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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“Never has the need to renew, redesign, rethink, restructure and reform government been clearer than in the financial circumstances we now find ourselves in. What we face is not one year of serious budget pressures. This is the new landscape for the remainder of this decade and perhaps even beyond. What Northern Ireland needs is not just adjustments so that we stay within our Budget. It is imperative that, as we face further funding constraints, we continue to develop and enhance our already extensive and ambitious reform programme aimed at delivering savings for the Executive as well as improved public services. <BR /> <BR />We have now engaged the OECD to undertake its first ever sub-national public governance review. The Executive have agreed to the OECD benchmarking elements of our public sector against international best practice.”
“It will include determining realistic and deliverable investment need and demand, an appropriate investment strategy and delivery options to meet the Northern Ireland Executive’s objectives. The feasibility study will also inform the ideal scale of the fund. I anticipate that the creation of this investment fund will, in the first instance, make a further £1 billion available for investment in infrastructure across Northern Ireland. The Executive have agreed that the unallocated £12·1 million FTC should be set aside to provide an initial balance to the fund. We can further review the funding requirements once the feasibility study has concluded. <BR /> <BR />The House knows of my ongoing focus on the need to reform our public sector.”
“I am keen to ensure that project promoters in all those areas have easy access to affordable project finance. I am therefore proposing to establish a Northern Ireland investment fund to support investment in local infrastructure. That fund may utilise some of the financial transactions capital funding available to the Executive in 2015-16. It would also potentially allow large international investors, including the European Investment Bank, to invest in local projects that would usually be too small in scale to access that type of finance. <BR /> <BR />As a first step, I have commissioned a study into the feasibility and extent of that fund, and I envisage that taking four to five months to complete. That will inform the scope, scale, design and investment strategy of a potential fund.”
“A number of those projects require further refinement and that position will be revisited at the final Budget stage. <BR /> <BR />Investment in infrastructure is a key driver of economic growth. As Members will be aware, we collectively invest directly in large-scale projects, such as roads, public transport, hospitals, schools and water infrastructure, which are all in public sector ownership. However, there are a number of areas where significant infrastructure investment is usually taken forward by the private sector but where we have a particular interest since investment helps to deliver on specific Northern Ireland Executive objectives. Those areas include: social and affordable housing; energy production; energy efficiency and renewable energy; telecommunications; and urban regeneration.”
“Significant funding has also been provided to the Department of Education for various schools schemes, and DSD has received allocations for new-build social housing and co-ownership. Those projects show the Executive’s ongoing commitment of investing in infrastructure projects that will improve public services and the Northern Ireland economy. <BR /> <BR />The capital allocations also include £26·8 million to DE, DEL and DSD in respect of Together: Building a United Community. That is funded by additional RRI borrowing, agreed under the economic pact. <BR /> <BR />A total of £115·6 million of financial transactions capital has been allocated to Departments for projects involving loans to, or equity investment in, the private sector.”
“As ministerial colleagues will no doubt have their own priorities, the capital position, though founded on specific projects and programmes, will be provided as a capital envelope within which Ministers can allocate as they see fit. <BR /> <BR />However, I think it is worth highlighting a few of the major projects that will be funded within this position. In health, those include: the new regional children’s hospital; the maternity new build and the critical care block at the Royal Victoria Hospital; phase B of the Ulster Hospital; Omagh local hospital phase 1; and Altnagelvin phase 5. The A2 Greenisland, A8 Belfast to Larne, A26 Glarryford and the A31 Magherafelt bypass have all received funding, along with the Belfast rapid transit scheme.”
“<BR /> <BR />If past performance is any indicator, it is likely that many Ministers will seek to make the savings required by their Departments by way of an identical percentage cut across their services. This, in my view, is the wrong approach in these circumstances. These are not pure efficiencies, the like of which we have become accustomed to in previous Budgets; rather, these savings and this process may involve the cessation of some lower priority services in Departments. <BR /> <BR />Capital does not have the same uniform spending pattern that applies to resource spend, so an incremental approach is not appropriate. Therefore, a zero-based approach has been taken by my Department. That involved an assessment of contractual and Executive commitments alongside a consideration of PFG targets and existing departmental priorities.”
