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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“The Northern Ireland Law Commission launched its consultation on the law of defamation on 27 November, and it will run until 20 February next year. I expect the commission to try to complete the analysis of responses and the final report by 31 March 2015, which is the scheduled date for closure. We are considering how the commission's resources can be maximised to help it to achieve that objective. However, if it is not able to do so, it may be possible to retain the services of the lawyer leading the project for a further short period to allow for the completion of the review.”
“Some announcements that I have seen appear to be the bundling and re-announcing of previous commitments made by the Government, so it is not yet clear whether they are new decisions and therefore with a Barnett consequential if there is comparability or whether they are just a rehash of old announcements. <BR /> <BR />It is a bit like the caution on the announcement about health. Although it does look as though there are positive Barnett consequentials coming from that, it is not clear how some of it might be financed. It could be coming from decisions that have negative Barnett consequentials. There may be other positive and negative decisions, so we will find out at approximately this time tomorrow whether it is good news or not-so-good news for Northern Ireland.”
“If there are Barnett consequentials from decisions that are taken across the water on infrastructure investment, it will not be a matter of us ring-fencing that for infrastructure. It will come as capital that will have to be spent on infrastructure. That will be very welcome, too, because, whilst our capital position next year is improving from this year, it is still under pressure. Any money that we can pour into developing our infrastructure helps our economy and helps to create jobs, but it is also a boost to attracting investment to these shores. <BR /> <BR />We will see what comes forward in the autumn statement in any capital Barnett consequentials.”
“The economic pact that the First Minister and deputy First Minister agreed with the Prime Minister in June last year made a commitment, which the Prime Minister signed, to make a final decision on the devolution of corporation tax no later than the 2014 autumn statement. The autumn statement is due tomorrow, so we expect a final decision tomorrow. I am hopeful, given the robust and compelling case that Northern Ireland has made not just on the need to rebalance our economy but on our unique situation as the only part of the United Kingdom sharing a land border with a state with a significantly lower rate of corporation tax. I think that that compelling case stands on its merits, and I hope that we get a positive decision from the Chancellor tomorrow.”
“<BR /> <BR />We have a rare occasion where not only are all the five parties in the Executive supportive of the devolution of corporation tax powers but you have a collective across business, and not just big business represented by the likes of the CBI, the Institute of Directors (IOD) or the Chamber of Commerce but small business in the shape of the Federation of Small Businesses, the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association or Pubs of Ulster have all got behind the campaign to devolve corporation tax powers to Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I remain hopeful of a positive decision tomorrow.”
“I share the views of others, not least my colleague the Enterprise Minister, who answered questions in the House yesterday. I am deeply disappointed by Bro McFerran's comments, particularly those on the Executive's ability to take decisions. Obviously, the Executive have been able to take what Mr McFerran would consider to be positive decisions on supporting his business and bringing employment into Northern Ireland. I think that it is disappointing. Aside from whatever the media may wish to do to blow up the impact of what Mr McFerran said, his views are not reflective of the business community in Northern Ireland.”
“— are obviously factors that the Executive will consider.”
“I have spoken about some of those pressures in the House, and other Ministers have come to the House and spoken about some others. Let us not forget either that the Executive were generous to the Department of Health in the settlement that we had in the draft Budget and that some other Departments had to pay for that with larger reductions. We were able to give it £150 million of an additional allocation. It is one of only two Departments that will be in a beneficial position next year compared with last year. However, those pressures and what we have already done with the draft Budget —”
“It appears that there is at least between £40 million and £50 million of a Barnett consequential for Northern Ireland as a result of the decision that the Chancellor is expected to announce in his autumn statement tomorrow. Obviously, that is gratefully received by the Executive, and it will be a great help in arriving at a final Budget position. <BR /> <BR />On the Member's final point about whether it is ring-fenced, that is obviously a decision for the Executive to take in the fullness of the situation that we face. I am sure that my colleague Mr Wells, the Health Minister, could make a compelling case for why some of or all that money should go to his Department, but we should bear it in mind that a range of pressures is emerging between draft and final Budget across a range of Departments.”
