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Stormont gets £912m to tackle Covid-19 as departments set for increased spending power

Finance Minister Conor Murphy. Picture Arthur Allison
Finance Minister Conor Murphy. Picture Arthur Allison Finance Minister Conor Murphy. Picture Arthur Allison

NORTHERN Ireland has been allocated £912 million in Covid-19 support to date, with Stormont’s departments expecting to see the biggest increase in spending power in a decade.

Some £639m has already been allocated for coronavirus measures to date, including £370m for small business grants, with the Executive expected to announce further support in the coming weeks for the remaining £273m.

The figures emerged on Tuesday as Finance Minister Conor Murphy laid out details of the Stormont budget in the Assembly. But owing to legislation, the budget only included £120m for coronavirus mitigation, the allocation available to Stormont on March 16.

Most of that (£100m) has been set aside to cover the three month rates holiday for every business in the north.

The Department of Finance has announced a 6p in the pound reduction to the regional rate for businesses. The bulk of the cut will take around £56m from the Executive’s budget, with the rest linked to the recent revaluation of 74,000 non-domestic premises around the north, which saw the total value of all properties rise by 6.8 per cent.

Officials said that coupled with the three-month holiday, most businesses should see an 18 per cent reduction in their rates bill this year.

The regional rate for domestic properties has been frozen, but household bills could still go up depending on the district rate struck by councils. For example, the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council increased its domestic district rate by 7.65 per cent.

The overall amount of money available to spend by Stormont departments, outside of additional Covid-19 money, is up by 8.1 per cent in cash terms.

That increase is mostly down to extra funding from the New Decade New Approach (NDNA) package, including £350m for public spending pressures.

But presenting the budget in the Assembly’s chamber yesterday, Finance Minister Conor Murphy said that in real terms, the north’s block grant remains £360m below pre-austerity levels, when comparing like-for-like funding.

Total day-to-day funding for Stormont departments for 2020-21 is £12.2 billion, up by £909m on last year. A further £278.6m has been allocated for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for support payments, which replace the EU’s CAP (common agriculture policy) payments.

Another £70m of centrally held funding is expected to allocated to departments throughout the year.

The Finance Minister also announced a greater level flexibility for Stormont departments, which should enable some unspent funds to be re-allocated in the coming weeks.

While he announced £20m to renew the small business rates relief scheme, and the restoration of the rural ATM scheme, Mr Murphy accepted that some businesses had fallen between the cracks in terms of the Covid-19 support packages to date. While no detail emerged yesterday, it was suggested that further announcements could be made in the coming weeks.

“Development of this budget began before the onset of Covid-19 and has been overshadowed by the unprecedented public health crisis we face,” said the Finance Minister.

“There is no doubt that we remain in a challenging financial environment. Protecting lives and livelihoods from this pandemic is now the Executive’s number one priority.”