Steve Aiken
South Antrim · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for his statement. Minister, as well as the move to reduce the cost to the Assembly of vacant non-domestic properties and to increase liability so that we will not have so many vacant properties, you will be aware of the Dilapidation Bill and of the conversations that have been taking place in Wales and Scotland about…”
“Instead, that most dysfunctional Department, under the most inept Sinn Féin Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly and a series of grossly over-superannuated permanent secretaries, gave the money back.”
“We know that her Department spends more on legal cases, fighting judicial reviews and being chastised by judges for legal ineptitude and on vesting land and ripping out hedges and fencing and then trying to unvest it and paying even more money to put back the fences and hedges that it took out.”
“We can hardly blame the current permanent secretary, as she has just taken up her post, but, surely, her predecessors must bear some accountability or responsibility, especially considering the senior civil servants' salary scale of between £146,000 and £163,000, with, of course, their taxpayer-funded pension contribution of 34·2% — £218,…”
“It must be said that £181·3 million is a lot of taxpayers' hard-earned money. It is money that is raised from local commuters, vehicle owners, farmers, local businesses, logistics companies and, above all, our constituents — those vital people whom we are elected to represent.”
“The Minister will be aware that, under the public appointments guide published by the Executive Office, it is clear that she is supposed to take independent advice before appointing board members. What independent advice did she receive, particularly about the board members selected?”
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“The three largest parties seem to think that this is some method or another of reinforcing their position. Please, will somebody explain to me how this is an equitable distribution of funds? Quite frankly, I cannot see it, and I cannot see any Administration or any political groups of parties anywhere looking at this and saying that it is an equitable distribution of the funding that is available, particularly when we look at the size of the larger parties and the increase in the cake that they have taken, as well as voting through close to a 25% increase. Please, somebody explain it to me.”
“I am trying to do my maths here to see how this works out. As I read it, there has been an increase of close on £250,000 to go to the various parties. As I look at it, Sinn Féin's total has probably gone up by £100,000 to about £270,000; the DUP's total has gone up by £85,000 to £250,000; Alliance's total has gone up by £45,000 to about £170,000; the Ulster Unionist Party's total has not gone up; the TUV's total stays the same; and People Before Profit's total stays the same. Will somebody please explain to me the methodology behind that? I cannot see how that is an equitable way of funding political parties in the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />I understand that our hard-working staff behind the scenes have not had much of an uplift over the intervening years, but this seems to be a rather perverse way of doing it.”
“Minister, the Fiscal Council gave recent evidence to the Finance Committee indicating that our current level of funding may, indeed, be above the 124% level. Will the Minister give us an assessment of where, she thinks, our level is at the moment and the likely difference between the two?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Will the Minister, therefore, when he looks at his diary, commit to coming to the Farnborough International Airshow, where Northern Ireland will highlight its wares at a series of events? It would be excellent if the Minister were able to find himself there.”
“I thank the Minister very much for giving way. The Minister will be aware that, across the rest of the United Kingdom, health is above the line — considerably so — because of the pressures on the health system across the place. Can you explain why Northern Ireland is somehow different from England, Scotland and Wales and, indeed, the Irish Republic?”
“The Member will be aware that there is a June monitoring round that may have a considerable amount of money in it: anywhere between £200 million and £300 million. Does he think that it is good governance to try to pass a Budget when that amount of money will become available in around 30 days' time? How is that possibly a good approach to government, and why would he support something like that? I believe that the Member and his party tend to look at budgeting in an appropriate manner. Not waiting for an extra £300 million is not quite the way of doing that. Over to you.”
“Thank you very much for giving way. The Member will be aware that we have already heard from the First Minister today that the likelihood of less engagement with central government during the period of purdah for the Westminster election means that that is not likely to happen. If that is the case, how are we to get any movement or progress?”