“I thank the Member for his question. We will hopefully find out soon exactly what the impact on Northern Ireland will be. To be honest, I was not expecting a terrible lot to come out of the autumn statement through Barnett consequentials for Northern Ireland, given that the Chancellor and certainly his Government have been heading more towards income tax reductions next year and have been dealing with less in their own tax revenues. I did not expect there to be a huge amount of additional spending, so I was pleasantly surprised by the announcement at the weekend of an allocation of £2 billion to the NHS that would have some Barnett consequentials. The timing is interesting: you would almost think that there was an election in the offing. However, we will take whatever we can get.”
“There is no doubt that the impact of spending reductions comes up in discussions that I have with Treasury Ministers and with other Ministers. Indeed, the ramifications for public spending in Northern Ireland and how we can deal with the issues come up in discussions that officials have with their counterparts in Treasury too.”
“As you would expect of me in this role, I take any opportunity to stress to Treasury Ministers when I meet them the impact that reductions in expenditure in Northern Ireland have had and are having. It is fair to say that our 2011-15 Budget was challenging, certainly in the latter years, and we are experiencing that in this financial year. However, that conversation was slightly different from the conversation that we are having now. I made a statement in the House today about the British-Irish Council meeting in the Isle of Man last Friday, which I attended on behalf of the First Minister. The issue was raised not just by me and the deputy First Minister but by the Scottish and Welsh Administrations. It was raised not with Treasury officials but with the Secretary of State.”
“I have not had any direct communication with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the content of his autumn statement, and, whilst my officials are in ongoing contact with their Treasury colleagues on a range of issues, they are not sighted on the content of the autumn statement.”
“I am sure that you already see that in the consultation, and I hope that you will see it reflected in the final Budget, which I hope to see agreed in early January.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Committee system in the House plays an important role in taking feedback from Departments and scrutinising what they say when the Budget, as with this one, will make reductions. It also allows them to engage with sectoral groups, interest groups and the community, who are affected by Ministers' decisions. It could be criticised by some as cumbersome, and perhaps there is sometimes a perception, particularly in an environment where we do not have as much money as we would like, that there is not a lot of change. I think, however, that it is a useful process that allows the public, trade unions, the business community and others to have their say and an input into the Budget.”
“The drive for efficiency may extend even to my answers in the Chamber, although do not hold your breath. Yes, I do. We are not unique, but our process of agreeing a draft Budget, putting it out to public consultation, finalising it in a final Budget and then legislating — a process that extends over roughly five months — stands in contrast to some other Administrations. I sometimes envy the ability of the Chancellor to get up on Budget day and say, "This is the Budget for next year". The next day the legislation is introduced, and within a week it is law. There is a neatness to that, but it does not allow for healthy public debate in the way that we do, although some may criticise the time that it takes.”
“It is my responsibility as Minister to ensure that I am content with all the output from my Department, including briefing for the Committee. I will always endeavour to provide the information requested on a timely basis.”
“I have a paper before the Executive this week on a reform and restructuring plan which includes details of a voluntary exit scheme. I hope to get approval for that from my Executive colleagues this Thursday, because we need to start moving on this very quickly if we are to realise savings starting in the next financial year. <BR /> <BR />When it is up and running, it is important that there is discussion with the trade union movement about the terms of all that and how it will work. Let us face it: many members of the public sector will want to avail themselves of a voluntary exit scheme, and I am sure that the unions will want to ensure that their interests are also looked after in that process.”
“As I said in response to Mr McCrea, I met the trade unions within a day of the draft Budget being published. We had a very good discussion in and around this issue. Obviously, you would not expect trade unions to welcome, with open arms, a draft Budget that reduces public spending. I have said that it is not a perfect draft Budget; it includes tough choices and difficult decisions. Obviously, they had comments to make in respect of a voluntary exit scheme and a reduction in headcount across the public sector. <BR /> <BR />By meeting them early, I showed my intent to include them in the conversation. There have been, there are, and there will continue to be, meetings between officials from primarily my Department, officials elsewhere in the public and the trade unions.”
“The fact that we have £1·5 billion less spending power today is not as a result of decisions taken by the Executive; it is because of decisions taken by the Conservative-led coalition in Westminster. If they want to protest, that is the place to go.”
