{"id":696641,"date":"2026-01-15T01:56:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/696641\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T01:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:56:21","slug":"more-flexibility-and-funding-needed-from-london-to-secure-stormont-budget-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/696641\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018More flexibility and funding needed from London\u2019 to secure Stormont budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

She described the current stalemate over the proposed budget as one of the most pressing issues facing the Stormont Executive.<\/p>\n

The larger Stormont parties met with Secretary of State Hilary Benn in a series of meetings in Belfast and London this week.<\/p>\n

\"CabinetNorthern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn (Stefan Rousseau\/PA)<\/p>\n

Finance Minister John O\u2019Dowd published his draft spending plan for a multi-year budget last week and has sent the proposals out for public consultation.<\/p>\n

However, they have not been agreed by the powersharing Executive and have faced criticism from other parties, particularly the DUP.<\/p>\n

Accompanied by Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald to meet Mr Benn in Belfast on Wednesday afternoon, Ms O\u2019Neill said there is not enough money in the pot.<\/p>\n

She also said she would tell Mr Benn of their \u201cserious concerns\u201d around the trajectory of the development of the Legacy Bill, adding she will not support anything that gives preferential treatment to military veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as an Executive have work to do, there is no doubt about that, we need to focus on transformation, we need to focus on getting to a point where we have a three-year budget,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Stormont First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill (right) with Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald outside the Northern Ireland Office in central Belfast ahead of a meeting with Hilary Benn (Rebecca Black\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me, this is very much twin track.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are policy decisions in London that need to be changed, and I want to make that message very clear to Hilary Benn today, what we need to see is a change of tact, we need to see the flexibilities that the Finance Minister has asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe are determined to fight the good fight for the people here, we\u2019re not asking for preferential treatment, we\u2019re asking for what\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re dealing with over a decade of austerity, public services decimated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have work to do, and I accept that, but the budget that has been allocated here is not enough, there is not enough pie to go around all Executive departments to invest in public services.<\/p>\n

\"PaulDUP leader Gavin Robinson (Liam McBurney\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are flexibilities that could be inbuilt to the budget itself, that\u2019s what I\u2019m going upstairs to speak to Hilary Benn about. We need flexibility and additional funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

DUP leader Gavin Robinson, alongside party MPs Carla Lockhart and Gregory Campbell met with Mr Benn in London on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

He said Northern Ireland must be funded according to need, and also emphasised a responsibility to cut any wasteful spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in regular dialogue with the Secretary of State about the challenges and pressures that are unique to Northern Ireland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is vital that these issues continue to be addressed directly and honestly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNorthern Ireland must be funded according to need. However, alongside that, there is a responsibility to ensure that wasteful spending is identified and cut out.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic services must be funded and structured in a way that is both effective and efficient, delivering real value for taxpayers and ensuring better outcomes for people right across Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alliance Party deputy leader Eoin Tennyson and Stormont Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir met Mr Benn later on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Mr Tennyson said the Executive is \u201cclearly in a very challenging situation\u201d and have just 16 months left in this mandate to deliver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are real challenges, not just our finances, but the attitude of some of the parties round the Executive table,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our part, our focus is not on division, culture war and delay, it\u2019s for delivery for the people of Northern Ireland in the time that we have left.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s a question for other parties round the Executive table as to whether they are prepared to take the tough decisions which are now necessary, but also for the Secretary of State who, I have to say, has had a fairly \u2018hands off\u2019 approach in terms of the operation of the institutions and the challenges that we have been facing since the Executive returned.\u201d<\/p>\n

An NIO spokesperson said: \u201cThe Secretary of State was in Belfast today (Wednesday) to meet with Northern Ireland party leaders as part of his regular engagement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK Government remains committed to a stable and prosperous Northern Ireland and looks forward to the Executive agreeing a budget.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She described the current stalemate over the proposed budget as one of the most pressing issues facing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-696641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115896633636033960","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}