Simon Hamilton
Strangford · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I have emphasised to the Member and the House before, that, whilst I accept that those are not good enough — that is why we have been developing the plan — there are alternative technologies in place that can present opportunities for those who just cannot get acceptable speeds.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. There are some initiatives that I believe will help and act as a driver to improve broadband access. One such intervention is the broadband universal service obligation (USO), which is being taken forward by Her Majesty's Government.”
“I thank the Member for his question. However, he is conflating two issues. I wrote to his party leader, and indeed to all Assembly party leaders, before making the announcement that I did last week about wanting to publish the details of the businesses in receipt of the non-domestic RHI scheme. It was my intention to do that tomorrow.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Chancellor, in his autumn statement, made some more funding available for telecommunications, and my Department is studying that and seeking to avail itself of that to the fullest possible extent.”
“In addition, my Department is managing a contract for the delivery of the superfast rollout programme, which, by 31 December, will provide access to superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24 megabits per second to a further 38,000 premises, both business and residential, across Northern Ireland, including in the Newry and Armagh cons…”
“I signalled the intention to do this a few weeks ago. The Member and the House will know that inspections of all installations would have taken place over the 20-year lifetime of the RHI scheme.”
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“We need to say to people very clearly that we have tough times now, next year and, indeed, in the years ahead but we are doing our best to ensure that the allocations that we make — I think that this is reflected in the 2015-16 Budget — will support and protect key public services like health and education and that, by investing in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and significantly boosting the allocation to Employment and Learning, we are trying to underpin that economic growth. Even though there is less spending in some areas, the key areas that are there to drive our economy forward, to get people into work and to get investment flowing are being supported and protected by the Executive.”
“I appreciate fully that — particularly in an economy like ours, which is so dependent on public spending — when public spending is reduced or certain Departments see significant reductions, even if the total figure is not being reduced by that much, it can have an impact on confidence. That is why it is important that we set the right tone in everything that we say in this place or, indeed, outside this place. We need to be honest with people.”
“Mr Ó Muilleoir, who has arrived back in the Chamber, talked about the possible impact on our economy and on the confidence in our economy and how, if cuts happen in public spending, they might impact on an economic recovery. Our economic recovery is still in its tentative, early stages. We have had over a year of growth in the economy. The unemployment claimant count has reduced for two years in a row and there are lots of positive signs in the economy, but I do not think anybody will be cheering just yet that it is embedded and secure. It is, in some parts, vulnerable.”
“However, you do not achieve the aims of properly reforming teacher training in Northern Ireland by using a blunt tool that, in effect, will put both colleges out of business in short order. <BR /> <BR />In closing that point, I think we have a set of radical reforms that we are taking forward. If you look at them collectively, you will see that they are ambitious and, indeed, challenging reforms that will transform positively our economy and our government into the future.”
“I accept that there are issues about teacher training and how it is done in Northern Ireland. It is an area of third-level education in which we produce many more graduates in a specialised field than we require as a Government. Our education system does not need that many, so there is certainly work to be done in that regard in reducing costs. That work needs to be done and reform is required, but I do not agree with the very blunt tool that the Minister seeks to use or the way in which he wishes to achieve it. I think that that is broadly the view around the House and outside. I am happy to work with the Minister for Employment and Learning on the issue, as I am in respect of the future funding of third-level education in Northern Ireland. I want to engage with the Minister on that in the longer term.”
“In many ways, what we have before us is the most ambitious and challenging set of reforms that we have had in the history of Northern Ireland. I do not want to labour too many of them, but look at the likes of the proposed reduction in corporation tax and the impact that that will have on and the reform that it will bring to the economy; the workforce restructuring that we are undergoing and our ambitious plans to reduce the size of the public sector and our dependency on it; and government reorganisation, such as a reduction from 12 Departments to nine, particularly creating a Department of the economy. For not just this place, where it is sometimes hard to agree radical reforms, but for any Administration, we have a set of —”
“<BR /> <BR />Finally in respect of Mr Bradley's comments, it is the age-old comment that I feel that I have to make to the SDLP in the House. They ask for more money for this, that and the other but never come forward with a single proposition as to where that money should come from. At least others come forward with ideas, which, in many cases, I do not agree with, but they do come forward with a way to make the sums add up. The SDLP just seems to want more money for everything, whatever anybody asks for, and offers no way at all for that to be paid for. <BR /> <BR />Judith Cochrane from the Alliance Party talked about how reform in Northern Ireland was not radical. She was critical of the lack of reform in education and health.”