“Minister, you are probably aware of the statutory ministerial code, which talks particularly about accountability and openness. Will you and the deputy First Minister institute an independent review of the retention of data, which was raised by the RHI inquiry and now by the COVID inquiry?”
“<BR /> <BR />That would require party negotiation, of which there has been none; a Programme for Government, which there is none; and adequate analysis, prioritisation, consultation and receipt of June monitoring, which of course, there has been none, especially as a Budget is again being fast-tracked through, without due diligence and full account of the likely funding envelope. Yet Sinn Féin, the DUP and Alliance would have you vote for a Budget that could, in all probability, as indicated by the Department of Finance, have an extra £0·25 billion allocated in less than 30 days. How can any self-respecting MLA support this Budget as it is?”
“For the sake of argument, I have simplified this figure to around £0·25 billion, allocating funding in June monitoring. In response to questions at the Committee as to how this would be allocated, it was indicated that it would be bid for by Departments through the Executive. Some would argue that £0·25 billion is, in the overall context of a nearly £16 billion Budget, is small change. However, it would enable many of Health's challenges to be met, help bring Health's allocation more into line with the rest of our great nation and would, at least, fulfil a quarter of the commitment made by both Sinn Féin and the DUP in their manifestos.”
“I am grateful to the senior officials from the Department of Finance who informed our Committee that a ballpark figure of around an extra £200 million, as well as ongoing Barnett consequential adjustments, would come into play in June monitoring. That is 30 days or less, Minister.”
“That offer, as well my party leader's request for all parties to engage in intense closed-room negotiations with Departments to solve the Budget crisis, was rejected. That reminds us of how an Ulster Unionist Party Health Minister in a previous Assembly had his request rejected, yet, when a DUP Health Minister took over the role, the required funding was allocated immediately. <BR /> <BR />We were told to accept this Budget and the cut and to agree, even though no other party does, to collective responsibility in the Executive on the position that there was no more money. That was two weeks ago. Then we had last week's Finance Committee.”
“We have heard much about Health being 50% of the Budget, but that is the same in the rest of our nation: it has always been 50% of the Budget. It is just not enough. <BR /> <BR />Our Health Minister has made it clear to our constituents and vital health workers the challenges that those substantive cuts will mean. No Minister could deliver on those unless there had been appropriate prioritisation, which there has not. That is a question that the electorate might ask when or if Sinn Féin, DUP or Alliance candidates knock on their doors. The Health Minister offered, at risk to delivery, to reduce what he needed to around an additional £2 million to £3 million on top of his allocation.”
“He also makes it clear that, in Northern Ireland, unlike in the rest of our great nation, health has seen a below-level uplift; in fact, we have had a 2·3% cut in the Health budget. Members will be aware that, in the absence of a Programme for Government, even after 100-plus days back, it would be expected that prioritisation would be based on the parties' manifestos, as it would be in any normal democracy. On the basis of the commitment made by the Minister's party and the DUP to give an extra £1 billion to Health and the numerous commitments made around the negotiating table at Hillsborough Castle to prioritise Health, it could reasonably have been expected that Health's allocation of the Budget would reflect that across the rest of the United Kingdom; instead, in Northern Ireland, we are taking a cut of 2·3%.”
“In real terms, compared with the out-turn from last year, it is a 2% reduction. The figures showing the Departments' pressures and priorities in light of that position, from an Executive direction, are all lacking. We have not seen reports from all our scrutiny Committees on their analyses of their Departments, probably because they are not in receipt of the information. That question is important, because most Departments are aware of the considerable adjustment — at least a quarter of a billion pounds — that is due in the June monitoring round. That is a point that I will come to later. <BR /> <BR />Sir Robert makes it clear in his report that there is, in real terms, a fall in resource and capital for Northern Ireland.”
