An MLA has hit out at the Finance Minister over £100 million being left unspent.
SDLP Public Finance Spokesperson Matthew O’Toole said it was “inconceivable in the middle of a cost of living crisis, with huge pressures on working families, enormous health waiting lists and underfunded schools that Conor Murphy couldn’t think of anything to spend £100m on”.
The South Belfast MLA was speaking after it emerged that the money remains ‘unallocated’ in the January Monitoring Round.
He claimed there “is now a serious risk that money could be surrendered to the Treasury with Conor Murphy suggesting there are further underspends to come”.
But a Department of Finance spokesperson insisted the “Executive wants to carry over funding into the next financial year and is permitted by Treasury to carry forward approximately £130 million into 2022/2023”.
Speaking in the Assembly on Monday, Matthew O’Toole said: “The outcome of the January Monitoring Round is a damning indictment of Conor Murphy’s time as Finance Minister. Only a few months ago he suggested that he couldn’t reverse the cut to universal credit that has left thousands of families across the North struggling to make ends meet. Today we learned that he literally has more money than he knows what to do with.
“It is absolutely outrageous that Sinn Féin’s Finance Minister has left £100m unallocated when every household in the North is experiencing soaring energy costs, when food banks remain an everyday feature of too many people’s lives, when our hospital waiting lists continue to get longer. We have had 15 years of failure from his party but I can’t think of a clearer example of it than a Minister who would leave £100m unspent rather than allocating it to projects that can change the lives of the people we represent.
“The net result of this is that Conor Murphy could end up handing money back to the Treasury at a time when people here desperately need support. Bereft of ideas, it is very clear that Conor Murphy is not up to the job.”
However, a Department of Finance spokesperson said: “The Finance Minister can only consider funding requests received from departments and all bids submitted to the January Monitoring round have been met.
“The level of unallocated funding is largely a result of the notification from Treasury of £150 million of Covid funding in December combined with the high level of funding returned by Departments late in the financial year.
“The Finance Minister is willing to consider further proposals from departments and has urged Ministerial colleagues to ensure that underspends are kept to a minimum. Given the constrained budget position next year, the Executive wants to carry over funding into the next financial year and is permitted by Treasury to carry forward approximately £130 million into 2022/2023.
“The Finance Minister has allocated £55 million to support households through an energy support scheme and £40 million to support hospitality businesses impacted by Omicron.”