“At a time when those Departments face those pressures, his argument that local government should somehow be exempt from any spending reductions at all is simply not something that I agree with. Worryingly, the SDLP seems to want to give local government every penny it asks for. The Executive have been exceptionally generous to local government during the reform process. It has been a challenging and difficult time for local government, but the Executive have set aside close to £15 million to ease reform for local government. Stormont coffers have supported local government in that reform even though the benefits of the savings in the longer term will accrue not to Stormont but to local government. We have been incredibly generous to councils, which will benefit from the savings in the longer term.”
“I understand that reductions have now been communicated to local government in respect of the rate support grant, and it is entirely a matter for the Minister of the Environment what he wants to do with the grant. <BR /> <BR />The fundamental point that I would make to Mr Bradley if he were here — I hope that he picks up the point via Hansard — is this: he seemed to be arguing to the House that local government should be a protected species at a time when the public sector faces significant spending pressures. The Minister of the Environment's budget is being cut by over 10%; my Department's budget is being cut by 10%; the Minister for Social Development's budget is being cut by close to 10%; DCAL's budget is being cut by around 8%; and there are many more.”
“Whilst I think that the House would agree that the policing budget is the most significant front-line pressure facing the Department — it received an uplift of £20 million specifically to address policing pressures — legal aid is a pressure nonetheless. I support the Minister in putting forward those reforms. <BR /> <BR />Dominic Bradley laboured local government reform during his comments and reiterated his point that the transfer of functions should be rates-neutral. I have left it for each Minister to decide the amount to transfer to local government. There are individual issues in different parts of the country. There are issues in the north-west with Derry and Strabane council, and I am meeting members of that council tomorrow.”
“Mr Allister has been unable to reduce the budget of the Equality Commission by a penny. <BR /> <BR />I move on to comments made by the Chairs of Committees. On behalf of the Justice Committee, Alastair Ross raised concerns about the ongoing legal aid pressure faced by the Department of Justice. I understand that next year's pressure is over £20 million, and I agree with the Minister that there is a need for further reform. The Minister of Justice has put forward a range of proposals and written to Executive colleagues. He knows that he has my support and that of some colleagues, and I hope that the Executive will be able to agree the reforms in the weeks ahead.”
“I do not discount all the work done by the Equality Commission as meaningless. I agree with the concerns expressed by Mr Campbell, Mr Wilson and, indeed, Mr Allister about its size, the community imbalance in its workforce and, particularly, its recent overreach in the Ashers' case. If Mr Allister's intention, however — I draw this point to a close — was to offer a rebuke by reducing the budget of the Equality Commission, he would have done better to come through the Lobby with Members on this side of the House a fortnight ago and vote for the only proposition that was able to do so. Mr Allister is completely unable to achieve his aim and was always going to be unable to do so. He has failed in his objective, and he should have voted with those of us who reduced the Equality Commission's budget by £427,000.”
“— through the proper Budget process and by getting agreement with Sinn Féin. We have reduced its budget by £427,000.”
“Let me tell you what I am, Mr Allister, and what everybody on these Benches is: we are the people who have reduced the budget of the Equality Commission by £427,000. You are the man who sits there unable to do anything because your stunt has been exposed for what it is. There is a petition of concern, and you are unable, Mr Allister, to reduce the budget of the Equality Commission by a penny. Yet we have reduced it in the only way that we can —”
“He just wants to sit there beating his chest and styling himself as the man who tried to reduce the Equality Commission's budget, when he had not a chance of doing so.”
