2nd Special Report - Funding and delivery of public services: follow up: Government Response

This is the government's response, published 19 June 2025.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government's response "notes" the Committee's recommendations on needs-based funding, multi-year budgeting and tax devolution, and sets out funding and Fiscal Framework developments, stating that "more time is needed" on the long-term framework.

• On needs-based funding, the government says the Executive will "continue to receive over 24% more per person" than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK, "above their independently assessed level of need". Its response does not address the request to backdate assessed need.
• On the Fiscal Framework, the UK Government and the Executive "have also agreed to immediately begin negotiations" on a full framework, covering Housing Executive borrowing and the Holtham Review. The government says "more time is needed" for any long-term agreement to be robust.
• On multi-year funding, the Chancellor "has confirmed multi-year funding for the Spending Review period until at least 2028–29". The government says it "would expect" the Executive to return to multi-year budgets.
• The government says £129m of the £235m Transformation Fund has been allocated to six projects, and it will "seek to identify more projects" and continue to monitor and evaluate allocated funding with the Public Sector Transformation Board.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error