Northern Ireland

£2 billion spent on Covid response in Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Audit Office has examined the Executive's response to the pandemic
The Northern Ireland Audit Office has examined the Executive's response to the pandemic The Northern Ireland Audit Office has examined the Executive's response to the pandemic

MORE than £2 billion has been spent responding to the coronavirus pandemic in Northern Ireland and the bill is set to rise much higher, a watchdog report has revealed.

Auditors have estimated the spend across Stormont departments during the crisis, with the health service receiving the lion's share of emergency UK Government funding since the outbreak in March.

Costs of the furlough scheme are not included, however, with almost 250,000 workers in the north availing of the job retention initiative by last month.

Value for money and the effectiveness of individual measures are not explored in the report, while disclosure is "limited" for departmental projects over £1m.

But the NI Audit Office said it plans to examine "arrangements" around the supply of Personal Protective Equipment which became mired in controversy after an order with the Republic's government fell through earlier this year.

Support to vulnerable groups and the wider impact of Covid-19 on public sector income will also be probed in further reports.

Almost 70 per cent of the total estimated costs identified in the report relate to activities across three departments - health (£568m), economy (£408m) and finance (£252m).

An estimated PPE bill of more than £200m was given by Department of Health to auditors in July.

The specialist gear is for health and social care staff as well as those in arms-length bodies including the Fire Service.

Surge planning - including the cost of the temporary Nightingale hospital - as well as the redeployment of staff, testing, hospice funding and drugs were also included within the projected costs.

The watchdog also found ministerial directions ordering speedy payment of support grants to businesses were issued by economy minister Diane Dodds.

There have been ministerial directions across other UK jurisdictions on Covid-19 initiatives.

The Department for the Economy offered support to local firms struggling to survive as a result of public compliance with social distancing and isolation regulations.

Due to the tight timeframe, Ms Dodds' officials had concerns as to whether they could provide sufficient evidence of the likely value for money of the schemes, or sufficient assurance on the risk of loss through error or fraud.

Grants included £25,000 for hospitality, retail and tourism businesses, a £10,000 grant for small companies and a micro-business hardship fund.

By July 24, the UK Government had confirmed that it would provide £2.2 billion to Northern Ireland to fund Covid-19 initiatives.

The overview published today outlines the breadth of the response and the range of initiatives developed by the Executive.

Comptroller and Auditor General Kieran Donnelly said: "The challenge of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic is unlike any the Northern Ireland Executive has ever faced.

"The scale of its response is similarly unprecedented. The Executive was required to quickly introduce multiple measures supporting vulnerable individuals and businesses facing a major reduction in income.

"My report gives an overview of these measures, but no assessment of the value for money of individual measures has been made at this point."

The report notes that when the total cost of furloughing employees is known, the overall bill will increase "materially".

Up to this point, a breakdown shows that Stormont's response to Covid has been funded by £1.28 billion received from the UK Government or the Executive and approximately £465 million either reallocated from within existing departmental budgets, or part of additional departmental bids submitted to the executive.

Mr Donnelly said: "There will undoubtedly be important lessons to learn, and this report provides my office with the basis for a programme of work evaluating how public money has been spent during this period."