“<BR /> <BR />In addition to these specific allocations, £124·5 million of funding was then provided, pro rata, to Departments facing reductions to help to alleviate the worst impacts. <BR /> <BR />The result of these various allocations and reductions is an overall cut in resource DEL expenditure by Departments of £213 million, with all Departments, aside from the Health and Enterprise Departments, in a minus position. While this is considerably lower than the 15% that all Departments, with the exception of the Health Department, were planning for just a few weeks ago, I fully appreciate that many will be placed under considerable pressure in delivering savings on this scale. We should not attempt to mask the fact that these reductions will alter the shape and nature of our public sector.”
“<BR /> <BR />DRD has received £20 million for the reinstatement of the Budget 2011-15 decision on income to be generated from Belfast port funding and £9·5 million for concessionary fares. DEL has been provided with a further £15 million to support the further education sector, in particular, for provision for 16- to 18-year-olds. DARD receives £15 million for TB compensation, CAP disallowance and reform. DCAL has received £2.8 million for the wide range of pressures that it faces. DFP has received £3 million towards non-domestic revaluation pressures. DOE is allocated £2 million to offset reductions to local government grants. The PPS has received £2 million for baseline budgetary pressures. Finally, OFMDFM receives £3 million funding for the Victims and Survivors Service.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Department of Education was allocated £145 million to provide it with an element of protection. <BR /> <BR />DOJ has received £29·5 million of ring-fenced national security funding from Her Majesty's Treasury and an additional £45 million from the Executive in recognition of the pressures facing the PSNI. There is also a capital DEL allocation for national security funding amounting to £1·5 million. <BR /> <BR />The Invest NI baseline in DETI, which was previously reduced due to the economic downturn, has been reinstated to the tune of £7·7 million. A further £30 million has been provided to DETI to ensure that our recent impressive record in job creation can continue.”
“However, I have every expectation that these bodies will have due regard for the overall Budget position in 2015-16, seek to manage their internal pressures from within their overall resource allocations and seek to achieve similar savings, returning any efficiencies to the Executive for redistribution. <BR /> <BR />In making allocations, I believed that it was crucial that the Executive gave careful consideration to supporting their key priorities, as well as ensuring that legal or contractual inescapable pressures in Departments were met. With this strategic approach in mind, the following resource DEL allocations were made. <BR /> <BR />In light of the significant and well-publicised pressures facing health, an additional £200 million allocation has been agreed, equating to a real terms increase of 1·7%.”
“<BR /> <BR />The starting point for our resource DEL was the 2014-15 opening monitoring position, adjusted to remove time-bound Executive allocations and EU-related funding, which has yet to be distributed. After the baseline was established, a level of reductions was agreed that would provide funding for the central and strategic pressures, along with an amount to be allocated in support of key services. In applying these reductions, elements of the Department of Health's budget relating to front line health and social care pressures have been protected. This meant that the remaining elements of its budget faced the same level of reductions as other Departments. <BR /> <BR />In line with the independent role that the Assembly Commission, the Audit Office and the Assembly Ombudsman exercise, savings targets have not been imposed on them.”
“The Executive have agreed to set aside £70 million to fund a package of measures designed to mitigate the impact of welfare reform changes on the most vulnerable. <BR /> <BR />In determining a draft Budget outcome, an important consideration was the treatment of the Department of Justice. When policing and justice was devolved in 2010, Her Majesty's Government put in place a specific funding package. In order to manage this, the DOJ budget was ring-fenced. With the exception of funding for national security measures, which remain ring-fenced, that specific funding package has come to an end, and it is only appropriate that the ring-fence on the Department of Justice does likewise. This will fully integrate DOJ into the local Budget process and allow effective management of the aggregate financial position.”