“That was described at the time as a measure that would not be repeated and would give us, in exceptional circumstances, a Vote on Account of 65%. That was agreed to allow space for a Programme for Government to be agreed before the next Budget was brought forward. However, since February, there has been no Programme for Government or even a discussion on the prioritisation of budgets. If we look at the Fiscal Council's report, we can see clearly how that should have happened but has not. The question for the Northern Ireland Executive should be, "Why?". As we can see by the speed and haste of the previous Budget Bill, which was accelerated through its stages in 48 hours, the argument of legislative and time pressure does not hold. <BR /> <BR />That the Budget under discussion today is challenging is not in doubt.”
“I would like to report that the information from our own Government that was made available to me and my fellow MLAs on our scrutiny Committee was as detailed, but, regrettably, I cannot. <BR /> <BR />We are being invited to approve the programme for expenditure for 2024-25 without a Programme for Government, evidence of any prioritisation, any form of public consultations or impact assessments or any other normal procedures. Some, including the Finance Minister, have alluded to the importance of passing the Budget quickly in order to prevent, yet again, our Departments running out of cash and the consequent cascade of public service collapse. Members will, of course, remember the Budget Bill that was before us on 19 February, which went through all of its stages in two days by accelerated passage.”
“I will respond as the UUP's finance spokesperson to the Budget 2024-25 that has been presented today. Other members of my party will speak on their specific areas of responsibility. <BR /> <BR />At the outset, I thank those who gave evidence to the Finance Committee. In particular, I thank the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council for its 2024-25 Budget assessment report and Sir Robert Chote and his team for the evidence that they gave to our Committee. The Fiscal Council's 2024-25 Budget assessment is an exemplar of clarity and detail, and it is presented in a manner that is readily accessible and authoritative. Its 50-odd pages are probably the most concise budgetary and financial fiscal overview available. It should be compulsory reading for us all.”
“On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Ms Bradshaw made a complaint for referral to the Speaker. I feel that some of my remarks may have been misconstrued. Ms Bradshaw, I therefore apologise.”
“On the level of the fiscal floor, has any modelling been done on the figure of 124% or is there a new figure that you think would be suitable for us to take forward? Have we come to that conclusion yet?”
“However, I rather hope that he is looking down on us and having a quiet laugh as I am sure that, rather than recommending my suspension for two sitting days for my egregious behaviour, he would have pointed out that being exiled to St Helena with Paul Frew for a week was probably punishment enough. <BR /> <BR />I look forward to returning to the Assembly on 28 May. If Paul and I can escape from St Helena, we will escape Napoleon's fate as well.”
“In the short time that I had to view the documentation last Tuesday, I was caught by a reflection of a particularly sad event: the passing of a much-esteemed colleague, Christopher Stalford MLA. Christopher was the Deputy Chairperson of the Standards and Privileges Committee and had not been replaced when the investigation was occurring. As those who knew him will confirm, he was, above all, a determined advocate for good practice, the rights of MLAs and, in particular, the Assembly, and he was a sage voice on the Committee. I believe that he would have corrected the erroneous view in the report against me, and reported in the media, that it was in some way strange for a unionist MLA's office to be shut for the 12 July fortnight.”
“There was little or no time to talk to them or adequately explain what was going on. Beyond a short call with the Clerk, there has been no communication. There has still been no communication. <BR /> <BR />As a previous chief executive, Chief Whip and commanding officer, I have sat on many industrial tribunals, held many disciplinary meetings and been involved in many HR-related issues. Giving 45 minutes' notice of action on something that happened 30 months ago, with potentially far-reaching reputational consequences and obvious media interest, would not be accepted in any other forum, and it should not be here either. We may, as MLAs, be seen as being unpopular and less valued, but we should still be entitled to the same basic rights and respect that are given to other workers, including on notification.”
“I further say to all MLAs how lucky we are to have the unstinting support of our underpaid, under-resourced and hard-working staff. To my team, I cannot thank you enough. <BR /> <BR />I also wish to make a comment about more recent events. After an investigation that occurred 30 months ago, with the last communication from the Committee to me coming in March 2022, I was contacted last Tuesday and given 45 minutes' notice that this motion was to come before the Business Committee. During that very short time, I had to inform my Chief Whip, my party leader and our press team and reach out to my family about what would obviously be something of media interest. I had to quickly reach out to those who had suffered previous trauma, as it would obviously be upsetting.”
