Debate contribution: Budget Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Brian Kingston on 24 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Brian Kingston

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

24 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Budget Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5404460

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I rise as a DUP member of the Finance Committee. We were once again in the position of having to grant the Budget Bill accelerated passage in order for it to pass. Whilst that is generally the position for this process, I repeat what the Finance Committee Chair said: Members should not imagine that it was a formality. There was debate about the basis of that agreement, and, while the decision to approve accelerated passage was unanimous, that does not mean that agreement was arrived at lightly. However, we acknowledge that the Budget Bill would be unlikely to pass in time without it. The Budget Bill passes the two points of resolution discussed here yesterday: the finalisation of the 2025-26 figures and approving a 45·7% Vote on Account to enable services to keep running into 2026-27. On the 2025-26 financial position and settlement, it has been clear that Ministers and Departments need to take steps to be more agile in the best interests of delivering high-quality public services in Northern Ireland. Nobody should sit back and wait for monitoring rounds to take action when there are significant changes that should be acted on instantly, especially to the capital budget. Last year, we saw significant hand-backs: for the A5 in the December monitoring round and then, in January, for the A4 Enniskillen bypass. Late hand-backs of capital put incredible pressure on other Departments to deliver by 31 March, as capital projects have necessary lead time. In July, the A5 legal case made it clear that the project could not progress due to our stringent climate change targets. The money that was allocated to that should have been reallocated at that point; we should not have had to wait five months until a monitoring round. The Communities Minister stands ready to build more homes if he is allocated the budget, but that needs to be better managed from the centre. Also in Infrastructure, the late allocation for winter pressures on our roads has led to frantic pothole patching, with limited suppliers available in this short year-end window. Surely that is not the best way to strategically manage our roads, which are in complete crisis. It is clear to all that Northern Ireland's public finances are overstretched. That is challenging for the four-party Executive — for every Minister and their Department — but it is also a challenge for all MLAs, including the opposition parties, if their interests lie in the public good and our public services. This financial year, we have been effectively bailed out by a £400 million reserve claim from His Majesty's Treasury that, in particular, enables costs and pay claims in the Health and Education Departments to be met. I commend all those who assisted in securing the reserve claim, including our party leader, Gavin Robinson MP. It shows the importance of active representation at Westminster, where Sinn Féin leaves constituencies unrepresented.

I will give way in a minute. I have listened to the SDLP leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. He seems perturbed that his party's MPs were behind the curve on the matter, but I welcome the fact that the DUP was in front of it. Perhaps he can update us on what role the SDLP's MPs had in securing the reserve claim. He seems to focus on the DUP's role.

I did not hear the Member answer the question about what the SDLP MPs did to achieve the £400 million reserve claim. Perhaps he will consult them to find out, because it is a blank page at the moment. On the Member's point, the Finance Minister said yesterday that he is Irish. He is entitled to be Irish, but Northern Ireland is British, and we are part of the sixth-largest economy in the world. Because of that, we receive £19·3 billion from His Majesty's Treasury as our block grant, which is a substantial amount of money. At the same time, we argue that we need more, and the DUP has led that argument. The allocation of 124% is the largest in the UK, but we are entitled to more. We can do the two things at once: we can acknowledge the benefits of our place in the United Kingdom, and we can campaign for a larger settlement.