“My officials are engaging with HM Treasury and the Government Actuary's Department to seek to ameliorate these costs. In the interim, the Executive have agreed to hold £133 million centrally to help to alleviate this pressure on Departments.”
“I have approached the Treasury to seek the flexibility to reclassify funding raised from the sale of capital assets to resource to alleviate the additional pressure that this would place on the Executive’s resource DEL. <BR /> <BR />An issue that all Departments will have to address in 2015-16 is the financial impact of the ongoing public sector pension scheme revaluations. That work is likely to result in significant additional employer contribution costs, particularly for the health and education sectors.”
“In recognition of the importance of the Executive’s Delivering Social Change agenda, the social investment fund and the commitment to funding the childcare strategy action plan, the draft Budget outcome maintains funding at the 2014-15 level. Some £14 million resource DEL and £15 million capital DEL is held at the centre for disbursement by Executive decision at a later date. <BR /> <BR />The Executive also face strategic pressures on our resource DEL. Members will recall that, to help to alleviate the significant pressures facing the Executive in 2014-15, the Chancellor agreed access to the national reserve of up to £100 million. That must be repaid from the Executive’s 2015-16 Budget.”
“I am pleased to announce that the Executive have agreed funding for several central issues, which include £5 million allocated to OFMDFM to cover the costs of the historical institutional abuse inquiry and £10·7 million in resource DEL and £8 million in capital DEL for EU match funding, which will be held at the centre for allocation to Departments as part of the final Budget. The £15 million cost of providing a level of support for rates convergence has been factored into the regional rate calculation, and there has been a retention in the DSD baseline of the funding to cover the cost of the 10% cut applied to the housing benefit rates rebate.”
“<BR /> <BR />On the capital side, the Executive also have the ability to borrow up to £200 million each year under the reinvestment and reform initiative (RRI) to fund capital investment. I propose that we continue to draw down the maximum available RRI borrowing in 2015-16, in part to continue boosting the local economy and construction sector. <BR /> <BR />I turn to the detail of the draft Budget outcome. In determining this position, a number of Executive commitments required consideration.”
“The average household bill in Northern Ireland in 2013-14 was £812 compared with £1,322 in Scotland, £1,433 in England and £1,613 in Wales. I make no apology for keeping local taxes low. There are public spending consequences, but it is the right thing to do. I believe in keeping as much money as possible in people’s pockets. Taking it from them might give us some short-term public spending satisfaction, but the impact on consumer confidence and economic recovery should not be dismissed. Keeping local taxes low is the right thing for the people of Northern Ireland. I can also confirm that the draft Budget is predicated on the continuation of a small business rate relief scheme, offering £20 million of support to thousands of Northern Ireland’s small businesses.”
“<BR /> <BR />Members will be aware of the calls by some to raise more revenue by stopping so-called super-parity measures. In my view, those who argue that the answer to our budgetary problems is simply to introduce water charges or to hike rates bills are wrong and misguided. This is a devolved Assembly, and it is up to those of us elected to serve in the House to decide what is in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland. If devolution is to mean anything, it is not about slavishly following the policies of other parts of the United Kingdom. It is about tailoring policies to suit the circumstances of Northern Ireland, and that is what we have done. <BR /> <BR />I am proud of the fact that Northern Ireland has the lowest household taxes in the whole of the United Kingdom.”
“The Executive’s total capital DEL budget for 2015-16 is £1·1 billion, up slightly on the 2014-15 level. However, that includes an increasing level of financial transactions capital (FTC) — some £128 million — which may be used only for loans to or equity investment in private sector entities. <BR /> <BR />One way in which the Executive may increase their spending power is through the revenue raised by the regional rate. In the 2011-15 Budget, the Executive, recognising that householders are still dealing with the impact of the downturn on their incomes, agreed that the domestic and non-domestic regional rates would be increased only in line with inflation. I am pleased to announce that this will continue to be the case for 2015-16. This will result in an estimated 2015-16 regional rate income of £649·8 million.”
