Recommendation 13

We endorse calls for a review of the fiscal framework for Northern Ireland and welcome the willingness of the Government to open negotiations with the Executive in this regard. However it is deeply regrettable, because of the failure to baseline the new needs-based Barnett factor as if it had been in place at the point public spending in Northern Ireland fell below assessed need–April 2022–that the new formula will operate as a fiscal ceiling, rather than as a floor, slowly lifting Northern Ireland’s funding to a point below which it should never have been permitted to fall in the first place. A review of the exact calculation and assessment of the needs-based factor should be included as part of the terms of reference for the upcoming Fiscal Framework negotiations between the Government and Northern Ireland Executive. (Paragraph 77) 38 The funding and delivery of public services in Northern Ireland Alternative ways of raising revenue in Northern Ireland