THE north's public services are braced for a round of unprecedented funding cuts amid warnings they could become "collateral damage" in Stormont's political deadlock.
Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris is expected to announce an already overdue budget in the coming days, with some Stormont departments forecast to lose upwards of 10 per cent of their spending power.
Due to the DUP's ongoing boycott of the institutions, senior civil servants will be tasked with reducing departments' spending in the absence of ministers.
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Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Colm Gildernew warned of a "vicious budget", while Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry said he expected "brutal" cuts across the board.
Former head of the regional civil service Sir David Sterling warned that public services could become "collateral damage" in the ongoing Stormont stalemate.
He suggested the reduced budget was designed to encourage the DUP back into government.
"I think there is no doubt a hard budget is being used to try and leverage the parties back into government," he told BBC's Sunday Politics.
"I suspect there will be some easing of the financial pressures if there is a resumption of the institutions, but the reality is the time this is taking is causing that real damage, and damage which will take a long time to repair."
Mr Gildernew said recent days had seen "savage" cuts to school budgets, coming on the back of the withdrawal of funding for the community sector and to rural transport schemes.
"That is wrong – it is cruel and vindictive and it is being imposed by a Tory government in London which has not a single elected representative on this island," he said.
“It is the responsibility for locally elected MLAs to take decisions on public finances in the interest of the people who live here."
Mr Farry said his party had urged the British government to consider a financial package for the north "based on an invest to save basis".
He warned that the level of cuts would have a far-reaching impact.
"It is going to be brutal, with major consequences for our public services and ability to grow the economy," the North Down MP said.
"There is going to be an immediate governance crisis in terms of who has the locus to take what are inherently political decisions around the allocation of scarce of resources."
