Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department issued guidance to Northern Ireland departments on the management of the changes in the levels of funding set out in the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2023.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and his officials engaged intensively with the Northern Ireland Civil Service to set the Northern Ireland Budget for the 2022-23 financial year.

Guidance intended to support Northern Ireland departments in taking decisions in the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Executive was published alongside the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2022. In the absence of an Executive, it is for each Northern Ireland department to manage its funding from within the allocated budget.

However, it remains the UK Government’s firm view that the right people to set a budget and make spending decisions are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning devolved administration.