The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has welcomed plans by Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley to bring forward legislation which would allow civil servants to make decisions in the absence of a devolved government at Stormont.

Northern Ireland has been without an Executive since January last year following a bitter fall-out between the DUP and Sinn Féin over the RHI scandal.

Speaking in the House of Commons, NI Secretary Karen Bradley said: "I wish to commend the key role that the Northern Ireland Civil Service has played during the period in which there has been no Executive in ensuring the continuity of public services in Northern Ireland.

"Following the recent decision of the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal in the Buick case, I recognise that there is a need to provide reassurance and clarity to both the NICS and the people of Northern Ireland on the mechanisms for the continued delivery of public services.

"So, the legislation I intend to introduce after the conference recess will also include provisions to give greater clarity and certainty to enable NI departments to continue to take decisions in Northern Ireland in the public interest and to ensure the continued delivery of public services.

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Welcoming the news, RICS Acting Regional Director, Susan Mason, said the move will allow the Civil Service to take necessary decisions to maintain public services.

"Since the collapse of the political institutions, the delivery of high quality infrastructure projects has been placed in stasis," she said.

"This is clearly unsustainable as projects such as the North/South interconnector, which is vital to Northern Ireland's future energy security, and the delivery of the A5 and A6, a scheme critical to road safety and economic development in the North West, cannot be placed on indefinite hold.

"RICS maintains that the preferred outcome remains the restoration of devolved government. The principle that decisions on investment in infrastructure, housing, and construction are best taken by locally elected decision makers remains persuasive.

"However, in the absence of negotiations to restore an Assembly and Executive, RICS has called for the UK government to intervene to ensure critical decisions on infrastructure are taken and projects advanced in a timely manner. Today's announcement is therefore good news for Northern Ireland."

Continuing, Ms Mason said as the bank of current infrastructure projects runs low, the construction industry now needs "clarity and certainty" from government about future workloads.

"RICS would further call for clarity around the ability of departments to adopt international standards in construction that will enhance our infrastructure offering and improve the way projects are delivered and accounted," she said.

"It's critical that we remain at the front of innovation rather than simply maintaining current practice."

(LM/CM)