Debate contribution: Supply Resolution for the Northern Ireland Spring Supplementary Estimates 2024-25

Debate contribution by Mr Brian Kingston on 17 February 2025.

MLA

Mr Brian Kingston

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

17 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Supply Resolution for the Northern Ireland Spring Supplementary Estimates 2024-25

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4803051

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I speak as a DUP member of the Committee for Communities and the Committee for the Executive Office. I take the opportunity to welcome the Finance Minister to his new post. The three Supply resolution motions before us today relate to the finances for the last financial year, this financial year and the next financial year. For 2023-24, of the £2·78 million that we have been asked to retrospectively approve, £2·284 million is overspend by the Department for Communities due to the higher-than-expected demand for universal credit advances. As the Chair of the Committee said, that is due to the five-week waiting period for first payments. The Public Accounts Committee has recommended better forecasting models, stronger contingency planning and improved financial oversight to prevent such a shortfall in the future. Regarding the current financial year, 2024-25, the Supply resolution motion combines all financial allocations this year, those being the initial allocation and all subsequent allocations through monitoring rounds. That makes the point that departmental allocations have increased during the year. When comparing Budgets year to year, it is disingenuous to directly compare the end-of-year figure with the start-of-year from the next year, as some have tried to do. When comparing Budgets, we must make sure that we compare like with like. That said, it should be our goal to have greater certainty of Budgets and spending plans at the start of each year and reduce dependency on monitoring rounds. This year, the Communities Minister was able to increase funding for new social homes in Northern Ireland as the year progressed from a low initial figure of just 400 up to a final figure of over 1,500 new social homes. I also acknowledge that the Communities Minister increased funding for the Supporting People programme, supporting vulnerable and homeless people through statutory and voluntary support services. As an example of the need to respond to unplanned events, the Communities Minister provided £4·8 million of resource and capital in response to storm Éowyn allocated to councils, housing associations and community services affected by the storm. Regarding the next financial year, 2025-26, through that Supply resolution we allocate 45% of the Budget from last year, as has become the practice at this stage each year. Obviously, that restricts long-term financial planning. Many community and voluntary sector groups face great uncertainty at this time of year with staff on protective notice and awaiting letters of offer of funding that are likely to be for just one year or even only part of the year. We should set ourselves the challenge of increasing financial certainty for Departments and reliant groups to enable proper planning and effectiveness of delivery.

Whilst we continue to campaign for funding from Westminster that matches our level of need in Northern Ireland, we must also focus on efficiency in our public services. Where are the efficiency savings being made by each Department from year to year? Are we measuring, quantifying and reporting them? What are the transformation changes that we are making now and are preparing for when we receive the necessary additional investment? Where and how are we tackling error and fraud in our public finances, as the Communities Minister set out last week regarding welfare? As guardians of the public purse, our guiding light should be efficiency and effectiveness in our public services and ensuring that every Budget is properly scrutinised so that it delivers the best value for money and positive outcomes for the people of Northern Ireland.

579 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:01 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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