“I think that they fail to understand, in the way that, I think and hope, most of us in the House understand, and I am pretty sure the people of Northern Ireland and the business community in Northern Ireland understand, that there is less money to do everything we want to do in Northern Ireland. That requires us to cut our cloth accordingly. <BR /> <BR />If those views are, in any way, seeping through to others in the trade union movement, I encourage trade unions to reflect again on those sorts of comments. If one of their objectives is to protect public services, they have to ask what a strike, a series of strikes, or, as one member of the trade union movement said, a winter of discontent in Northern Ireland, would achieve. I am all for them protesting. However, if they are going to protest, they should protest where it matters.”
“Within 24 hours of the draft Budget being announced earlier this month, I had already arranged a meeting with representatives of the trade unions. We had a very useful discussion, as we do on any occasion we meet. What I heard at that meeting and at previous ones stands in stark contrast to some of the public utterances of some members of the trade union movement who I do not think are representative of the trade union movement as a whole or the members of trade unions. <BR /> <BR />Listening to some who appear on our airwaves and television screens regularly, there is an air of unreality about what they say on this issue.”
“As far as possible, we will ensure that anything that is done will not do any violence to the delivery of services, whether that be in Upper Bann, East Londonderry, Strangford or indeed any other constituency.”
“I think that everybody understands that, as far from ideal as it is, when you have less money and you are providing fewer services, you will need fewer people to do that. <BR /> <BR />I am sure that one thing that we will not consider is the impact on individual towns or parts of Northern Ireland. What will obviously be at the forefront of our minds in devising, implementing and executing a scheme is the interests of the people who live in those towns and the services that they receive from government, whether they be through the Civil Service or the broad public sector. That is what we always have keep to the forefront of our minds: we are here to provide services and achieve outcomes for citizens. That will obviously necessitate public servants' being situated not only in Belfast or major towns but right across Northern Ireland.”
“As the Minister responsible for personnel in the Civil Service, I obviously have the responsibility of bringing forward a voluntary exit scheme for the Civil Service. Other Ministers are actually responsible for the bulk of public servants in Northern Ireland. The Civil Service accounts for roughly only 15% of the total public sector in Northern Ireland, which is around 212,000 individuals. I will seek to do that carefully. <BR /> <BR />The Member and the House will appreciate that the severest pressure that we face is the need to reduce our pay bill so that we can not only live within our means next year but be better prepared for future years. That will necessitate some tough choices, particularly around personnel issues.”
“It is recognised that it will be important in the planning of these measures to take account of the Civil Service maintaining essential business continuity. At this early stage, it is not possible to estimate the extent to which there might be any redeployment or any need for retraining due to the implementation of a voluntary exit scheme.”
“At the outset, I want to make clear that my answer is in respect of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. It is for other Ministers to answer for other public-sector bodies that come within their areas of responsibility. <BR /> <BR />The Executive have asked my Department to bring forward a range of proposals for strategic personnel interventions to effect a pay bill reduction in the Civil Service, including a voluntary exit scheme. It is important to stress that a voluntary exit scheme is only one of a range of measures to be considered. <BR /> <BR />DFP, in close collaboration with other Departments, has begun the process of establishing the overall size of the pay bill reduction that needs to be delivered and how this is to be achieved.”
“<BR /> <BR />There has been useful work, not only on an east-west basis but on a North/South basis — the Employment Minister will be much more familiar with that than I — to learn from shared experiences and tackle youth unemployment. Indeed, I understand that there has been cross-border work on shared initiatives, particularly related to Europe, to help to fund perhaps some work in Northern Ireland and, indeed, in the Republic of Ireland. My view on working with other Administrations, whether on a North/South or east-west basis, is that we should not be afraid to learn from others and should not be afraid to work with others, if the end result is that it improves the lives of our citizens in Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am sure that the Employment Minister will agree that, as we bring people through our schools, our colleges and our universities, this is an area where there are increasing opportunities. We shared with the Council many positive indicators around the record year that Invest Northern Ireland had last year and the fact that, this year, it has already surpassed the number of jobs that it promoted last year. Many of those jobs have been, if not necessarily in the IT sector, with an IT basis to them. So, there are huge opportunities for our young people to get into employment through that sector in particular.”
