Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the money the Government has promised to allocate to the public sector in Northern Ireland to enable it to pay for the increase in employer contributions to National Insurance from April 2025 will be allocated on the basis of Barnett consequentials.

At Autumn Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer agreed to provide funding to the public sector to support them with the additional cost associated with changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions policy.

The devolved governments will receive funding through the Barnett Formula in 2025-26 for any changes to UK Government department budgets, including support for Employer National Insurance Contributions. This is the normal operation of the funding arrangements as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.

This funding will be in addition to the devolved governments’ record Spending Review settlements for 2025-26, which are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution.