Debate contribution: Finance: Chancellor’s Spring Forecast

Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on 3 March 2026.

MLA

Mr John O'Dowd

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

3 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

Finance: Chancellor’s Spring Forecast

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5435048

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you for the opportunity to update Members on the Chancellor’s spring forecast. The forecast set out that the Executive will receive an additional £390 million over the next three years, £380 million of which is resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) funding, with £9 million in capital. The majority of the resource DEL funding — £361·2 million — follows a decision taken in Whitehall earlier this month, when the British Government announced a £5?billion package to help to address the debts that local councils in England had built up in recent years in providing special educational needs (SEN) support. The remaining £17 million resource DEL is from decisions taken in respect of business rates. Ahead of the spring forecast, I wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury seeking clarity on the funding, particularly as special educational needs costs continue to rise and have become a significant contributor to the financial pressures facing the Executive. It was important that there was parity of treatment. Therefore, I welcome confirmation today that the Executive will receive funding from the announcement. The funding is primarily resource DEL, with £9 million in capital funding over the three-year period. The breakdown of the resource DEL funding is as follows: an additional £227·8 million in 2026-27; £5·6 million in 2027-28; and £144·9 million in 2028-29. As Members will be aware, following negotiations, the Treasury has recognised the significant challenges facing the Executive, as well as the savings realised in 2025-26, and has agreed to provide the Executive with a reserve claim of £400 million resource DEL in 2025-26. That is repayable over three years: £80 million in 2026-27; £160 million in 2027-28; and £160 million in 2028-29. While the additional funding is welcome and will provide assistance to the Executive, the reality is that severe pressures on the Executive’s finances remain. The loss of the £520 million stabilisation funding provided by the restoration package in 2024-25 and 2025-26 has made delivering front-line public services and balancing the Budget an impossible task. As demand for public services has grown, as witnessed in SEN provision and healthcare for the elderly, so has the cost of delivering the services that our people rightly expect and deserve. The delivery ambitions of Departments substantially exceed the funding available both for resource and capital budgets many times over. There remains a significant and unsustainable gap between our ambitions and the resources at our disposal. Addressing that disparity to provide sustainable services into the future will require adequate funding from Westminster for public services, as well as substantive reform and meaningful transformation in how we design and deliver our public services. I continue to make the case to the British Government regarding the restoration of the stabilisation fund to help stabilise public services and bring about the transformation of those services to make them fit for now and the future. To strengthen our case for fairer funding for public services, the Executive are working with Treasury to review the Executive’s spending and pressures through an open-book review of departmental spending. That will support a fuller understanding of the significant challenges that we face. It is intended that the exercise will be completed by mid-March, with the outcome of the process supporting the Executive in their efforts to agree a multi-year Budget. The review will also inform wider discussions on Budget sustainability and negotiations on the fiscal framework. While significant challenges remain, it is essential that the Executive grasp the opportunity presented now to set a multi-year Budget. The consultation on the multi-year Budget closes today. As of lunchtime today, over 300 responses had been received. I thank those who have contributed to the consultation. It is important that the views of our citizens, business and communities are heard as we work together to find solutions and deliver a multi-year Budget that makes the best possible use of the limited resources available. In parallel to the consultation, I have been continuing to engage with Executive colleagues. I will continue to work in partnership with Executive colleagues in the time ahead, including looking collectively at how we prioritise the funding available, including the additional funding announced today.

A multi-year Budget will provide Departments and public-sector organisations with certainty and the ability to make long-term plans. It will enable strategic investment that delivers lasting benefits for our economy, our environment and our society. I remain committed to working in partnership with my ministerial colleagues to find a way forward on the multi-year Budget in order to enable strategic investment that delivers lasting benefits for workers, families and businesses. I remain committed to continuing to engage with the Treasury to bring about a fairer funding outcome for workers, families and businesses.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

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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