“I would have thought that, given his rallying cry against the Equality Commission in his contribution at the beginning of the debate, he would have been more than happy to vote for a reduction of £427,000 to its budget, but he voted against it. If the Member wanted, as he said in his opening remarks, to rebuke the Equality Commission, there was ample opportunity to do so by voting for a reduction of 7% or £427,000 in its budget a fortnight ago. Instead, Mr Allister trooped through the Lobby to keep the Equality Commission's budget in place. He wanted to keep that money there instead of voting against it. <BR /> <BR />Everybody knows that Mr Allister's amendment today is a stunt that was doomed to fail. There was always going to be a petition of concern against it. He does not care about that, of course. That does not bother him.”
“Whatever the Member thought he was voting against, he also actually voted against a 7% reduction in the budget of the Equality Commission. The 2015-16 Budget — significantly, agreed by the Executive, Sinn Féin, the DUP and subsequently agreed by this House — includes a 7% reduction, from the £427,000 in the expenditure for the Equality Commission. That is what the outworkings of that Budget are for the Equality Commission. So, Jim — Mr Allister — voted against a £427,000 reduction in the budget for the Equality Commission. He now comes forward and tries to reduce it by £250,000, after having voted to keep its budget increased by £427,000. Some of us are a bit confused as to why he would now wish to reduce its budget by only £250,000, when an opportunity was presented to him a fortnight ago to reduce it by £427,000.”
“I disagreed with that attempt, and the House disagreed with it, but at least an attempt was made by the Ulster Unionist Party, at the appropriate time, to adjust the Budget to withdraw expenditure, in that case, from the social investment fund and move it to a range of other areas, the likes of the Department for Regional Development and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. At least it specified, in its amendment, which failed, and which I disagreed with, where the money was coming from and going to. Had that been passed, it would have adjusted the Budget for next year. It would have been successful, and would have achieved that party's aim. Mr Allister, of course, did not take the opportunity at that time, which would have been the right time to do it. Instead, what did he actually do a fortnight ago?”
“I am happy to go and look back at it. <BR /> <BR />The Member has also brought forward his amendment at the wrong time. That was a point made by Mr Campbell and Mr Wilson. If the Member had wished to do what he wanted to do — I am sure that there is a degree of sympathy, at least in terms of the intention of what he wishes to do — the time to have done it would have been a fortnight ago, when the Assembly was debating the Budget for next year. The 2015-16 Budget was before the House and amendments were put forward, for example, by the Ulster Unionist Party. I criticised those and voted against them, but at least an attempt was made to adjust the Budget in a particular way that that party wanted.”
“Not at that stage; I was not in a different party. The Member was on his hiatus at that point in time. My understanding is that the attempt to reduce the Budget at that time was ruled out of order by the Speaker or the amendment was not taken.”
“Yes, that is right; he was still in the wilderness at that stage. He was on his hiatus.”
“No, I am not going to give way. What the Member is doing, through the amendment that he has put forward, because of the £250,000 that would be taken off, is affecting our ability to draw down from the Consolidated Fund, which is, in effect, the bank account that we have that the block grant goes into. He would deprive the whole Executive of £250,000 as well. The Member is basically wanting to send £250,000 back to the Treasury, so he wants to deprive the people of Northern Ireland of money that they are owed.”
“The Member is saying, "good". He knows fine well that a substantial amount of the funding of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister goes to victims and survivors' services. That sort of reduction could have affected negatively also victims and survivors' services. He is sitting there shouting "good" from a sedentary position about a Budget cut to a Department that funds victims and survivors' services. That is well noted.”
“It is about 45% of the spending that they will be permitted, but it does not have a specific Equality Commission line and so it would reduce the overall OFMDFM budget by £250,000. It does not specifically reduce the Budget —”
“You can, Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />Let us reiterate the point: had the amendment been competent, in my view, it could not have reduced the Equality Commission's budget anyway, which was Mr Allister's intention. The Vote on Account is a small document; it is not as bad as the Estimates in terms of its volume. It has one spending line for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. The Member's amendment seeks to reduce its allocation to the Equality Commission; however, there are no specific allocations for OFMDFM, just as there are no specific allocations for any Department. The Vote on Account provides, in effect, a cash float for Departments to get through the early part of the financial year.”
