Caoimhe Archibald
East Londonderry · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Taken together, that points to a scheme that is operating effectively in its early stages, while, of course, remaining under review as further evidence becomes available. <BR /> <BR />I therefore commend to the Assembly the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026.”
“I seek the Assembly's approval for the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026. The statutory rule was made on 1 April and came into operation on 6 April. It is before the Assembly today under the confirmatory procedure.”
“The 2026 regulatory impact assessment estimates one-off employer familiarisation costs of up to £1·36 million, with wider HMRC implementation costs forecast at £1·5 million and annual systems maintenance costs of around £10,000. It may assist Members to note that early implementation has gone smoothly.”
“The amendment ensures the continued operation of those regulations and forms part of a wider package of legislative measures establishing statutory parental bereavement pay as an entitlement for bereaved parents.”
“The regulations before the Assembly today are a key part of that implementation and ensure the continued operation of the statutory parental bereavement pay framework. The policy objective is clear: to support bereaved working parents at a time of profound loss and provide a minimum standard of protection in law.”
“<BR /> <BR />The confirmatory procedure means that the regulations before the House today have come into operation before the Assembly debate has taken place and must then be approved by the Assembly within the relevant statutory period. In this case, the deadline for approval is 20 September 2026.”
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“Excesses have arisen as a result of breaches of budget control limits or cash limits over prior years, and that requires expenditure to be regularised by the Assembly. Those Excesses were identified by the Public Accounts Committee, and a report was published by the PAC, providing more detail on its findings. The Supply resolution for the Statement of Excesses that I am providing simply implements the exact recommendations made by the Public Accounts Committee. <BR /> <BR />I am looking forward to putting the 2024-25 spending plans for this year on a legal footing, and I request the support of Members for the resolution of the Main Estimates for 2024-25. That, together with the Budget (No.”
“That is where the authority of statutory powers has not yet been obtained through legislation. 'Managing Public Money' provides for that as an interim measure, enabling expenditure until such powers are in place. <BR /> <BR />The Executive met today to agree the outcome of the June monitoring round, and I made a statement on that just now. Any changes to departmental budgets due to the outcome of June monitoring and any further monitoring rounds that take place in 2024-25 will be reflected in the spring Supplementary Estimates. <BR /> <BR />In addition to the Main Estimates for 2024-25, I have proposed a Supply resolution for the Statement of Excesses for the years 2016-2017, 2018-2019, 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, which was also laid on 19 June.”
“We all had to compromise, but that agreement enabled the Budget to progress. The Budget 2024-25 was subsequently agreed by the Assembly on 28 May following an extensive debate. I will not repeat the same detail in today's speech. The Main Estimates position is set out in the detailed document that has been provided to Members. The Budget (No. 2) Bill reflects the same position. Should the Bill proceed as planned, it is anticipated that it will receive Royal Assent in late September/early October. In the meantime, the 65% Vote on Account, which was agreed by Members in April, provides Departments with the authority to utilise resources and access the cash necessary to deliver services. <BR /> <BR />The Main Estimates for 2024-25 highlight areas of expenditure or income relying on the sole authority of the Budget.”
“It was always clear that this was going to be an incredibly challenging Budget, and that did not allow for the level of engagement that I would have preferred. Ideally, I would have liked to have published a draft Budget and put it out for 12 weeks' full consultation. That would have helped to inform the Executive's decision on their final Budget. Unfortunately, that was not an option due to time constraints. <BR /> <BR />Following Executive agreement, I announced the Budget via a written ministerial statement on 25 April. Demand for allocations far outstripped the funding available. With increased demand on services, and rising costs, we simply do not have the Budget to do everything that we would like to do to provide the public services that people deserve. I accept that Executive agreement was not easy.”