Absolutely, and I will come to that point later. Northern Ireland makes a substantial contribution to the United Kingdom. Our economy is worth £63 billion and more, and I will come to that point in due course. You are right: some of the £19·3 billion has come from us, but we acknowledge that all regions of the UK outside of London, the south-east and the east of England receive a net subsidy, and we receive that because we are part of the United Kingdom. Madam Principal Deputy Speaker, before you ask me to return to the subject, I will do so. As things stand, the reserve claim has to be paid back over the next three years. We cannot continue to operate with an accumulating overspend year-on-year. We must scrutinise all public spending in Northern Ireland to find out where savings can be made and efficiencies can be found to reduce costs without impacting negatively on the delivery of front-line public services. Therefore, we welcome the commitment included in the reserve claim for an open-book exercise to be carried out by the Home Civil Service in GB to scrutinise the Northern Ireland Civil Service, which has traditionally been independent. We should welcome every opportunity of assistance to ensure financial sustainability. I trust that all MPs support the campaign for an increased block grant settlement from Treasury, as 124% of the rate of funding per capita in England is not sufficient for our needs in Northern Ireland. That campaign, which has been led by the DUP at Westminster, will continue. As I said, every part of the UK outside of London, the south-east and the east of England receives a net subsidy as part of the United Kingdom, which is the sixth-largest economy in the world. I am thankful for that. I will not repeat things that I have already mentioned. I move now to our overall finances. Some parties want to focus on increasing taxation on our people. We in the DUP make no apology for saying that our first recourse must be finding efficiencies and pushing forward with reform and transformation in our public services, rather than just seeking to increase taxation on hard-working families who are doing the right thing, playing their part and trying to make ends meet. Of course, there are other ways in which we could increase our income by growing our economy and increasing non-domestic rates income and by getting agreement from Treasury on tackling benefit fraud and error and retaining an element of those savings for our public services, as was brought forward by the Communities Minister. Perhaps the Finance Minister can give an update on negotiations with the Treasury about the tackling of benefit fraud and error. When I raised that with him most recently, he said that the business case was with Treasury. The Communities Minister has advised that the Executive as a whole need to reach agreement on taking that forward. I would appreciate an update on that from the Finance Minister. There are other ways in which we could increase our income. We have the transformation package of £235 million over five years; the city and growth deals, with a net contribution from Treasury of £600 million across the four deals, totalling £1·3 billion with all the contributions; the enhanced investment zone, which is a £150 million project covering all of Northern Ireland that focuses on green industries, digital tech and advanced manufacturing and engineering; the defence growth deal of £10 million, which recognises that we have three of the largest aerospace and defence companies in the world in Northern Ireland; and the recently announced £30 million Belfast to Londonderry corridor to develop research and development strengths in cybersecurity and digital technology. There are important opportunities to increase funding from outside of the block grant by playing our part in those initiatives. It is also important that every Department engage in long-term financial planning. Last year, the Department of Finance — I am not sure whether it was under the current Minister — issued a call on all nine Departments to development their five-year plans and five-year budget plans. I commend the Education Minister, who published his five-year budget plan this month. Some Departments have done just a five-year plan without the budget part. I do not know whether the Minister can update us on how that work is progressing and the pressure on Departments to produce those five-year plans. Of course, we have the incoming local growth fund as a replacement for the Shared Prosperity Fund. We discussed during Question Time with the Minister the frustration that we all feel about the restriction by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) of only 30% going to revenue and the impact that that is having on community-based employability support programmes to help long-term unemployed people into employment. That has created a particular squeeze for the next financial year. I understand that the local growth fund is likely to come under the control of the Northern Ireland Executive the year after that. I do not know whether, among all of the negotiations with Westminster Departments, the Finance Minister considered, was able to find or will be able to find extra funding to help those community-based projects in the next financial year to get past that squeeze in the reduction of support for those employability programmes. Will he update us on that?

Before closing, I will reference what we said earlier. Whilst Northern Ireland receives that net subsidy of £19·3 billion through the block grant from Treasury, we should also recognise and celebrate Northern Ireland's contribution to United Kingdom plc. The Northern Ireland economy is worth over £63 billion as a contribution to the UK economy. We have particular strengths in our economy, such as advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, fintech, financial services and the creative industries, including TV and film production. Outside of London, we have the highest rate of investment from US companies in the UK. We make a substantial contribution to food security in the UK, producing enough food for 10 million people. We have the highest rate of recruitment into the armed forces, pro rata, in the UK. Sinn Féin and the SDLP repeatedly turn a blind eye to the reality of the need for defence and military capability as in Ukraine, but even they must recognise that the Republic of Ireland is increasingly exposed as the weak link in European security, relying largely on the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force to compensate for its neglect of the real threat that Europe is facing. They are the outliers when they turn a blind eye to the defence needs of not just the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland but Europe. In conclusion, the challenge for our Executive is stark. That challenge is to, at the same time, live within our overall Budget; champion reform, transformation and efficiencies; make more effective use of our Budget; campaign for a greater block grant settlement from Treasury that recognises our true level of need; grow our economy and increase rates income, which means talking up the positives of Northern Ireland; and advance other initiatives, such as those that I have mentioned, that bring extra government funding to Northern Ireland. That is our joint responsibility to the people of Northern Ireland, who expect us all to provide good government and good public services and to make efficient use of the finances at our disposal from the public purse.

1,961 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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