“I am quite happy to stand over the remarks that I made. I have great difficulty in taking lectures on questioning the Chair from Mr Allister. There are many things that I can be lectured on, but one of the lectures that I will not take in the House is being admonished by Mr Allister for questioning the Chair. How many times has he been silenced in the House?”
“That is not what you are doing today and not what you are able to achieve. The Member is not reducing the budget by £500,000; the Member has got his sums wrong. What he proposes is the wrong way of doing it. I have received legal advice that questions the ability of the Assembly to accept the amendment as it is potentially in breach of section 63 of the 1998 Act. I intend to take that issue up with the Speaker as I do not think that it should happen again. Regardless of that, had the amendment been competent, it would not have reduced the Equality Commission's budget.”
“Let me read from the statement that you issued to the press and which was covered by the press. You said that you had:”
“He proposes to reduce the budget of the Equality Commission — I will get to why he actually is not reducing the budget of the Equality Commission — by £250,000 and not by the £500,000 that he suggested in the aforementioned press statement.”
“It is interesting, though, as Mr Campbell said, that whilst many of those issues, particularly the size of the Equality Commission and its long-standing community employment imbalance, which Mr Campbell has highlighted continuously in the House down through the years, were the subject of Mr Allister's criticisms, they were never subject to the tactic that he deployed today, which is a tactic that he could have deployed in any previous debate. <BR /> <BR />In short, Mr Allister's amendment is the wrong amount, the wrong way at the wrong time. I will explain why. Mr Allister prides himself on his attention to detail. However, on this occasion, he is badly wrong.”
“<BR /> <BR />He will find no dispute from me or indeed any colleagues on this side of the House about the criticisms that he levels at the Equality Commission in respect of its size, the troubling community imbalance in its own employment or, indeed, the Ashers case. In fact, he will find common accord with many Members on this side of the House, elsewhere in the Chamber and outside in respect of those comments.”
“I thank him and the Committee for all the work that they have done to scrutinise the progress of the Budget to date. I very much appreciate that assistance. <BR /> <BR />I will turn now, if I can, to issues that were raised. First of all, because it is fresh, I will address, if I can, the amendment that is tabled in the name of Mr Allister. I will begin by reiterating comments that Mr Campbell and, indeed, Mr Wilson made when they addressed Mr Allister's amendment. Those comments supported the general criticism that Mr Allister levelled in his remarks, whether they were made in the Chamber or, indeed, in press statements about the Equality Commission.”
“I thank all Members, and I mean that, for their contributions to the debate, particularly those who spoke on behalf of their Committee. As Mr Wilson said, I am not sure that everybody adhered to the strictures of the debate. I am not sure whether I will in my response either, I have to say. I will, though, attempt to respond as fully as possible to as many of the relevant issues as possible in the time that is allocated to me for my winding-up speech. <BR /> <BR />At this stage, I acknowledge the confirmation by the Chair of the Committee for Finance and Personnel, Mr McKay, that there has been appropriate consultation with the Committee on the spending plans that are reflected in these motions and that it is content that the Budget Bill, which I plan to introduce immediately after this debate, may proceed by accelerated passage.”
“If you hurry up, I will be able to make mine.”
“This advance is simply necessary to enable services to continue into 2015-16 until the Main Estimates are presented to the Assembly for approval in June. <BR /> <BR />The final motion is the Main Estimate for the 2015-16 judicial pensions scheme. Legislation is currently under way to establish a new pension scheme for the devolved judiciary to take effect from 1 April this year. Since authority to spend in relation to this scheme must be in place before 1 April, the third motion introduces the 2015-16 Main Estimate for this new pension scheme. <BR /> <BR />I commend to Members the 2014-15 spring Supplementary Estimates, the 2015-16 Vote on Account, the 2015-16 judicial pensions scheme Main Estimate and the related Supply motions. At the end of today’s debate, I will endeavour to deal with the issues raised by Members.”