“<BR /> <BR />The House will be aware that the majority of the funding available to the Executive comes via the block grant from the Treasury. That comprises two elements: annually managed expenditure (AME), which funds volatile spending programmes such as pensions and benefits; and the departmental expenditure limit (DEL), which the Executive may allocate to their specific priorities and programmes. The latter is, of course, the focus of the draft Budget. <BR /> <BR />The Executive’s total resource DEL allocation for 2015-16 is £10·2 billion. Some £550 million of that relates to ring-fenced resource DEL that may be used solely to fund non-cash costs in respect of depreciation and impairments. That leaves £9·7 billion available to the Executive to fund public services.”
“<BR /> <BR />Our economy is beginning to rebalance. The policies that the Executive have pursued, the investments that we have made and the endeavours of colleagues such as the Enterprise Minister, the First Minister and the deputy First Minister — all the Executive's efforts together — have paid dividends. Our plan to rebuild and rebalance the Northern Ireland economy is working, although there is still much work to do. That is why we must maintain our concentration on growing a vibrant and dynamic economy, continue to devise and implement policies that aid industry and, so far as we can, invest as much of our limited resources as possible in areas that will yield economic benefit. The draft Budget builds on our recent economic successes and points to a future of continued economic growth and prosperity.”
“<BR /> <BR />The mosaics that adorn the ceiling of the Senate Chamber just down the corridor reflect the shipbuilding, linen and farming heritage that helped build our nation. We are justifiably proud of our industrial past, but we have much to be proud of in the new Northern Ireland economy. We are the first region in Europe to achieve 100% broadband coverage; one in three of London’s famous red buses is built in Ballymena; one in every three business class aircraft seats is made in Kilkeel; one in five computer hard drives contains a part made in Londonderry; and 40% of the world’s mobile crushing and screening equipment is made in County Tyrone. Times may have changed, the industries may have changed too, but what remains constant is the ability of Northern Ireland to punch well above its weight in the world economy.”
“A recent UK Trade and Investment report highlighted the fact that foreign direct investment (FDI) projects into Northern Ireland for 2013-14 had increased by 32% compared with the previous year, which represented the highest growth of all UK regions. That follows the 2014 Ernst and Young UK attractiveness survey, which showed that Northern Ireland secured 4·5% of all FDI projects into the UK in 2013, considerably higher than our population share. Per capita, Northern Ireland secured almost 40% more new inward investment jobs than the next best region and three times as many as London. Belfast is now the number one destination globally for financial technology investment.”
“Invest NI has begun this financial year as it finished last year. In excess of 7,000 jobs have been promoted by Invest NI in the seven months since April. I am sure that the whole House will join me in congratulating my colleague the Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster MLA, and Invest NI chief executive, Alastair Hamilton, for the work that they have put in to make Northern Ireland a prime destination for investment. <BR /> <BR />The attraction of major investments this year by the likes of Concentrix, Moy Park, Baker and McKenzie, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst and Young and Deloitte emphasises how Northern Ireland is an increasingly popular place for firms to invest in and to grow and create employment.”
“<BR /> <BR />Tourism is a sector that has huge potential for Northern Ireland. Investments by the Executive in infrastructure such as Titanic Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre, along with attracting world-renowned events such as the Giro d’Italia and the Irish Open, allow us to capitalise on that potential. There were 4·2 million overnight trips to Northern Ireland between July 2013 and June 2014, with a total spend by visitors in the year to June 2014 of £755 million, which represents a 6% annual increase. <BR /> <BR />The year 2013-14 was also a record one for Invest NI. Nearly 11,000 jobs were promoted across Northern Ireland; over £1 billion in new investment commitments was secured; and almost £250 million in research and development expenditure was encouraged.”