“The discussions on digital inclusion were very focused on how we make sure that the roll-out of government services in particular is as accessible to as many citizens as we can make it. We were on the Isle of Man, which is a very small economy that I am very envious of. It has reported 30 years' consecutive economic growth and unemployment at 2%. Oh, to have the problems of the Isle of Man. They have been able to change and adapt over the challenging period of the last number of years and get into, in particular, a lot of high-tech and digital industries such as e-gaming and e-banking. It has really grasped the whole area of potential in the private sector.”
“Given the hotness of the topic, it was a useful opportunity to discuss the Smith commission directly with the Scottish First Minister.”
“<BR /> <BR />The report was commissioned but will not be actioned for a while; it will be actioned over a period of time. It is incredibly important that the Executive work hand in glove with the Scottish Government and our counterparts in Wales. When there are opportunities for Northern Ireland and for the devolution of further powers that benefit the people of Northern Ireland, we should examine them seriously. We should learn from the other devolved Administrations. Part of the essence of devolution is that we all move at slightly different speeds, in slightly different directions and at different paces, but there is a lot of commonality and a lot of things that we can learn from each other. That is what the British-Irish Council is all about.”
“Whilst the Scottish First Minister was at pains to stress that the report did not go far enough to please her and the Scottish Government, it is indicative of what is in play for the further devolution of powers, particularly tax powers, to the devolved Administrations, which include Wales and Northern Ireland. From the conversation that the deputy First Minister and I had with the Scottish First Minister, it became clear that, as they develop their thinking and understanding of the contents of the Smith commission report, especially on tax powers and welfare powers, when the Executive believe that there are opportunities for us, we will explore them with the Scottish Government, drawing on their experience of what happens from here on in.”
“As you might expect, given that the Smith commission reported the previous day, it was a topic of considerable conversation at the summit, both at the meeting itself and on the margins. The deputy First Minister and I took the opportunity to have a bilateral meeting before the summit with the new Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who was at her first BIC meeting as First Minister, and the issue was discussed then. It was also discussed at the summit. <BR /> <BR />There is a lot of detail in the Smith commission's report, which we will study as an Executive.”
“There was no direct discussion on that issue. There was a lot of sharing of information and experience on unemployment, general economic conditions and issues around youth unemployment. The issue is, I understand, a standing item on the agenda for all summits, and, as concerns or issues on youth unemployment or young people applying for government positions develop, it will come to the Council's attention and could be discussed at future summits.”
“There was no opportunity to raise that issue, and it was not raised. Whilst I am concerned about the decision that has been taken by First Flight Wind, I am not familiar with the nuts and bolts of the issue so I do not want to comment on the whys and wherefores of the decision. <BR /> <BR />Obviously, the company took the decision, and I was not familiar with it until yesterday. If I had been able to raise it at the summit on Friday, I would have been almost a soothsayer. I would have been better doing the lottery that evening if I had been able to foresee the company taking the decision that it has taken in the past 24 hours. Obviously, it will greatly interest the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, who is responsible for energy policy in the Executive, and it is probably an issue that is better raised with her.”
“That is why I have been supportive of many of the initiatives that the Minister for Employment and Learning has taken forward to try to address what is potentially a very damaging issue to our society and have assisted in the funding of some of them.”
“The Employment Minister will be more familiar with these statistics than I am, but, having listened to the Welsh Administration talk about their problems, I think that they are in a graver position than us in respect of youth unemployment. Again, it is a challenge that affects every member Administration in the British-Irish Council. It is something that is worrying across the European Union.”
“Always listen. There you go; very good. Whether he heeds it or not is a different matter altogether. <BR /> <BR />That was an area touched on in terms of the ongoing work of the Council and its work streams and work sectors, but it was not delved into particularly. It came up in the discussion on the economy. We should not rest on our laurels, but the Member and the House will be familiar with the fact that our unemployment has fallen considerably. We are now at the UK average, and we should welcome that. We should not be complacent: at 6%, there are still too many people unemployed and still work to be done. Within that, one of the worrying indicators, although it is improving, is the level of youth unemployment in Northern Ireland. It was noticeable, though, that we are not the worst by any means in the United Kingdom.”
“I am always trying to find useful tips to give to all Ministers, not just the Employment Minister. Whether they listen to the advice that I give them is another matter entirely.”