“I must emphasise that this headroom has been included on the condition that it must only be used if capital funding becomes available before the end of the financial year. I hope that Members will endorse these actions in respect of headroom and share my desire to avoid scarce capital funding being surrendered to the Treasury at the year-end. <BR /> <BR />Turning from the 2014-15 financial year and looking ahead to 2015-16, the second motion seeks approval of a cash and resource Vote on Account to ensure the continuation of services into the next financial year. The amounts of cash and resources proposed are an advance of around 45% of the final 2014-15 provision and have no direct correlation to the Budget allocations for 2015-16.”
“Before leaving the detail of the spring Supplementary Estimates, I would like to highlight some limited headroom that has been built into the position over and above the January monitoring position. Headroom has been included for the Department for Social Development and the Department for Regional Development to ensure that, should other Departments have capital underspends before the end of the financial year, there is sufficient legislative cover to allow unspent capital to be redirected to these Departments. This will help the Executive to maximise capital expenditure and should ensure that no capital funding is lost to Northern Ireland under the Budget exchange scheme.”
“This funding goes a long way to protect those most in need and provides mainly for expenditure on disability benefits, pension support, employment and support allowance, jobseeker's allowance, income support and housing benefit.”
“However, the 2014-15 spring Supplementary Estimates also include some £3 billion of annually managed expenditure for social security benefits.”
“<BR /> <BR />If we take the opening position at the start of the year, technical adjustments and other issues into account, capital allocations to Departments amounted to some £226·9 million in 2014-15. That included £54·5 million to the Department for Social Development, primarily for the co-ownership scheme, social housing development and urban regeneration projects. There was also £48·3 million for the Department for Regional Development to fund the structural maintenance of roads and other capital works. There was also an allocation of £48·5 million financial transactions capital towards the University of Ulster's greater Belfast development scheme. <BR /> <BR />Those were just some of the departmental expenditure limit allocations in the monitoring rounds.”
“Funding was also allocated to key Executive commitments, including local government reform, Invest NI business support and the historical institutional abuse inquiry. Additional resource funding was also provided to the Department of Justice for the PSNI and legal aid pressures. <BR /> <BR />On the capital side, the Departments surrendered some £331·1 million through the in-year monitoring rounds. Members should note that that included some £132·8 million identified in the Executive’s capital reallocation exercise in 2013, and that was not available for reallocation in this year. Some of the largest reductions included £119·5 million from the Department for Regional Development in respect of the A5 road scheme and £63·1 million from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in relation to its regional stadia programme.”
“<BR /> <BR />Despite the in-year reductions applied to departmental resource budgets, some reduced requirements were still surrendered through the monitoring rounds. On the non-ring-fenced resource side, that amounted to £36·1 million. As would be expected, given the in-year reductions, that was significantly less than the £90·7 million surrendered last year. <BR /> <BR />If we take funding to manage the overcommitment, technical adjustments and other issues into account, the Executive balanced the in-year reductions with allocations of some £206·8 million non-ring-fenced resource during 2014-15. A considerable proportion of that — £80 million — went to the Department of Health to ensure continuation of critical front-line health services.”
“As Members will recall, the Executive agreed reductions to departmental resource DEL of 4·4% across the June and October monitoring rounds. That impacted all Departments, with the exception of the Departments of Health and Education and a number of minor public bodies. In fact, the total amount of departmental reductions applied in this year was £164·6 million. <BR /> <BR />So far, my understanding is that the Departments are on target to deliver those savings, perhaps with the exception of the Department for Regional Development, which bid for additional resource funding in the January monitoring round. I reiterate the critical importance of all Ministers adhering to their budget control totals and, indeed, the resource and cash limits included in the spring Supplementary Estimates.”