“<BR /> <BR />The manufacturing sales and exports survey 2012-13 showed that total manufacturing sales by Northern Ireland companies were up annually by 1·9% and that the value of sales outside Northern Ireland was up by £415 million to £13·3 billion. That represents the highest ever level of external manufacturing sales. Not only is the market for our manufacturing businesses growing but, importantly, three quarters of sales are outside Northern Ireland, illustrating how our focus on exports is paying off. <BR /> <BR />Our agrifood sector has been a real success story, defying the odds during the downturn. Total gross turnover in the food and drink processing sector was up by £285 million — 6·7% — in 2013 to a total of £4·5 billion. Employment in the sector also rose by 2% over the same period to 20,390.”
“<BR /> <BR />Members will know how important it is to increase expenditure on research and development, drive up our exports and develop new sectors of the economy where there is potential for growth if we are to change our economy and turn it into the vibrant, dynamic, outward-looking economy that we aspire to. On all those fronts, I can report success for Northern Ireland. The latest official GVA figures for 2012 show that GVA in Northern Ireland increased by 1·2% from 2011. Total R&D expenditure in Northern Ireland in 2012 was £624·1 million. That represents a year-on-year increase of £57 million, driven primarily by the private sector. Our growing expenditure on research and development is marking Northern Ireland out globally as a small but very innovative nation.”
“HM Treasury’s public expenditure statistical analyses for 2014 show how Northern Ireland spends significantly more per person on education and social protection than Scotland or Wales. I do not want to see Northern Ireland subsidised to the extent that it is any more than the next person, but those numbers are a blunt reminder that our economy and therefore our tax base are not strong enough to stand on their own. We face fiscal realities that make our aim of rebalancing the economy an immense challenge, yet, in a range of ways, we can see not just recovery in Northern Ireland but, importantly, how the policies pursued by the Executive are helping to progressively transform our economy.”
“In 2011-12 — the most recent figures we have — total public sector revenue collected in Northern Ireland was estimated at £14·1 billion. The total public sector expenditure over the same period was estimated at £23·8 billion. That is a fiscal deficit of approximately £9·6 billion. <BR /> <BR />Although our fiscal position is not as strong as we would like, public spending in Northern Ireland remains high compared with other parts of the UK, even if it has not risen at the rate that we would like. In 2012-13, each person in Northern Ireland had £10,876 spent on them by government, compared with only £8,529 in England. At its starkest, Northern Ireland’s citizens get £2,347 more in public spending per head than their counterparts in England. In key public services, we spend more per head of the population than the other devolved regions.”
“<BR /> <BR />The House will know just how central the collapse in the local property market was to the economic crisis in Northern Ireland. I am pleased to report that property prices are also recovering, with the latest Northern Ireland residential property price index recording an increase in residential property prices of 10% over the year to quarter 2 of 2014. Over 4,800 properties were sold during quarter 2 of 2014, which represented a 25% increase compared with a year before. Those are clear signs of growing confidence in our economy. <BR /> <BR />The structural economic constraints that Northern Ireland faces are well known. Gross value added per capita, which is a measure of the whole economy and is widely recognised as an indicator of relative living standards, stands at just above 75% of the UK average.”
“Unemployment levels are now heading in the right direction, with the claimant count going down for 21 consecutive months. There were almost 10,000 fewer claimants in September 2014 compared with a year before. Unemployment now stands at 6·1%, a little above the UK average. While that is still higher than we would like it to be, it is considerably lower than that of our neighbours in the Irish Republic, who have an unemployment rate of 11·5%, and the EU average, which is 10.2%. The latest figures show that the number of people in employment increased by 21,000 compared with the same time last year. Our employment rate, which stands at 68·3%, while still below the UK average, increased by 1·6 percentage points over the year.”
