Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much each department in the Northern Ireland Executive has returned to the Treasury since 2016; and what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive on that matter.

Any returns by the Northern Ireland Executive to the Treasury are undertaken at Block Grant level not by individual departments. Since 2016, the Executive’s underspends have been largely in two areas: ring-fenced Resource DEL and Financial Transactions Capital.

Budget exchange is a mechanism that allows the Executive to carry forward a forecast DEL underspend from one year to the next, within previously agreed limits and with the consent of Treasury Ministers. Since 2016, the total amount of underspend for each year which cannot be accessed via Budget Exchange for the following year is:

2016/17: £130.9m

2017/18: £210.1m

2018/19: £254.9m

2019/20: £207m

2020/21: £426.7m

The amount unused in 2020/21 includes £373.3m that had been earmarked for student loan impairments, which did not materialise.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland engages with the Chancellor and Treasury Ministers on a regular basis in relation to Northern Ireland’s public finances and wider economy, as well as with the First Minister and deputy First Minister. The Executive’s finances are also reported on by the independent Fiscal Council.