Northern Ireland: Victims Payment Scheme

Lord Caine Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

I am totally in line with the frustrations expressed by the noble Baroness. This delay is extremely disappointing, which is why the Secretary of State, the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and parties are working with a great degree of urgency to take things forward.

[Lord Caine (Con)]

My Lords, victims and survivors who have campaigned for so long and with such dignity will be rightly angry and devastated by the latest setback. Does my noble friend agree that, going right back to the 2014 Stormont House agreement, it was always envisaged that any scheme for victims’ payments would be administered by the Northern Ireland Executive and financed through the substantial block grant that they receive? Will he now ask our right honourable friend the Secretary of State to meet again with the First and Deputy First Ministers as a matter of urgency, so that this issue can be resolved without any further delay?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

Indeed. My noble friend is right that the funding of the scheme is to come from the block grant, to be “Barnettised”; this is a devolved matter, and devolved matters are funded through the block grant. He is also right that the Northern Ireland Executive committed to finding a way forward on this matter as far back as 2014. I will certainly pass on the message about the meetings, but I reassure my noble friend that they are happening at different levels, particularly the most senior ones; one happened only yesterday between the Secretary of State and the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.