“The evidence that we have exited the worst economic crisis in living memory and have turned the corner into better times is irrefutable. The Northern Ireland composite economic index, published in October, shows an annual rise in the local economy of 1·2% since quarter 2 of 2013. Interestingly, it is our private sector that is driving growth, rather than the public sector. The services and production sectors drove the 1·2% annual increase, with 1·1% and 1% rises respectively, while the public sector was down by 0·4%. <BR /> <BR />The positive direction in our economy is backed up by the estimates of growth made by independent forecasters like the Northern Ireland Centre for Economic Policy and by survey evidence from Ulster Bank’s purchasing managers' index.”
“This year, I can dispense with the cautious optimism. At long last, I am pleased to report that the Northern Ireland economy has well and truly overcome the considerable challenges of the last number of years and has entered into recovery.”
“This draft Budget is an important step towards those aspirations, in spite of the huge challenges that we face. <BR /> <BR />While much debate and discussion today and in the days ahead will be around how much individual Departments will have to spend next year, our draft Budget is not merely about distributing the money that we have; it is about allocating those resources in a way that will assist us in delivering our priorities as an Executive. The Assembly will be familiar with the fact that the Executive made the economy their top priority. That focus and the investments that followed have borne fruit. During my statement on last year’s October monitoring round, I informed the House that key indicators were showing positive trends, and I informed it of my belief that the local economy was showing signs of improvement.”
“Tough as the years ahead will undoubtedly be, it is our job to use the resources at our disposal in ways that fulfil the hopes of the people of Northern Ireland: their hopes for themselves, their families and their community; their hopes for a growing economy, creating opportunities for all; and their hopes for first-rate public services. In spite of the challenges that we face, our draft Budget for 2015-16 is one built on hope, not fear. It is founded on our shared desire to see a vibrant economy driven by private sector investment; to see our region and its people meet their potential; to achieve a Budget that embodies our hopes for the future; and to place our emphasis on key public services that can shape the Northern Ireland we need and want.”
“So, in this year and beyond, we will have a wide range of increasing demands placed on our public services while we have fewer and fewer resources with which to meet that growing demand. It is a situation that demands that tough, sometimes even undesirable, choices be made. <BR /> <BR />Nelson Mandela once said:”
“<BR /> <BR />We are all by now, I hope, well aware of the range of challenges that we faced as we constructed our draft Budget for 2015-16. The tightening UK public spending environment that began in 2010 continues apace, and the pressures placed on services by the public do not abate. However, the resources available to fund those pressures have reduced dramatically. Between 2014-15 and 2015-16 alone, the Executive's resource DEL decreased by 1·6 % in real terms. Compared with 2010-11, when the Assembly last agreed a Budget, the Executive's spending power has been reduced by around £1·5 billion. Looking ahead, Office for Budget Responsibility projections show that we can expect our resource DEL to fall by a further 13% in real terms by 2019.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am pleased to be able to present to the Assembly the Executive's agreed draft Budget for 2015-16. Only a matter of weeks ago, few people thought the Executive capable of agreeing a draft Budget or that we could do so by the end of October; yet, today, I present the Executive's draft Budget to the House. Failure to agree a Budget would have been an abdication of our responsibilities and, whatever the truth, the public would have held us all accountable. <BR /> <BR />With devolution, it is our duty in good and bad economic times alike to make sure that the Budget reflects the priorities of those who sent us here. It means making the best of what we have been given. It has been said that leadership demands that we make tough choices: this, Mr Deputy Speaker, is a Budget rooted in tough choices.”
“I am sorry that I do not have instant recall on every building in the extensive portfolio of properties that my Department is responsible for. However, given that the Member has raised it and that it is an issue for him, for the constituency and for those who work in it, I will correspond with him on the proposed future for County Hall in Ballymena.”