“This debate covers the Supply resolution for the Main Estimates 2024-25 and the Statement of Excesses for 2016-17, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23, both of which are associated with the Budget (No. 2) Bill, which will be introduced later today. <BR /> <BR />The Supply resolution for the Main Estimates 2024-25 presented before the House relates to the supply of cash and use of resources for the current 2024-25 year and seeks the Assembly's approval of the 2024-25 spending plans of Departments and other public bodies as set out in the Main Estimates, which were laid in the Assembly on 19 June. The Main Estimates are based on the departmental spending plans set out in the Executive's Budget 2024-25. The restoration of the Executive on 3 February 2024 meant that there was an exceptionally tight time frame in which to develop the Budget.”
“I hope that we will get a change of approach, and certainly I will be making that case to the incoming Government.”
“I say to the Member that that is how allocations are made. They are made not on a proportional basis but following an assessment of the bids and after trying to understand the need in each Department. I acknowledge that we have not been able to allocate as much money to any Department as we would like to be in a position to allocate. As I said in response to other Members, I will make the case to the incoming British Government that we need to see proper investment in public services. That has been seriously lacking over the past number of years, particularly over the past 14 years, during which we have seen an agenda of austerity and cuts from the Tory Government.”
“I am unable to confirm what each individual Department has provided to the relevant Committee. I hope that the Member is satisfied with the engagement that he has had with my officials who, I know, attend the Finance Committee very regularly to brief him and other Committee members on budgetary matters. I encourage other Departments to ensure that their Committees are briefed about the budgetary situation. <BR /> <BR />We all recognise the challenges facing all Departments, including the Department of Health. I am more than fit for a robust challenge from any of my ministerial colleagues about their budgets, but I am committed to working collectively with them to try to get the best outcome and to make the case as a united Executive about the need for additional funding for public services.”
“This year, out of our capital budget, we were able to fund only inescapable pressures identified by Departments. That is not where we need to be in order to deliver infrastructure.”
“We all agree that it is far from ideal that we are not meeting our social housing targets. I am sure that every single one of our constituency offices hears day and daily from people who need homes. I understand that the additional funding will provide for around 200 additional new starts. That is a way off our target, so I will continue to work constructively with the Minister for Communities and other Executive colleagues, including the Minister for Infrastructure, to ensure that we have the ability to deliver on our targets. <BR /> <BR />As well as for funding to deliver day-to-day public services, we will collectively make the case to the British Government for proper investment in infrastructure, because that is where they have fallen far short in recent years.”
“It will allow those staff, who are among the lowest paid in the sector but who play a vital role in supporting our children and young people, to move on to those new pay scales. <BR /> <BR />We were also able to confirm the allocation of £25 million for childcare based on bids and proposals from the Education Minister.”
“The Department of Education's opening budget for 2024-25 saw an increase of 11·6% compared with the opening budget set by the Secretary of State for 2023-24, and that recognised that, despite the increase in funding this year, Education, like many other Departments, faced considerable budget pressures. Therefore, £29·5 million of resource and £15 million of capital have been allocated to the Department to address a range of issues, including supporting special educational needs, which we all recognise is an issue that really needs attention. That is in addition to funding for the Education Authority pay and grading review. I have been working collegiately with the Minister of Education to find a way forward for workers, and I am very pleased that an allocation has been agreed by the Executive.”
“The Member will be aware that the financial package from last year, which included £584 million for public-sector pay awards, did not have a recurrent element for public-sector pay awards. Therefore, it was for individual Departments to plan on the basis of the funding that was available to them in-year to meet the pay awards that they had agreed in their Department. There are undoubtedly huge challenges across all Departments, given the funding that is available to us. We made some progress during our engagement with Treasury and got an uplift to 24% in our level of need. That provided some additional money in June monitoring, but we will engage with the incoming British Government and make the case that we need proper investment in our public services that shows that we actually value our public-sector workers.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Finding a solution for education support workers was a priority for me, and I am glad that, working with the Education Minister, we have been able to agree the allocation today. The Education Minister is taking the lead in engaging with trade unions on that, and, if any issues arise, I am sure that he will bring them to my attention and to the attention of Executive colleagues. I will be happy to take on board any issues that arise.”
