SIB’s vision is that Northern Ireland will build and sustain a public, social and physical infrastructure fit for the needs of all its people.
The Strategic Investment Board (SIB) is a non-departmental public body. We are accountable to the First and Deputy First Minister who set our priorities through our sponsor department, The Executive Office (TEO).
The Strategic Investment and Regeneration of Sites (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 established our organisation to advise the Executive in relation to the formulation and implementation of its programme of major investment projects; and to advise bodies carrying out major investment projects on the delivery of such projects.
What this means in practice is that we help deliver long-term transformation projects for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland. Central to that task is advising on investment planning and implementation.
When we were established in 2004, we mostly helped the government of Northern Ireland deliver PPP and PFI projects. The range, scope and importance of our work has expanded significantly over the last twenty years as the public sector has changed and evolved.
SIB receives grant-in-aid funding from The Executive Office (TEO) of some £4m per year. In 2023-24 SIB’s turnover was £12.4m. SIB works with organisations across the entire Northern Ireland public sector, including government departments, councils and arms’ length bodies. In 2023-24, SIB recouped 68% of its salary costs from its partner organisations. We have no powers of direction and may only work at the request of the organisations we support.
Our organisation has grown in size from less than 10 at SIB’s inception to 130 colleagues, some of whom work in small teams of between three and 20 colleagues. Others work individually, embedded within the management structures of the organisations we support, for example, as a project manager. Others work wholly independently as advisers.
Partnership is central to what we do, working with government agencies and departments, local councils and for stakeholders in three key areas:
- Preparing the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland (ISNI) on behalf of the NI Executive;
- Helping the public sector to develop and deliver major programmes and projects across construction, capital and regeneration, digital transformation and social value;
- Championing reform.
Through this collaborative approach, we contribute to the best use of public funds and we build and grow our relationships with partner organisations.