Northern Ireland gets temporary reprieve on severe spending cuts

Jayne Brady, head of the Northern Ireland civil service, warned of damage the cuts would cause. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

Northern Ireland has been given a temporary reprieve from swingeing cuts in health, education and policing after the government offered it flexibility on a £300m overspend in its budget.

But the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, said that in the long term politicians and officials needed to do more to drive down costs to bring the region into line with spending in the rest of the UK.