Debate contribution: City and Growth Deals Funding Commitment
Debate contribution by Dr Caoimhe Archibald on .
- MLA
- Dr Caoimhe Archibald
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 16 September 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Ministerial Statements
- Heading
- City and Growth Deals Funding Commitment
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4532458
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The Belfast region city deal, as the Member will be very well aware, was signed in December 2021. Twelve legally binding contracts have since been signed, and a further three of those are expected to be signed in 2024. Planning permission had already been granted for some of those projects as well. You mentioned that Derry and Strabane District Council has made excellent progress in developing projects for its city deal. It is now due to hold an event in the Guildhall on Wednesday to officially sign that deal. It is at the financial deal-signing stage. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council signed heads of terms on 24 April, and preparation is going into the outline business cases to progress to the next stage of the financial deal signing. Obviously, as I said, the fact is that the pause in the funding commitment will damage confidence and the momentum of that project. That is why it needs to be rectified immediately. The Mid South West growth deal has also been making excellent progress and the deal partner was preparing to sign the heads of terms in late autumn. Again, I will press the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Secretary of State for clarity on the funding commitments for that deal and, again, stress that the pause should be lifted as a matter of urgency.
The Member's question points to the difficulty that the pause on the funding commitment has created. There is a range of projects right across the North on which delivery is critical, and now there are question marks over some of those projects. I will work with the Infrastructure Minister and all Executive Ministers to understand where we are with individual projects, but we need to get the pause lifted as quickly as possible so that we can put certainty back into the delivery of those projects and ensure that there is not a loss of confidence. A lot of people out there have angst and concern about whether projects will be delivered, and I am not in a position to answer their questions, because I do not have clarity on a lot of them. We need that clarity as a matter of urgency.
I am well on record at this point about how deplorable the actions of the past days have been. The answer to the first part of your question is no, I am not. It is outrageous that we are in that situation. We need that to be rectified as a matter of urgency, because those projects will deliver economic development, create jobs and provide infrastructure investment. I made exactly those points to the Chancellor. She talks about a growth agenda; the city and growth deals will deliver that. We need to see them back on track.
I share the Member's concerns. I spoke to the Mid South West chief executives earlier, and I understand and feel their frustration, given the effort that has gone into developing those projects. The British Government's funding, for the most part, goes towards innovation and digital projects. They are, again, the projects that will be game-changing in economic development and boosting jobs and local economic activity. For example, in Causeway Coast and Glens, the British Government were funding the Bushmills innovation and incubation hub; the centre for drug discovery, biofood and pharmaceutical innovation; and a food innovation and incubation hub. The private sector, along with the universities, has put a lot of development and interest into those things. In the Mid South West deal, it is projects such as the agri bio innovation centre, the Mid South West innovation programme and the green energy pilot. Those are the projects that the British Government are supposed to be funding. They are really exciting and innovative projects, and we need the pause to be lifted as soon as possible, so that everybody can get back to ensuring that they are delivered as quickly as possible and so that Mid South West can get its heads of terms signed.
670 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.92).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.92).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.06 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.92 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.92 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.08 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.99 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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