“We began the 2014-15 financial year with an overcommitment of £76·7 million on the resource side and £51·6 million on the capital side. That is normal budget management practice and was based on the expectation that the Executive would be able to more than recoup those amounts through reduced requirements being surrendered in the monitoring rounds. In any other year, that approach would have been perfectly logical, as it was when the Executive agreed their 2011-15 Budget in 2010. However, in terms of the resource budget, this year was not business as usual. <BR /> <BR />As I said, in the June monitoring round, we were facing a critical financial position that required in-year resource reductions to be imposed on Departments.”
“In this financial year alone, that deduction amounted to £87 million, which could otherwise have been used to deliver public services in Northern Ireland . With the Stormont House Agreement, we were able to negotiate additional flexibility to address the issue of welfare reform deductions, and I am pleased that we now have a mechanism to deal with that, but we should not forget that failure to proceed earlier on welfare reform has cost us £100 million in lost investment in public services. <BR /> <BR />I now want to look ahead with renewed focus and optimism to ensure that we continue to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. I hope that everyone else in the Chamber shares that vision. <BR /> <BR />Let me return to the detail of the 2014-15 in-year changes, which is the focus of today’s debate.”
“Specifically, the agreement on welfare reform has put the Executive's finances back on a long-term sustainable footing. The Executive’s publication of a 2015-16 Budget last month means that we can look ahead with a key cornerstone in place to underpin the agreement. <BR /> <BR />The Stormont House Agreement also paved the way for the Assembly to take on new powers to vary our rate of corporation tax. What we have achieved over the last few months should, therefore, not be underestimated. That said, it is well known that it has been a bumpy road. I am still frustrated that it took so long to get agreement to implement welfare reform. The UK Government still insist on deducting funding from our Budget for the non-implementation of welfare reform to date.”
“<BR /> <BR />Before going into the detail of the 2014-15 public expenditure transactions, I think that this is an opportune time to reflect on what has been an incredibly challenging year. The public expenditure environment that the Executive and Assembly had to face was immensely difficult, and there were times when the scale of the challenges facing us threatened to unhinge the entire Executive. The reasons for the very tight public expenditure position have been well documented. It was a combination of a reduction in our spending power since 2010 of more than £1 billion, increasing pressure on our public services, such as health, and the impasse over welfare reform. With the Stormont House Agreement, we now have a basis to move forward in respect of both political agreement and public finances.”
“<BR /> <BR />As I mentioned, the first Supply motion relates to the spring Supplementary Estimates, which reflect all in-year changes made since the Main Estimates were approved by the Assembly last June. That includes any funding surrendered by Departments, allocations received or other technical transfers of funding processed through the three monitoring rounds in this financial year. They reflect the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) changes agreed by the Executive at the June, October and January monitoring rounds, and the annually managed expenditure (AME) funding agreed by the Treasury since the approval of the 2014-15 Main Estimates. Therefore, this legislation process simply ratifies Budgets previously agreed by the Executive.”
“The third motion seeks legislative cover to spend in respect of the new judicial pension scheme that will come into effect on 1 April 2015. <BR /> <BR />I request the levels of Supply set out in the motions under section 63 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which provides for the Minister of Finance and Personnel to make recommendations to the Assembly, leading to cash appropriations from the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund. The amounts that I now ask the Assembly to vote in Supply for 2014-15 are substantial: some £15·6 billion in cash, £17·1 billion of resources and £2·4 billion of accruing resources to be used by Departments and other public bodies in Northern Ireland.”
“The Supply resolution debate is a critical step in the legislative process that governs our finances. The debate commencing today primarily covers the final spending plans for the 2014-15 financial year, but it also covers the first few months of 2015-16 and the 2015-16 Main Estimate for the new judiciary pension scheme. Today, I am tabling three Supply motions for debate. Through the first motion, I seek the Assembly's legislative approval of the Executive's final spending plans for 2014-15. As Members will be aware, these final spending plans are detailed in the spring Supplementary Estimates. The second motion requests interim legislative cover for resources and funding for the first few months of 2015-16 in the form of a Vote on Account.”