“<BR /> <BR />Members will be aware that, at the end of 2021, a full report was sent by the PSNI to the PPS, which responded quickly, in January 2022, that there was no case to answer. I place no criticism on the PSNI, which is doing its job in difficult and trying circumstances, but one may legitimately ask whether this was an appropriate use of its time and resources. I raised that issue with the Committee on receipt of the PPS's letter and asked that an apology be forwarded to my staff for the trauma and upset that had been caused by that investigation. That apology, as has already been reported, was not forthcoming. Therefore, I now put on record my personal apology to my great constituency team and thank it for all its support through that trying time.”
“Those records included many months of my emails, call logs, work diaries and interviews with my staff and many others such as Simon Hoare MP, the then Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, all to verify details in my diary. My staff observed that we were under a direct threat from loyalist paramilitaries, and that we had had three to four hours of direct police time to reassure us. They also pointed out that many more hours were spent on the investigation of what was, in essence, a case of non-delivery of a recorded letter to me. Those interviews and questioning, coupled with the markedly different approach to dealing with the threat to us, proved traumatic for some members of my staff, who had to seek medical support.”
“In 2021, all those events and more were swirling around at the time of the commissioner's investigation, and I freely admit that her investigation was not my number-one priority. It is perhaps an understatement to say that my family and the great team who work with me were under considerable strain during that period. I placed the factors mentioned above in mitigation to the Committee for my actions. The Committee, as is its right, did not believe them to be germane to its deliberations. <BR /> <BR />Then came an additional factor. Members will be aware that I was reported to the PSNI. The PSNI conducted its enquiries diligently, utilising a detective inspector and sergeant. Unlike in other inquiries that I could mention, it had a full set of records to examine.”
“My constituency team was dealing with the effects of the COVID pandemic; the fallout from the recent Bobby Storey funeral; my stepping down from the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party; an MLA, namely me, who had cracked two ribs and was not resting as he was told to; family illnesses; and, of most concern, the ongoing security threat to my team and family caused by loyalist paramilitaries. Regrettably, far too many MLAs have had that call to their house by the PSNI at 23:00, the visit the next day of a protection officer who points out all the important needs for enhanced personal and physical security, and the follow-up call from the Northern Ireland Office to say that it will not provide any of it.”
“Members will be aware that there is no right of appeal or independent review of decisions made by the Committee or the commissioner, and I do not believe that further continuing to argue my position, several years after the events, would be in anyone's interests. I do, however, wish to make some other comments that may be pertinent. <BR /> <BR />The first is an apology: an apology to my staff. Members may recall the period in 2021 when these events occurred and the investigations continued. The evidence in the COVID inquiry is highlighting the uncertainty and turmoil of those times.”
“I thank the Chair of the Committee and, indeed, Mr McHugh for their remarks so far and the respectful tone that we have had. <BR /> <BR />I will make a few short remarks in response to my colleagues' statements. As a previous member of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, I take its deliberations seriously. I respect its judgements and accept the outcome of its deliberations. I have no wish to have the vote contested. I will not restate the case that I made to the then Committee over 30 months ago. Members, if they wish, can read my arguments in the record.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. It is the second time that this has happened to the school in four years. As you can imagine, the board of governors, the teachers and the parents have developed a degree of scepticism, so I welcome the Minister's response, and I look forward to an early response from the EA.”
“I declare an interest as a member of the steering committee of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. In paragraph 11, we referred to the economic activity that was likely to be mentioned at the North/South Ministerial Council. Was the issue of electronic travel authorisation (ETA) raised, bearing in mind the significant impact that it may have on Northern Ireland tourism?”
