Debate contribution: Budget Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on .
- MLA
- Mr John O'Dowd
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 18 February 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Budget Bill: Second Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4806160
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I beg to move
The Second Stage debate follows the Assembly's approval yesterday of Department and other bodies' final expenditure plans as detailed in the spring Supplementary Estimates 2024-25. The Assembly also approved the Vote on Account for 2025-26, enabling Departments to utilise resources and access the cash necessary to continue the delivery of services until work has been completed on the 2025-26 Main Estimates and the associated Budget (No. 2) Bill. Members also approved the Statement of Excesses 2023-24, which regularised previous expenditure.
As Members will be aware, Departments are operating under the authority of the Budget (No. 2) Act 2024, which authorised the 2024-25 Main Estimates. Following the agreement of January monitoring allocations by the Executive on 16 January 2025, Departments and other bodies prepared their spring Supplementary Estimates based on that Budget position. As I said yesterday, additional headroom was included. The Assembly's agreement of the Executive's final Budget for 2024-25 allows me to bring the Budget Bill to the Assembly to seek legislative authority for the expenditure of the Departments and other bodies for the remainder of the financial year. There is a short window between the January monitoring round position being agreed by the Executive, the Estimates being produced and the Budget Bill's completing the full legislative process. It is vital to secure Royal Assent to the Budget Bill by the end of March 2025 to ensure that Departments and other bodies can continue to access the cash and resources required to deliver services for the remainder of the 2024-25 financial year.
I am grateful to the Finance Committee for confirming that, in line with Standing Order 42, the Budget Bill can proceed under accelerated passage, and I thank the Committee for its support. It has been necessary to request that Standing Order 42(5) be suspended to allow the Budget Bill to complete all stages in less than 10 days. In addition, suspension of Standing Order 39(2) has been requested to facilitate the prompt passage of the Bill.
The Assembly's Standing Order 32 directs that the Second Stage debate:
"shall be confined to the general principles of the Bill",
and I shall endeavour to keep to that direction. The Bill will give effect to the spring Supplementary Estimates for 2024-25 and authorise the cash and use of resources on services to allow Departments and other public bodies to continue to operate for the remainder of the 2024-25 financial year. The Bill will also authorise a 45% Vote on Account for 2025-26 to enable departmental and public bodies to keep delivering public services in the 2025-26 financial year until the Main Estimates for the 2025-26 year and its associated Budget (No. 2) Bill have been prepared and authorised. In addition, the Bill will regularise expenditure on Excesses identified by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and will authorise cash for the use of resources for 2023-24, as described in its published report. Copies of the Budget Bill and the explanatory and financial memorandum (EFM) have been made available to Members, and the spring Supplementary Estimates 2024-25, Vote on Account for 2025-26 and Statement of Excesses 2023-24 were laid in the Assembly on 10 February 2025. The Bill will authorise the revised issue of £26,536,605,000 from the Consolidated Fund and the use of resources totalling £31,041,393,000 by the Departments and other bodies listed in schedule 1 to the Bill in the year ending 31 March 2025. The cash and resources are to be spent and used on the services listed in schedule 1. Those amounts supersede the amounts that were previously authorised by the Budget (No. 2) Act 2024. The Bill also includes a Vote on Account for 2025-26, as detailed in schedule 2, to allow the Departments and bodies specified to deliver services into the early months of the incoming 2024-25 financial year. It is important to stress that that does not constitute setting a 2025-26 Budget. As Members are aware, on 19 December 2024, the Executive agreed to consult on a draft Budget for 2025-26. The consultation period closes on 13 March 2025, and, once the Executive agree the 2025-26 Budget, it will be brought to the Assembly to consider within the 2025-26 Main Estimates and associated Budget (No. 2) Bill. In addition, the Budget Bill before Members today will authorise Excesses for the 2023-24 year as identified by the Public Accounts Committee for the purposes specified in schedule 3 to the Bill. While the majority of expenditure by all Departments is on the authority of statutory powers provided through legislation passed by the Assembly, some functions may rely on the sole authority of the Budget Act until appropriate legislation is in place. There was some discussion and debate on that matter yesterday evening. Table 6 of the 'Spring Supplementary Estimates 2024-25' document sets out a summary of expenditure resting on the sole authority of the Budget Act. My Department has been proactive in liaising with Departments in order to reduce reliance on sole authority. Before I conclude, I wish to correct the record from yesterday evening, if that is permissible. Mr Gaston raised an issue about a table on page 7 of the spring Supplementary Estimates. Mr Gaston was correct: the table set out the spends in millions instead of hundreds of thousands. I have asked for that to be corrected. A letter will be forwarded to the Finance Committee, and a correction of the record will be placed in the Library for Members. I apologise to the House for that error. I have asked my officials to examine how it came about.
I will write today to the Finance Committee and my Executive colleagues to set out the position, as best I know it, on the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions, Barnett consequentials and the pressure that might be placed on Departments, councils and the voluntary and community sector. That was, understandably, discussed at length yesterday, and, as I set out then, I will put in writing to Members the position, as best I know it. I cannot confirm the Treasury's position, but I assure Members that I will inform them once I am aware of it. I thought that it would be useful to forward the information at hand. In conclusion, this crucial legislation is required to ensure that all day-to-day public services, which we all rely upon, can continue to be delivered to our citizens for the remainder of this financial year. On that note, I will conclude. I am happy to deal with any points on the Bill or other matters that arise during the debate.
1,096 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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