Debate contribution: City and Growth Deals Funding Commitment

Debate contribution by Dr Caoimhe Archibald on 16 September 2024.

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 4532478

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The communication from the Secretary of State is that the status of the Belfast region city deal is unchanged. That is the extent of the communication that I have had. As I said to Deborah, we need to get clarity on all those matters, and I am still waiting for that formal communication to set out the exact status of each of the city and growth deals. The project that the Member referred to is hugely important for her constituents, in the same way as a number of projects that we will all point to into which local partners have put a lot of time and effort through development proposals and investment. We need to see the assurances for each of the city and growth deals and the pause lifted on the two that remain paused.

The Member's point about having been involved for eight years is relevant. So much time and effort has gone into developing projects for each city and growth deal. I am not in the headspace where I accept that there will be a reneging on the funding commitment. The Government need to honour the commitments and pledges that they made on the funding, and, where deals have already been signed, it is only reasonable that we expect them to be delivered. I am therefore not yet in the place where I need to be thinking about reimbursing people. Collectively, we need to make the case for the commitments to be delivered on.

I thank the Member for her questions. I share her dismay about the projects, because she and I are constituency colleagues, and we know well the importance of the growth deal locally. I do not know the rationale behind the decision. I can only presume that it is about the progress made. The Belfast region city deal had moved past the financial deal-signing stage, and a number of contracts had been signed. The Derry city deal was getting to the financial deal-signing stage, but that is why we need to make the case for why there can be no disparity among the various deals.

They all need to be delivered. Those responding committed to them all — the British Government, the Executive and other local partners. Therefore, they all need to proceed, and they need to proceed as a matter of urgency. Nobody should be sitting around until the end of October waiting for clarity on that, because that will undermine confidence in the projects being delivered.

The number of Members in the Chamber this afternoon to ask questions on the topic shows how important it is. I will have a call with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury this afternoon. It is important that we seek clarity around the projects that remain paused. That pause needs to be lifted as a matter of urgency. The Member cited a project in his constituency that needs to be delivered: we all have those projects, and all of them need to be delivered. All of the commitments made in relation to that funding and all of the pledges made — the deals that have been signed — need to be delivered.

I thank the Member for that question. Like me, he will be familiar with the projects in the Causeway Coast and Glens deal. I had the opportunity to visit Bushmills recently and hear about the plans for the regeneration project there. There is also Dungiven regeneration and the range of innovation projects in which the university and the regional college are involved. They are all really important in driving forward our economic development, boosting economic performance, creating jobs and supporting businesses and infrastructure development. It is crucial that they be delivered. My feelings about how the whole episode has been handled are well on record: it has been absolutely shambolic. There needs to be serious reflection on the rebuilding of relationships, because they have been seriously damaged over the past few days.

I have figures here on what has been invested in each of the deals over the past number of years. Obviously, the Belfast deal is the most advanced, and funding has been flowing there since about 2022-23. There was £3 million that year and £5·36 million in the following year. In Derry and Strabane, £0·9 million was spent in 2022-23.This year, about £48 million has been spent, of which about £39·5 million is a British Government contribution. In Derry and Strabane this year, £0·72 million is anticipated to be spent on one of the projects, along with £2·7 million on the Derry North Atlantic museum, which is funded through the Executive's contribution to the Inclusive Future Fund. There has been considerable investment. That is the funding that has flowed from the Executive and the British Government, but there has also been investment from local partners in the development of projects to business case stage so that they are in a position to be taken forward. All of that is put at risk, if there are questions marks over it, and confidence in deliverability is undermined. That is why we need the pause on the two remaining deals to be lifted as a matter of urgency and the funding commitments delivered on.

As the Member will be aware, the city and growth deals are delivered over a number of years, so that funding commitment is over a number of years. As I said in response to another Member, I am not yet in the space of accepting that funding commitments will be withdrawn. That is not an acceptable position for us to be in. The commitments need to be honoured, and the British Government need to live up to the commitments that have been made. The Executive are certainly committed to the delivery of the projects; we expect the British Government to do the same.

The Member will be aware that the complementary fund is an additional £100 million that the Executive committed for the three city and growth deals — the Belfast region deal, the Causeway Coast and Glens deal and the Mid South West deal — that are not in receipt of Inclusive Future Fund moneys, which the Derry and Strabane growth deal is. I think that £52 million of that fund has already been earmarked for a number of projects, leaving £48 million still to be allocated. As I have said, I do not accept that it would be reasonable for us to be in a position where the British Government renege on their funding commitments to those two growth deals. I will continue to urge them to honour those commitments and the deals that they have already signed. I will continue to impress upon the Treasury that it needs to reverse those pauses and the deplorable decisions that have been taken, because there can be no disparity between the deals. To return to Mr Durkan's point, we all accept the need to address regional inequalities, and Derry and Strabane are right at the top in relation to that. However, all our regions face difficulties. We really need the projects to be delivered in order to drive forward local economic development.

1,191 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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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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