Funding boost for Northern Ireland’s public services

The Northern Ireland Finance Minister on Wednesday outlined details of a new funding boost for key public services in the North as a result of the latest Stormont deal including £47.6 million for health and £15 million for education.

Arlene Foster said there will also be extra financial support totalling £16.5 million for roads maintenance.

Mrs Foster said Northern Ireland had been “able to pull back from a budget crisis because of the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement” and as a result the Executive could now “address some of the most significant pressures particularly in health, road maintenance and education”.

The funding comes from previously allocated Stormont budgets that for a variety of reasons were unspent and typically each November in what is known as a “monitoring round” these resources are reallocated.

The majority of the additional resource funding, £47.6 million, announced today has been allocated to health which the Finance Minister said will “go some way to reducing excessive waiting lists for both outpatient and inpatients and improve outcomes for patients”.

According to Simon Hamilton, the North’s Health Minister, £40 million will be directed towards waiting lists while £7.6 million will be spent on essential front line services including £4 million for hospital trusts and primary care to manage increased demand during the winter months.

Mr Hamilton said the Family Fund will also receive £800,000 to help 1,500 local families with children and young people with disabilities.

Arlene Foster said she also believes the additional £15 million earmarked for education will help meet the increased demand for special education needs for pupils in both mainstream and special schools.

“The increase in budget will also deal with the urgent and planned maintenance in our school buildings and address the deterioration of the schools’ estate,” Mrs Foster added.

The North’s Education Minister John O’Dowd said the additional fundings will see £5 million spent on schools maintenance; £5 million on special education and £5 million to fund the drawdown of schools surpluses.

The other key reallocations within the November monitoring round include £3.9 million for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and £1.1 million to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

The Department of Enterprise is to get an additional £4 million which has been earmarked for Invest NI and the Department of Finance & Personnel will also receive £2 million.

The Department of Justice has also been allocated £2.7 million while the Department of Regional Development will also get an additional £7.6 million on top of the £16.5 million resource expenditure for roads.