“I was also pleased that the Executive were able to provide a small additional allocation in June monitoring for the arts, which we have a significant interest in.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Communities Department also received £2 million of FTC in June monitoring to develop a scheme that provides support for social enterprises to help individuals to move out of temporary accommodation. That is a very welcome development, and I hope that the Department is able to build on such schemes. <BR /> <BR />I spoke about the volume of resource bids that we received from Departments compared with the funding that was available, but I was pleased that the Executive were able to agree an additional £10 million allocation to the Department for Communities to provide further support for a range of areas where there is significant need. I know that the Member has previously raised with me areas such as homelessness, the Supporting People programme and the discretionary support scheme.”
“I am glad that the Executive have been able to agree a £20 million allocation for new social housing in the June monitoring round. There was a very limited pot of capital available to us and a huge volume of bids, so I was pleased that a significant proportion of that could be allocated to social housing. I understand that the additional funding will help to deliver around 200 new social homes. We are all very aware, however, of the constraints that existed in our capital budget this year, and, of course, if further capital becomes available in-year, social housing is an area that, hopefully, we can return to for further allocations. I have also written to the Communities Minister to encourage him to look at other sources of funding to see whether there are opportunities to increase the supply of new social and affordable homes this year.”
“My responsibility, as Finance Minister, is to try to ensure that there is the budget to deliver all our public services, across the Departments.”
“I thank the Member for that question. The Department receives bids through the monitoring round process. There is considerable engagement between my departmental officials and the officials who deal with budgets in the other Departments with a view to understanding the nature of the bids: whether they are inescapable or high priority. That is the basis on which we make decisions about what to allocate. It is an iterative process whereby my officials gather information from the other Departments and use that information to best understand the pressures that those Departments face and therefore to best understand how we can balance meeting the demands across the Departments. Each Minister has a responsibility for their Department and the services that it delivers.”
“<BR /> <BR />As was the case with the Budget, it was simply not possible to meet all the bids that Departments made. Like other parts of the public sector, our health service is suffering because of decisions taken by the British Government on how they fund public services. At the end of the week, on behalf of the Executive, I will make the case to the incoming British Government that we need to see proper investment in our public services.”
“There is no doubt that the Department of Health faces huge challenges, as do all Departments. The Department of Health, particularly tackling waiting lists, is an Executive priority. The Department of Health bid for £414·9 million resource DEL, which is a greater amount of money than was available to allocate. I have committed to working collaboratively with the Health Minister and am pleased with the positive engagement that I have had with him so far. I hope that the allocation of £122 million, including £0·9 million for health professional training places, will go some way towards easing the many pressures that face the Department. That is the largest allocation to all the Departments and represents 57% of the funding that was available for allocation through June monitoring.”
“That question would be better posed to the First Minister and deputy First Minister. I have been clear about my preferred time frame for June monitoring for some time and have communicated that to the Finance Committee. For me, it was very important that we were able to make these allocations to give Departments certainty on their spending and allow them to take decisions to live within their budgets.”
“That allowed for an additional allocation of that amount to the Department for Infrastructure. As a result of that action, no non-ring-fenced resource DEL funding has been lost due to underspends, and £41·1 million of resource DEL is being carried forward into 2024-25 from a very late Barnett consequential last year. That happened due to the collegiate efforts of Executive Ministers working together to make sure that it did. Similarly, no conventional capital DEL funding has been returned to Treasury. A small amount of FTC has been returned, but that is being used to offset future liabilities for FTC repayments.”
“Due to the funding that was provided in 2023-24 through a reserve claim in the financial package, the Executive were unable to carry forward any resource DEL underspends. To minimise the risk of funding being lost to the Treasury, the Executive agreed an overcommitment of £14·1 million, based on anticipated departmental underspends.”
“That is a question for the Health Minister, but I can confirm that there was unanimous support in the Executive for June monitoring.”
“My focus has been on doing the right thing, giving Departments and the bodies that they fund, including organisations such as health trusts, which are under immense pressure, certainty on additional funding. That is why, today, my Executive colleagues have backed my proposals and agreed June monitoring. Proceeding as we have done also allows for proper Assembly engagement without the House needing to be recalled.”