“<BR /> <BR />Minister, when you look at the future of energy generation in Northern Ireland, I ask you to look very closely at how we marry up with the rest of these islands to make it work. Clearly, nobody in the Assembly supports fracking onshore. Let us make a ban happen. Since it is not happening now, we have no difficulty at all in supporting the motion and the amendment.”
“Thank you very much indeed. No, I propose that we join Ofgem. Let us look clearly at what we need to do. If you look on this island, with renewable energy, the market and the interconnection is not big enough to make it work in all circumstances. If that were the case, they would not be building new connection grids to Wales and they would not be looking to build a new interconnection system to France, which will then use lots of nuclear energy to fill in the gaps. We need an all-islands solution. The sooner we get to that, the better. It is appropriate that we start thinking strategically if we are to hit our renewable energy targets, which we must, because there is an energy crisis. There is also a climate emergency. We need to deal with those situations.”
“Talk to anybody in the renewable energy business, and you find that one of the single biggest problems is getting a route to market and an understandable method of getting contracts for difference. <BR /> <BR />England Scotland and Wales, interestingly enough, have their own regulator in Ofgem. Neither Scotland nor Wales decided to go it alone. They have a system that industry can buy into and get renewables rapidly onto the market. We cannot do that. One of the things we have to ask about, going forward, is what we do about reforming the system so that we get a proper, fully integrated energy market.”
“Without doubt, it is the monopolistic situation here that has been an absolute barrier to the progression of renewable energy across Northern Ireland. Whether in battery storage, novel applications or smart grids, on every occasion the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI) and Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) have been working to the detriment of Northern Ireland. Questions have to be asked about that. <BR /> <BR />One of the other significant issues that we have to worry about is our regulation process. I declare an interest: I am a great supporter of the Utility Regulator here, particularly the chief executive of the Utility Regulator. However, quite frankly, Northern Ireland is too small to be doing its own energy regulation.”
“<BR /> <BR />As many Members have noted, the debate is also about how we manage our renewables and where we go in the future with renewable systems. Minister, as you are well aware, one of our biggest problems is the interconnectivity of the grid. Earlier, when you gave answers to various questions, you pointed to the fact that there are significant areas around grid connections in the Province and rural grid connections. That cannot be overstated. The number of problems that face anybody who wants a grid connection for renewables, whether solar, wind or any other form, is quite frankly scandalous. <BR /> <BR />The fact that we are paying significantly more for grid connections in Northern Ireland than we would in Scotland, England or Wales, or the Republic of Ireland, needs to be investigated clearly.”
“Mr Principal Deputy Speaker —. Or Ms —. I apologise, Principal Deputy Speaker. It has been a long day, as you can imagine. <BR /> <BR />I echo my friend Mr Nesbitt's remarks: the Ulster Unionist Party will support both the motion and the amendment. Members will be aware that, in our nation, fracking has been under a moratorium, in some parts of it, since at least 2015. That started in Scotland. In Wales, it has been the case since 2018 and, since 2019, there has been a moratorium. There is no indication anywhere across our nation — with the exception of Northern Ireland, because we have not caught up with the legislation yet — that there will be any more onshore fracking or that any onshore fracking will be allowed.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. He will be aware that some of the drilling activity that we are looking to do is for geothermal energy. Will the Member state whether Alliance supports drilling for geothermal activity, or is it against all forms of drilling activity? That is of particular interest to people in South Antrim, especially those in the area around Lough Neagh.”
“Will she explain why, within the overall Budget of £15·6 billion, she is not in negotiation with the Health Minister and other Departments to significantly close the £300 million gap, as, she has already said in the media, she is doing with the Education Minister?”
“I am just following on from my friend across the Chamber. Will the Minister explain her party's commitment to putting public health first, as evidenced by her party's manifesto and, indeed, other parties' manifestos to put an extra £1 billion into the Health budget, as well as the statements from the First Minister and her leader, Mary Lou McDonald, at Hillsborough Castle, now that she is cutting the Health budget by 2·3%, according to her own figures. They are not our figures; they are her figures.”
