Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide additional funding under the Barnett consequentials to fund public sector pay awards in Northern Ireland, reflecting those offered to public sector workers in England and Wales.

The Government is accepting the headline pay recommendations of the independent Pay Review Bodies in full for 2023/24. This will be funded from within existing department budgets through a combination of greater efficiency and reprioritisation.

The Northern Ireland Executive are well funded to deliver all their devolved responsibilities, receiving at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK. As the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council acknowledges, Northern Ireland is receiving the funding it needs. Spending Review 2021 also set the largest annual block grants, in real terms, of any spending review settlement since the devolution Acts. This provided £15 billion per year for the Northern Ireland Executive.

A full breakdown of changes to devolved administrations’ block grants, including Barnett consequentials, is set out in the published Block Grant Transparency document.