“It will come as no surprise to the Member that I do not agree with his analysis. I have been clear for some time about my preferred time frame for doing June monitoring. I have, of course, considered carefully whether June monitoring should have proceeded during the pre-election period. My view, and that of my Department, is that this process represents the normal and routine business of the Executive. <BR /> <BR />Given the financial pressures facing all our Departments, it was vital that they had confirmation of additional funding allocations as soon as possible. As Finance Minister, I could not, in good conscience, stand by and let Departments take potentially unnecessary decisions that could have caused harm to our public services, knowing that there was money available to allocate.”
“<BR /> <BR />While the Executive do not have the funding to do everything that they might wish to do, today's allocations of over £300 million across resource and capital DEL will help to alleviate some of the pressures that Departments face. Working together, we will be better placed to meet the challenges that we face head-on. I want to work with all my ministerial colleagues to have one voice in making the case for more investment in public services. I have been making the case for increased levels of funding in public services and will continue to do so. I commend the June monitoring outcome to the Assembly.”
“Those reflect areas such as tackling paramilitary activity, the immigration health surcharge, new deal funding, the NI protocol/Windsor framework, city and growth deals and Fresh Start funding for shared education and housing. In total, those amount to £161·3 million in resource DEL, £2·9 million in ring-fenced resource DEL and £120 million in capital DEL. <BR /> <BR />It is clear that all Departments are under significant financial pressure. That is evidenced by the vast quantum of bids far exceeding the funding that we had available to allocate. Indeed, the Education, Health and Justice Departments all submitted bids totalling more than the overall amount that we had to allocate. Within the constrained finances available, the Executive must strive to balance funding pressures across all Departments.”
“<BR /> <BR />To increase transparency, the statement is accompanied by tables outlining the detail of changes to departmental budgets. Further tables will be published on the Department of Finance website in due course. Under the heading "Technical Adjustments" in the attached tables are various Treasury-earmarked funding streams and Budget cover transfers from Whitehall Departments.”
“An allocation of £15 million has been made to the Department of Education for minor works, including for special educational needs and urgent health and safety works. An allocation of £12·5 million has been made to the Department for Infrastructure to help it to avoid having to pause critical infrastructure projects. <BR /> <BR />Only minimal funding was available for ring-fenced resource DEL, and, historically, further funds are received later in the financial year. The Executive have agreed not to meet any of those pressures at this time but will revisit them in future monitoring rounds. All financial transactions capital bids of £3·2 million have been met, leaving £20·4 million of unallocated FTC. I ask all Departments to consider how that available funding can be utilised.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Executive have agreed capital DEL allocations totalling £57·5 million. Those include £10 million to the Department for Communities for the cladding safety scheme and £20 million for new-build social housing. Delivering on our housing targets is crucial given the demand for homes, and I will continue to work constructively with Executive colleagues on that important issue. I met the Communities Minister last week and encouraged him to consider whether greater use can be made of the available FTC in order to increase the supply of social housing, building on the schemes that the Department currently has in place. I gave him my commitment that my officials will work constructively with his on that.”
“An allocation of £35 million resource DEL has been made to the Department of Justice to help to address a range of pressures across the Justice family, including a pressure that is associated with an increased PSNI pension contribution. The Department for Infrastructure will receive £6 million resource DEL to help it to meet a range of pressures, including increased personal injury claims and higher surface water drainage costs. The Executive Office will receive earmarked allocations of £1·5 million resource DEL to enable the Communities in Transition programme to extend its contracts up to March 2025 and £0·5 million for central good relations. Finally, £0·6 million resource DEL has been allocated to the Department of Finance to allow critical work on the planning and preparation for the next census to be carried out.”
“In addition to earmarked funding for the EA pay and grading review, the Department of Education will receive a general allocation of £29·5 million to address a range of pressures relating to the Education Authority and schools, including supporting special educational needs provision. The Department for Communities will receive £10 million resource DEL to deal with a range of pressures, including increased demand for the discretionary support Supporting People programme, as well as for homelessness interventions, which will support some of the most vulnerable. The Department will also receive £0·5 million specifically for the arts to provide funding to that important sector.”
