Funds may be in short supply at Stormont but there's been no shortage of disparaging adjectives to describe Chris Heaton-Harris's budget. "Punishing", "absolutely brutal" and "shockingly harsh" were just some of the descriptions applied to a spending plan that takes money off every department year-on-year, with the exception of Department of Health, which gets a paltry 0.5 per cent increase. Officials referred to the allocations as "flat" when compared to last year, which is being generous with language to say the least, as the Executive Office and Department of Finance face a drop in spending of 3.8 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively. In all, the north will receive £14.2bn resource and £2.2bn capital, compared to last year's £14.3bn resource and £2.1bn capital – an overall reduction of 0.4 per cent.
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However, what these figures fail to reflect is inflation, which is currently running at around 10 per cent, meaning all departments are facing massive cuts, which are bound to negatively impact on the delivery of public services. The reduced allocations also raise questions about departments' ability to meet any pay claims, even if there is a willingness. Meanwhile, responsibility for deciding where savings will be made falls not with ministers, as it should do, but with senior civil servants, who've already voiced their reluctance to take what are effectively political decisions. The secretary of state plans to legislate to extend the period civil servants can make such calls in the absence of an executive.
Mr Heaton-Harris did have some good news, relatively speaking. The £297m overspend that was due to be repaid to the Treasury from this year's block grant, piling even greater pressure on the depleted coffers, is being deferred for now, sort of. However, the debt incurred collectively by Stormont's caretaker ministers up to October last year, will have to be repaid in full by the end of 2024/25. It means the Treasury will be first in line if and when any extra funds are diverted Stormont's way over the coming months. The technicalities may be difficult to understand but the bottom line is we're skint. It's hand to mouth from here on in, so forget any reform or investment in services that could deliver long-term savings.
The Tories and the DUP will receive some justifiable criticism for this state of affairs. The former has been steadily cutting public spending and shows little sympathy for our current plight, while the latter's boycott of the institutions means Stormont's politicians are hamstrung in terms of mitigating the impact of the cuts, even if they had a plan.
However, financial diligence and the NI Executive are terms rarely spoken in the same breath. With a mentality not dissimilar to teenagers living off the Bank of Mum and Dad, our political leaders have consistently avoided taking any hard decisions that could free-up cash, instead adhering to populist policies that while helping the worst off, also reward the affluent middle classes.
In tandem with his budget, the secretary of state is initiating a process whereby he can ask Stormont departments to explore means of raising revenue, including launching public consultations on any plans. For now, the process will stop short of implementation, but the idea is that a restored executive would be primed for picking up the baton.
For years, Stormont's politicians have buried their heads in the sand and ignored building financial pressures, so perhaps they shouldn't complain when somebody makes difficult decisions on their behalf?