“The Budget clearly has an impact on that, because how testing you are of the targets that are already in the Budget will be impacted on by the resources that a Department has. If you want to stretch a Department on a particular target, you have to be careful and mindful of the fact that it will need money to achieve those targets. If Departments are going to take hits to their budgets, as many will next year, perhaps those targets, as they are elongated, should not be stretched in a way that makes them more difficult to achieve.”
“I do not plan to fail. As long as the effort that my party colleagues in the Executive and I put in is met by goodwill and similar effort on all sides, we can agree a draft Budget by the end of this month. How next year's Budget impacts on the Programme for Government is not particularly a direct responsibility for me apart from the targets in the Programme for Government that are directly related to the Department of Finance and Personnel. However, as I said on the programme board for the Programme for Government, a mid-term review of the Programme for Government has been carried out. That will see some new targets introduced, and it will see existing targets extended in light of the fact that we have extended our term by one year.”
“We would have been working towards the end of this month anyway to get a draft Budget agreed. That allows us to go out to public consultation and will help and inform our deliberations on the final Budget. We hope to have a final Budget in place by the early part of next year. That gives Departments roughly three months to plan for what will be a very difficult Budget next year.”
“Unfortunately, that ideal process got overtaken by a lack of movement on issues like welfare reform, which clearly inform next year's Budget. I have been pressing, particularly since the return from the summer break, the need for us to agree not only on a way to deal with the in-year position, which we have done, but on a draft for the 2015-16 Budget so that we can get it out for public consultation and have discussions on agreeing a final Budget towards the end of this year or early next year. That sort of timetable can still apply. <BR /> <BR />A lot of work has been carried out by my Department to set up the early stages of a draft Budget. There will be headline issues that we will need to discuss, and obviously the repayment of the loan is a factor that will have to be considered in light of discussions on next year's Budget.”
“I will correct the Member on one point: the letter from the Chancellor was to the First Minister. She is right to point out that there is something that is described as a "condition" in the letter. I do not think the condition that we should agree a draft Budget by the end of this month is a condition; it is something that is consistent. It is a condition in terms of our access to the reserve, but it should not be an onerous condition for the Executive. It is something that we should have done several weeks ago. It is something that I have been pressing for as far back as December last year, when I wrote to Executive colleagues about what I thought would be the ideal Budget process in the lead-up to the next financial year.”
“It has not, although there is a provision in the Local Government Act for a review of the scheme, I think, midway through. In my view, that is more about the functionality of the scheme and whether it is working properly and smoothly and having the effect that we want it to have in easing the convergence of one level of rates with another. Obviously, we will have to consider the totality of issues. Funding will come up in that review, but we will have to consider it in the context that it will be midway through a scheme. The scheme is likely to last three or four years; if we go two years forward, it will be in the middle of a phase in our budgeting where it will be incredibly tight and the availability of more cash for a scheme like that — indeed, for any type of scheme — will be fairly limited.”
“Mr Rogers's colleague to his right-hand side, from his time as Minister of the Environment, will recall that it was several years ago — I think that it was 2012 — that the Executive first agreed that they would set aside £30 million for convergence, recognising that there would be an impact from convergence on some members of the public and ratepayers. It is money that has been set aside, and it is, in that sense, ring-fenced and will not be affected by any of the issues around the Budget that we continue to negotiate.”
“The £30 million has been set aside for rates convergence. I did not get a chance in response to Mr Kinahan, who was cut off in his prime earlier, to knock down some of the myths and erroneous information that were put out by certain quarters of the media last week about the scheme. It was presented, particularly by the BBC, as something that had come out of the blue, as though we did not know that there were going to be issues in the converging of one council with another or, in some cases, the convergence of three councils or, in one instance, of four councils. It was identified a long time ago by the Executive.”
“As I say, we are working on a few projects that could take up the remaining allocations from this year, and I hope that we might be able to report some progress in the remaining aspects of the October monitoring round, including capital allocations, which I will bring to the House in the next number of weeks.”