“The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs will receive £4 million for bovine TB programme delivery and an earmarked allocation of £1·5 million for the environmental improvement plan, which is aimed at addressing the water quality issues at Lough Neagh. The Department for the Economy will receive £2 million for the inescapable pressure of the shortfall in the higher education teaching grant. The Department of Health will receive a general allocation of £121 million resource DEL to help to address funding pressures, with a further allocation of £0·9 million to enable it to fund additional healthcare training places in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work and nursing.”
“I have been pressing and will continue to press the Treasury for better funding for public services, but, until that happens, the Executive must live within the funding provided to them. <BR /> <BR />As Members will be aware, delivering a balanced Budget for 2024-25 was a requirement of the financial package. Any overspend this year would automatically be deducted from next year's block grant, making an already challenging year even more difficult. I am sure that we all want to avoid that position. I hope that the allocation of over £200 million resource DEL to Departments will help to mitigate some of the worst impacts. <BR /> <BR />Full details of the bids and allocations are set out in the tables that accompany the statement, but I will highlight a few specific resource DEL allocations.”
“<BR /> <BR />Having taken account of those two issues, the Executive had £213·1 million resource DEL, £57·5 million capital DEL and £23·6 million financial transactions capital available to address pressures. Given the pressures identified in the Budget, it will come as no surprise that the resource and capital bids in this monitoring round far outweigh the level of resources available. For every £1 that we had to allocate for day-to-day funding for public services, we had six times as many demands, with bids totalling some £1·27 billion. Similarly, for every £1 that we had to spend on capital, we had nine times as many demands, with bids in excess of £520 million. There is simply not enough funding available to do all the things that we wish to do.”
“I have been working collegiately with the Education Minister, and I thank him for the positive work that he has done to find a way forward for the workers. I am pleased to advise that £43·7 million will be provided for that in the June monitoring round, which will allow the staff, some of whom are amongst the lowest paid but play a vital role in supporting our children and young people, to move onto the new pay scales from the start of the financial year. The Executive have also committed to provide funding for a non-consolidated recognition payment in lieu of back pay to eligible staff in 2025-26. That will be funded from the repurposed funds in the financial package. However, utilisation of the funding for that purpose will occur only if the Treasury does not agree to my request to reprofile funding from the financial package.”
“Combined with carry-forward from 2023-24, an adjustment for an error in comparability factor and reduced requirements, that has resulted in £257·9 million of resource DEL, £59·1 million of capital DEL and £23·6 million financial transactions capital being available for allocation in this monitoring round. <BR /> <BR />Under legislation, the salaries of statutory office holders are met directly from the NI Consolidated Fund. However, Budget cover is still required and must be funded. The Department of Justice requested an additional £1·1 million for judicial salaries, which will be provided in this round. Members will be aware of the ongoing issue of the Education Authority (EA) pay and grading review.”
“The agreement of the interim fiscal framework resulted in an additional £23·9 million from the application of the 124% adjustment factor to the spring Budget. While Barnett consequentials from Westminster Main Estimates will not be confirmed until they have been introduced in Parliament, on the basis of previous indications, I have anticipated £185 million resource DEL from that source. There is a risk that the amount ultimately received could be lower. However, given the pressures facing Departments and the need to provide them with any additional funding as early as possible in the financial year, I am content that that is an acceptable risk. Not doing so could result in Departments taking actions that are not required, thereby causing further detriment to our public services.”
“I will now turn to June monitoring. First, I will address commitments made by the Executive in agreeing Budget 2024-25. Members will recall that Budget 2024-25 set aside £25 million for actions relating to a childcare strategy. Since then, the Executive have agreed the Education Minister's proposals to utilise that funding, which will be transferred to the Department of Education as an earmarked allocation. The Executive also agreed in Budget 24-25 that £1·6 million of capital DEL late Barnett consequentials would be provided to DAERA for Lough Neagh initiatives. That earmarked funding will also be provided as part of the June monitoring round. <BR /> <BR />Given the funding available for allocation, Budget 2024-25 concluded with all resource and capital DEL allocated and £21·3 million of unallocated financial transactions capital.”
