Budget will provide extra £100m for Northern Ireland Executive, Government says

The Budget will provide an extra £100 million for public spending in Northern Ireland in 2024-25, the Government has said. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has also announced regeneration funds of £20 million each for Londonderry and Coleraine over 10 years. The Government has also allocated £2 million to be spent on global investment and trade opportunities for Northern Ireland.

The Chancellor also announced a further cut in national insurance, reducing it from 10% to 8%. However, the Government has also insisted that the powersharing Executive must raise its own revenue to write off Stormont debt. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the Budget underlined the Government’s commitment to Northern Ireland. He said: “I welcome the additional Barnett funding of £100 million for 2024-25, which is on top of the significant £3.3 billion spending settlement. “This will provide a further boost to the Executive’s spending power to invest in its own priorities. “I am delighted with the Chancellor’s announcement of over £1 billion of new tax reliefs for creative industries across the UK, which is great news for Northern Ireland where creative industries have already contributed over £1 billion GVA to the NI economy and this will further support Northern Ireland’s opportunities for growth particularly in the creative and digital industries. “The UK Government is also committing £2 million to boost global investment and trade, which builds on the successful Northern Ireland Investment Summit held in September 2023. “This new funding will enhance Northern Ireland’s opportunities to showcase its innovation and technological strengths, taking advantage of the Windsor Framework.” As part of the financial package from the Government which supported the returning Stormont Executive, the Treasury has stated the Executive should raise £113 million in the coming financial year.

However, Stormont leaders have been critical of the demand. Northern Ireland Office minister Steve Baker said: “We do expect revenue raising. “For far too long both public service reform and revenue raising have been neglected in Northern Ireland. “We will obviously work through the details in collaboration with the Executive. “But as a Government we are very clear that revenue raising is intertwined with what we’ve said about debt write-off. “I want to be absolutely clear with the public and the Executive that Northern Ireland needs to be put on a sustainable financial footing and we need to have public service reform.”

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