"Driving a Major Change Programme"

Members and guests of the Chief Executives’ Club at Queen’s came together on 27 January 2015 at Riddel Hall to hear two stimulating presentations on the topic of “Driving a Major Change Programme”.

Guests enjoyed refreshments before being welcomed by Professor Adrienne Scullion, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast. Professor Scullion introduced the two guest speakers, Director General of the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) Sue McAllister and Prison Reform Change Manager Mark Adam. Mark and Sue shared openly their experiences over the past three years of implementing one of the biggest reform programmes that the public sector has seen in the last 15 years.

This change programme took place as a result of a comprehensive review of the conditions of detention, management and oversight of all prisons in Northern Ireland, initiated by Minister of Justice David Ford and led by Dame Anne Owers. The Review Team set out a clear path to transform the prison system in Northern Ireland. The final report from the Review Team, published in October 2011, made 40 recommendations for change across the Prison Service, Health Service and wider justice system. Implementation of the recommendations would require end-to-end transformational change to how the Prison Service operated, moving from a Service rooted in security-based historical working practices into a Service with modern, progressive regimes and rehabilitation at its core.

After their presentations, Sue and Mark took part in a dynamic question and answer session with guests at the event.