“Due to Budget exchange limits, only £8·6 million can be carried forward into 2024-25. It should be noted, however, that, of the total underspend of £443·4 million, some £373 million relates to student loan impairments and is mainly a result of the funding model used by the Treasury rather than of underspend by the Department.”
“<BR /> <BR />On conventional capital DEL, £9·1 million will be carried forward, reflecting departmental underspends and central adjustments and including £1·6 million of late Barnett consequentials. <BR /> <BR />On financial transactions capital (FTC), although the total underspend is £10·8 million, the Budget exchange scheme allows only £0·6 million to be carried forward into 2024-25. The remaining underspend of £10·2 million is not lost but rather reduces future liabilities, as my Department has agreed with the Treasury that any FTC underspends can be used to offset the required repayment of 80% of allocations. <BR /> <BR />Ring-fenced resource DEL may be used only for non-cash depreciation and impairments costs; it cannot be used to fund other services.”
“<BR /> <BR />As a result of that action, the departmental resource DEL underspend of £19·3 million was reduced to £5·2 million. Adjusting for a reduction in anticipated regional rates income and removing earmarked funding that must be returned to the Treasury results in a small overspend of £0·5 million in non-ring-fenced resource DEL. That small overspend is offset by a late Barnett consequential of £41·6 million that the Treasury exceptionally agreed could be carried forward to 2024-25. Therefore, no resource DEL funding has been lost due to underspends, and the £41·1 million is being carried forward into 2024-25. The usual Budget exchange limits apply to all other expenditure categories.”
“<BR /> <BR />Before turning to the current year, I will update the Assembly on the 2023-24 provisional out-turn and the resulting carry-forward under the Budget exchange scheme. Tables accompanying the statement set out the provisional out-turn position for each Department. Members will recall that, owing to the funding provided from the reserve in 2023-24 as part of the financial package, the Executive are unable to carry forward any resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspends. To minimise the risk of funding being lost, the Executive agreed an overcommitment of £14·1 million based on anticipated departmental underspends, which allowed an additional allocation of that amount to the Department for Infrastructure.”
“You were giving me heart failure there; I thought that I had the wrong folder. <BR /> <BR />Thank you for the opportunity to make a statement on the outcome of the 2023-24 provisional out-turn and the Executive's June monitoring exercise. I have carefully considered whether the June monitoring round should proceed during the pre-election period, and my view is that that process represents normal and routine Executive business. There is also an urgent need to provide certainty to Departments, and even a short delay presents risks. Not proceeding could have resulted in Departments taking decisions that would not have been needed had an additional allocation been confirmed. Proceeding as we have done allows for proper Assembly engagement without the need for the House to be recalled during recess.”
“I am sure that the Member will appreciate that the accounts have not been laid in the Assembly in the last couple of years because the Assembly was not sitting and there was no ability to approve the accounts via the North/South Ministerial Council. <BR /> <BR />On the specific question about the staffing complement, the current staff complement for SEUPB is 57, and the last time that it was reviewed was in 2012.”
“<BR /> <BR />There are the specific elements in relation to mental health, but, within those other themes as well, there are opportunities for community organisations and groups, such as those that the Member mentioned, to apply for those smaller grants, which is a new opportunity. Those grants of up to €100,000 will be part of what will be called "the cross-community change maker funds" and "cross-border change maker funds." There might be opportunities there, and I encourage the Member to engage with SEUPB around what additional opportunities there might be in relation to mental health.”
“I commend the Member for getting the plugs in for his constituency. One of the key themes of PEACE PLUS is youth mental health and well-being. There is a significant role for community organisations in PEACE PLUS, and there was significant engagement to ensure that the needs of communities were addressed and recognised in the development of the programme. There was specific engagement with smaller community groups, which is really important because some of them felt that, previously, there was a barrier to their getting involved. That is why there has been a specific focus on ensuring a more simplified approach to the application process.”
“I am happy to write to the Member and furnish him with the details of that. I assume that it is a process issue.”