Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will conduct a comprehensive review of (a) relative need and (b) associated implications for the level of the fiscal floor for Northern Ireland required to ensure equivalent levels of service provision across the UK.

As part of the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) the UK Government and NIE agreed to add a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula as it applies to the NIE from 2024-25. This is part of the financial package worth over £3.3 billion.

This factor reflects the higher level of relative need in Northern Ireland, that the independent Northern Ireland Fiscal Council (NIFC) has calculated is 24% more per head than the rest of the UK for equivalent spending. The NIFC was established with cross-party agreement by the NIE in 2021 as part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement signed with the UK Government.