economic Development is to undertake a major review of all its agencies, including the Industrial Development Board and the Local Enterprise Development Unit. A team has been appointed to study the structure of the bodies, the scope for improvement and the cost of any reorganisation.
The review was announced yesterday by the Department's permanent secretary, Mr Gerry Loughran. It will assess the effectiveness of existing arrangements for co-operation between the IDB, LEDU, the Training and Employment Agency and the Industrial Research and Technology Unit.
Mr Loughran said: "The scope for improvements will be considered, including options for reorganising the delivery of services within and between the agencies, and the costs and benefits of reorganisation.
"It is six years since the last review. We are now operating in different times and circumstances. The government is currently developing a review of economic development strategy and has commissioned a comprehensive review of all aspects of public service. It is now time to look afresh at the role of, and relationships between, our economic bodies."
The review team will consult the Confederation of British Industry, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Institute of Directors and the North's Chamber of Commerce. It will report back in March.
The Alliance Party yesterday welcomed the review.
Meanwhile, two separate investigations are continuing into "serious" lapses in the control of taxpayers' money spent on the Belfast Action Teams initiative, a British government spokesman confirmed yesterday.
The inquiries, by the RUC fraud squad and a former auditorgeneral, are expected to be lengthy. A large sum of money cannot be accounted for.
The Belfast Action Teams were set up in the 1980s to promote economic and social projects. One team leader, a civil servant, has been dismissed, but an appeal is pending.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has condemned "alarming irregularities" in the administration of the projects.