Proposals to create a joint first minister title at Stormont would do nothing to improve crumbling water infrastructure, DUP MP Gavin Robinson told a Westminster committee examining devolution reform.

Speaking to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Robinson said changing the names of the first and deputy first minister posts would make "absolutely no change" to the ability to address planning or water infrastructure. He added that altering how the Assembly Speaker is elected would similarly have no impact on basic delivery.

Robinson accused some parties of pursuing reform discussions for electoral gain ahead of the next Assembly election in 2027. He argued that any institutional changes must uphold the principles of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, warning against a "majoritarian approach" that would remove protections traditionally afforded to unionists when they were the minority community.

Sinn Fein did not send a representative to the committee session.

Stormont Opposition leader Matthew O'Toole of the SDLP told MPs that both structural reform and a cultural shift within the Executive were essential. He warned that the public's loss of faith in devolution was "pernicious" and highlighted the failure to agree a budget for the current financial year, which has triggered an effective five per cent cut as civil servants can only authorise 95 per cent of last year's spending.

Alliance deputy leader Eoin Tennyson criticised the UK Government for failing to take a more proactive role, saying the two largest parties were "wielding vetoes at the Executive table to hold one another's legislative proposals hostage". He called for an "activist" secretary of state and Irish government engagement similar to that seen during the 1998 negotiations.

UUP leader Jon Burrows described a "palpable disconnect" between Stormont and the public, and argued that basic changes such as a joint first minister title and a fully functioning opposition with shadow ministers would improve scrutiny. He said poor committee oversight was producing "bad legislation".

The committee hearing is the latest in a series of looks at potential reforms to Northern Ireland's devolved institutions, which have experienced repeated collapses since their establishment. In February, former First Minister Arlene Foster told a separate Stormont committee that there was "growing suspicion" within grassroots unionism around reform efforts.

Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions have faced periods of collapse between 2017 and 2020 and again from 2022 to 2024.