Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Recommendation 14
Second Report: New Decade, New Approach Agreement
Published 16 Jul 2020
Paragraph 49
Addressed to Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee New Decade, New Approach Agreement All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The institutional reforms in New Decade, New Approach include some safeguards against the future collapse of the devolved institutions. We heard how amendments to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 will be useful in granting more time and space for parties to come together, if power-sharing breaks down in the future. The Government should make the relevant amendments to the Act before the end of 2020. However, it is unclear whether those reforms would have prevented the breakdown that led to the absence of devolved government between 2017 and 2019.
From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Second Report: New Decade, New Approach Agreement (HC 160), paragraph 49, 16 July 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 18 September 2020 (deadline 16 September 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government states it is "in full agreement" with the Committee on the importance of implementing the New Decade, New Approach deal, but "cannot accept" the recommended long-term financial plan and does not accept a need to re-examine borrowing powers "at present".
- On funding, the Government says it has made £2 billion available to the Executive and that it is "for the Executive to set out how implementation of the commitments" for which it is responsible "will be funded". The Joint Board "remains the principal forum" for reviewing funding.
- On borrowing, the Government "does not accept that there is a need to re-examine borrowing powers at present", noting that the Executive decided not to access Reinvestment and Reform Initiative borrowing for Budget 2020-21.
- On the Independent Fiscal Council, the Government "accepts this recommendation fully" that it must operate independently. On its remit, it says "further work is being undertaken" so that decisions can be made on the exact scope of its work.
- The Secretary of State "will commit to writing to the Committee with an update on implementation by the end of the year" and is "happy to attend a one off oral evidence session" at "an appropriate point in the future".