Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Conclusion 11
Third Report - The funding and delivery of public services in Northern Ireland
Published 26 Mar 2024
Paragraph 64
Addressed to Northern Ireland Executive; Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee The funding and delivery of public services in Northern Ireland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Many of the structural, resource and funding issues facing Northern Ireland have been a long time in the making, but the lack of ministerial direction and accountability in recent times has not helped the plight of public services in Northern Ireland. Core reforms required across public services have not been taken forward and the absence of the Executive between February 2022 and February 2024 delayed the introduction of new legislation and undermined the effective scrutiny of decision- making. However, by far the greatest threat remains chronic underfunding, below need, of NI public services by the Treasury. This includes the operation of the current fiscal floor proposed by the Government, which by design, fails to provide a recurring uplift to the block grant commensurate to the level NI was funded below need between April 2022 and the present day.
From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Third Report - The funding and delivery of public services in Northern Ireland (HC 46), paragraph 64, 26 March 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 November 2024 (deadline 26 May 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the Committee's report and says it is committed to working with the Executive and Assembly on public services, while treating many recommended actions, such as SEN, policing allocations and workforce reporting, as devolved matters for the Executive.
- On funding, it points to a record £18.2 billion settlement for 2025/26 and says it is committed to progressing from the interim to a "full fiscal framework"; it adds that "funding alone will not address the challenges" and that there is an "onus on the Executive" to deliver transformation.
- On SEN, policing allocation and the statutory duty on health workforce projections, it says these are devolved matters; on the PSNI it "trusts the Executive will give consideration" to using its funding to support the PSNI.
- On UKSPF, it says the fund "will be extended for 2025–26 at a reduced level of £900 million", with nation-level and local allocations to be published on gov.uk "in due course".
- On the £559 million debts, repayment is paused subject to a Budget Sustainability Plan; if the Executive balances its 2024/25 budget and raises an additional £113m from 2025/26, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury will confirm the debts "do not need to be repaid".