Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the level of funding for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to help tackle waiting lists.

The Secretary of State and his officials engaged intensively with the Northern Ireland Civil Service to set the Northern Ireland Budget for the 2022-2023 and 2023-24 financial years. The Secretary of State has consistently prioritised funding for health, allocating £7.28 billion in 2022/23 to the Department of Health, representing an increase of £228m above 2021/22 spending which included significant COVID-19 funding, and £7.3 billion in 2024-2-25, an increase of £20 million above 2022/23. In the absence of an Executive, it is for each Northern Ireland department to manage its funding from within the allocated budget.

Whilst the Secretary of State has taken action to ensure governance can continue, including through setting two Northern Ireland budgets, this position is not sustainable. The Secretary of State has used his powers in the Northern Ireland (Interim Arrangements) Act 2023 to commission advice from the Northern Ireland Civil Service on the options for budget sustainability including options to raise additional revenue which is needed to progress much needed and long-promised public service transformation. 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.