A political process with the aim of moving Northern Ireland’s finances on to a “long-term sustainable” footing is to begin, Hilary Benn has said.
The Northern Ireland Secretary was joined by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, for meetings with the leaders of the parties in the powersharing Executive to discuss Stormont’s budget crisis.
The two Labour ministers said a programme of work would begin on Friday to understand the financial pressures that Stormont departments are facing.
Devolved ministers have failed to agree a budget for the current financial year, with departments operating on contingency budgets since April.
Ministers have consistently made the point that they need more funding from the Treasury to address a funding crisis facing public services in Northern Ireland.
After the Executive exceeded its budget in the previous financial year, the UK Government allocated £400 million from reserves to deal with overspend pressures in health and education.
The money has to be repaid over the next three years and the Treasury conducted an “open-book exercise” looking at the Executive budget.
The Hillsborough talks on Thursday were attended by Sinn Féin, the DUP, the Alliance Party and the Ulster Unionists.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Benn said it had been a “productive day”.
He said: “We have agreed a programme of work that will start tomorrow, which will involve officials from the Treasury, the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Civil Service, that will look first of all at the pressures that the Executive’s finances are facing.
“We need to fully understand what those are, and that detailed work can now begin with full disclosure.
“Secondly, to look at the Executive’s plan for fiscal sustainability and efficiencies and public services transformation, because what we’re all agreed on is we can’t deal with this by finding another one-off fix.
“We need a long-term sustainable plan for the future of Northern Ireland’s finances, and this is the start of a political process with that objective in mind.”
Ms Rigby added: “The objective here is to try and ensure that the Executive’s finances can move on to a sustainable footing for the long term.
“There will be further work that’s going to continue tomorrow, and then hopefully over the summer as well, importantly, sharing information about the current status of budget pressures, the drivers behind those pressures and, as well, emphasis on the plans for fiscal reform that we hope will help to ensure that the Executive’s finances can move on to that sustainable footing.”
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he had been asking for a process around Stormont’s budgetary challenges since last October.
He said: “It would have been better to our mind if there had been engagement in a detailed and a sincere way since that period of time, because it is unconscionable that we’re in a position we are today, which is three months into a financial cycle and no budget.
“It is clear to us from our engagement that whilst the willingness is there across the political spectrum in Northern Ireland, this exercise is around trying to get the best advice necessary for the Prime Minister.”
He added: “If the outcome of the process that the Secretary of State was hoping for today was that the Government should have access to the financial information from each of our departments, I answered that in five minutes.
“The idea that the (Treasury) open book process that concluded a couple of months ago didn’t culminate in a good understanding of departmental information is a strange place to be.
“But there is now collective agreement that information should be made available.
“I hope that allows the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Secretary of State and the Government more generally to understand and appreciate some of the real financial challenges that are going to need to be grappled for the people of Northern Ireland.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and vice president Michelle O’Neill were among their party’s delegation.
Speaking before the meeting, Ms McDonald said there was a “very, very significant deficit” in how Northern Ireland was funded compared with Scotland or Wales.
She said: “We are on common ground with all of the parties of the Executive, and we are here to make the case for proper funding.
“The failure of the British Government and the British state to fund this place correctly isn’t a phase. It’s not just a moment in time. This is a permanent fixture.
“I think it is a matter of huge frustration for everybody around the Executive table, for all of the political parties, that we are constantly in this position, that we are constantly in a position where we have to just ask for the basic level of funding to ensure that the level of service provision and opportunity is provided to people here.”
Referring to the likelihood of Andy Burnham becoming the next prime minister, Ms O’Neill said “the face might change, but the policy never does”.
She added: “Since I came into my leadership role, this is my seventh British prime minister in 10 years.
“That underlines the chaos of Westminster.”
She added: “I think today’s budget discussion is very much scene-setting for Andy Burnham, the incoming prime minister.
“I have a real sense of déjà vu this morning, a real sense that we come here, we make our case, we’ll actually all be making our case for the funding model that our people deserve.”
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said it was an “important day” for Northern Ireland’s finances.
She said: “We’ve been very clear now for a long time that we still believe, despite recent changes to the funding formula in Northern Ireland, we remain funded below need.
“That is a real challenge. It’s not just an opinion, it is something that has been raised now by a number of independent assessments that recognise that Scotland and Wales are both funded above need and Northern Ireland below need.
“That has to be dealt with because it has serious issues and consequences for our public services.”
Ulster Unionist leader Jon Burrows said calls for more funding had to be accompanied with a recognition that better government was needed at Stormont.
He said: “We need to be credible and responsible, negotiate hard for more money, spend it more wisely, cut waste.
“We’ll also be making the case to help Northern Ireland grow by getting things like cuts in corporation tax, in VAT and hospitality and tourism that allows us to compete better with the Irish Republic.”