“<BR /> <BR />Almost irrespective of who occupies 10 Downing Street after the next election, there will be reductions in expenditure. As Mr Campbell rightly pointed out, the Taoiseach pointed out to the meeting the significant steps that he had had to take. I am on record as having praised the courage that he and his Administration have shown in going after the need to reduce public expenditure and sometimes taking difficult decisions in raising taxes. It was useful, too, in the sense that it affects not just Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales but all of the British Isles.”
“We are certainly matching Wales and are maybe a little further behind some of the economic developments in Scotland, but we are certainly up there and holding our own. <BR /> <BR />There was a degree of frankness and directness in raising issues around the reduction in public expenditure and how that is having and will continue to have an impact on our economy. As you might expect, the issue of welfare was also raised with the UK Administration, not always in a positive way. It was a good opportunity to be blunt with the Secretary of State about the impact of her Government's policies. We know that only too well in the House; we saw it recently in the draft Budget and will continue to see it in future Budgets.”
“There was a discussion around those issues. This was not only my first time on the Isle of Man but my first British-Irish Council summit. In the discussion around the economy, I found it interesting and useful that each of the eight member Administrations outlined how their economy was doing. It was also an opportunity, particularly with UK Government representatives there in the form of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office Minister, whilst being always cordial and friendly, to be direct in raising the concerns of our Administration. The deputy First Minister certainly raised these points, and the Welsh and Scottish Administrations said that, while their economies were showing signs of improvement, they had concerns.”
“We need to continue to invest so that we get superfast broadband, develop good 4G networks and always stay ahead of the game with the offer that we have not just for our citizens but for the companies that invest in Northern Ireland.”
“I know that there has been work conducted by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to identify what are described as "not-spots", where there are lower speeds and sometimes difficulties in getting any sort of signal at all. There are plans and programmes in place to invest in that sort of infrastructure. It is important that, while we fill in the gaps where there are slower speeds of access to the Internet, we continue to invest. We cannot take it for granted. Just because we are the first region in Europe to have 100% access to broadband, we cannot rest on our laurels. Technology is changing all the time.”
“We should be rightly proud that we were the first region, not just in the British-Irish Council area but in Europe, to have 100% access to broadband for our citizens. I appreciate that, in some parts of Northern Ireland, the speeds available are perhaps not as fast as they are here in Belfast or in some other urban areas, but we are in a stronger position than they are in in many other areas in the BIC area. I noticed in the discussions that we had at the summit that the Administrations of Scotland and Wales commented on how the topography and geography of their countries made it very difficult to get anywhere near the level of access to broadband that we have. <BR /> <BR />I entirely appreciate the point that the Member makes.”
“However, it still means that one in five people is not on the Internet, so we continue to work on programmes, particularly with people who are harder to reach, those who live in rural areas, people with disabilities and older people. As is common across the BIC area, we have been using the libraries infrastructure as a way to reach those who do not use the Internet and digital channels to access services.”
“It is almost second nature for young people nowadays, but there are people for whom using the Internet is not something that they are comfortable with or confident in doing. It is important that we continue to work at increasing the number of people in Northern Ireland who are digitally included. <BR /> <BR />The figures have increased. The work of Go ON NI, which is an initiative led by my Department to get more people online, has reported great success over the last four years. Since its operation, it has increased the number of adults using the internet by 10%, to a total of 80%, which is quite impressive and compares very favourably with other BIC areas.”
“It is just a temporary promotion, obviously. In the BIC, the Isle of Man leads on digital inclusion. This was the 23rd summit but the first e-summit of the British-Irish Council. There are a growing number of government and private sector services being made available online. I think that that is reasonable, particularly in the circumstances we find ourselves in, and I know only too well in my role as Finance Minister the pressures that Departments face. It can save money, importantly, and make services more accessible to our people, but it is important that, in so doing, we are careful and mindful of the fact that there are some who are outside the digital ways of life.”
“Ministers also noted that further ministerial discussions are planned in a number of work sectors in 2015. <BR /> <BR />The Council also reviewed the latest youth employment statistics across the Administrations and welcomed the encouraging picture emerging in this important area. The Council noted the secretariat’s mid-year progress against its business plan. Finally, the Council noted that the next BIC summit would be hosted by the Irish Government in June 2015 with a focus on the use and misuse of alcohol.”