Chancellor Pledges Extra £650m For NI

Chancellor Philip Hammond has pledged an additional £650 million for Northern Ireland in his Budget announcement.

The funding is expected to be split over three years.

However, Ulster Unionist Finance spokesperson, Dr Steve Aiken OBE MLA, said that local businesses in NI will not benefit from the Chancellor's Budget at all.

He said: "I would congratulate the Chancellor of the Exchequer for being able to produce the Budget, something which Northern Ireland's last Finance Minister Mairtin O Muilleoir hadn't the fiscal knowledge or ability to do.

"Whilst the cap on public sector pay appears to be weakening, and not before time, it remains outrageous that in the absence of local Ministers even the most modest 1% recommendations of local Pay Review Bodies cannot be signed off and implemented here. Not for the first time, Northern Ireland's public sector workers are getting the worst end of the deal.

"The review of the APD and the impact of VAT on tourism is progress, however there should have been real movement on the issue in this year's Budget rather than having to wait until the next. There have already been a plethora of reports and studies produced, so this further delay remains inexplicable and will simply represent another year of lost opportunity. 

"The announcement of £650m additional spending for Northern Ireland is of course welcome, especially as the Chancellor's previous Spring Budget set out a major real-terms reduction in 2018/19. Further clarity is urgently needed on it in order for the real impact to be properly assessed. 

"I would commend the Chancellor for recognising the need to reduce the burden of business rates, however given the issue is devolved in Northern Ireland - and the last Executive failed to address the issue – local businesses will not benefit from it at all."

SDLP Brexit Spokesperson Claire Hanna MLA said the Budget shows that the reality of Brexit has started to hit home.

"The very fact that the British Government had to set aside £3 billion to ensure that they can prepare for Brexit shows that reality has started to hit home. Contrary to promises to spend an additional £350 million per week on the NHS, this budget allocated more to administrate the Brexit chaos.

"Reports claim that this money will only cover the cost of work carried out by civil servants and will make no dent in the money the UK is likely to pay to the EU.

"With growth being slashed and higher inflation, our economy is continuing to struggle with no real thinking from the British Government on how to recover it. Instead the British Government continue to sleepwalk into Brexit despite the fact that post-Brexit we are threatened with economic chaos."

(CD/LM)