Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and (2) permanent secretaries of the Northern Ireland Executive, regarding budgetary allocations to each of the departments in the Executive.
Answered by Lord Caine - Shadow Minister (Northern Ireland)
The Secretary of State and Northern Ireland Office officials engaged intensively with the Northern Ireland Civil Service to set the Northern Ireland Budget for the 2023-24 financial year, which he set on 27 April in his statement to Parliament. The Secretary of State also met political representatives in Northern Ireland to hear their views.
It remains the UK Government’s firm view that the right people to make these decisions and set a budget are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly. In the absence of these, it will be for each Northern Ireland department to manage its funding within its budget allocation.