“Thank you very much, Minister. Have you done any costings on how much the closure would cost?”
“I also took the matter up recently with a senior Estonian politician, who said exactly the same thing. We need to be more proactive; we need to look at how we resource these things; and we need to be prepared to work closely with all stakeholders to make sure that we understand the challenges that we are about to face. <BR /> <BR />Once again, I congratulate the First Minister and deputy First Minister for actually taking ownership of something. For that, we should all be grateful.”
“It is important that we continue to do our horizon scanning of what is going on. I am glad that the First Minister and deputy First Minister are here. They need to look closely at how we resource what we are doing. We need to ensure that our office in Brussels is ready to interact as legislation comes through. We also need to make sure that we have sufficiently well-trained staff supporting the Northern Ireland Executive and the Democratic Scrutiny Committee who understand the legislation and the rules as they come through. As a warning, First Minister and deputy First Minister, I have been in communication and conversation with our friends in Norway, who have a lot of difficulty in dealing with EU rules and regulations, even though they have to accept most of them.”
“<BR /> <BR />I welcome Mr Tennyson to the Democratic Scrutiny Committee, whose members will know that, at that Committee, on several occasions, I have raised the point that we are not curious enough about the regulations that are coming forward. I am glad to see that our Committee now takes a more proactive approach; indeed, we have already heard the issues about dental amalgam. I hope that those issues will be raised in the Joint Committee and that we do not get to the point where we have to debate them on the Floor. The issue should be sorted before we go ahead. <BR /> <BR />I encourage the Chair and members of our Committee to remain curious, because many elements coming through will challenge many in the Chamber not just on an intercommunity basis but for all of us on where we are likely to be.”
“I congratulate the First and deputy First Ministers on taking an interest in the applicability motion. Members will remember the last applicability motion that came before the Chamber. I raised several questions from the Floor about when somebody was going to take ownership of that applicability motion, but no one did until the last possible minute. Rightly, it was rejected. <BR /> <BR />On this occasion, the Ulster Unionist Party will support the applicability motion. To do otherwise would create a divergence from the rest of the United Kingdom. In the complexity that is EU rules and regulations, Members need to realise that, on some occasions, we cannot be seen to diverge from the rest of our nation. It is important that we recognise these issues.”
“That will be a great opportunity for all of us to encourage those developments here in Northern Ireland.”
“Work is being done in not only our universities and the Armagh Observatory, but in some of the great companies that we have in Northern Ireland such as Thales, which is heavily involved in the Artemis programme. <BR /> <BR />We are all proud of everything that Dr Coogan has done. Now that she has joined the astronaut programme and is very likely to fly, I hope to have her here in Parliament Buildings at some stage to talk about the importance of STEM, particularly to our young people — especially our young women — who will see that the study of engineering, science and technology is a great way ahead and a great way forward. <BR /> <BR />Finally, before I sit down, I will also talk about the new all-party group on aerospace, defence and space that I am setting up.”
“I rise to speak as the Chair of the all-party group on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to congratulate Dr Rosemary Coogan on being selected for the final stage of her astronaut programme and being awarded her astronaut wings yesterday. It is a remarkable achievement for someone from Northern Ireland to join the European Space Agency's astronaut programme, but it also highlights the importance of the space sector to Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />It was not so long ago that, here in Belfast, we had the UK Space Conference, at which many companies from Northern Ireland demonstrated their ability to work in the space programme. Indeed, some of you might be surprised by the amount of work that is done in Northern Ireland towards the space programme.”
“I thank the Minister for his very fulsome reply. Obviously, the significant issue will be our linkage with the UK emissions trading scheme. Have his officials had much contact yet with the UK Government on these significant issues? Has he had any indication of what the carbon pricing infrastructure is likely to be and, more importantly, what the differential between the EU and the UK is likely to be?”