AQW 6890/17-22

Mr Andrew Muir
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 14/09/2020
Answered On Date: 21/09/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Finance what actions are being taken to ensure that additional in-year Barnett consequentials are not surrendered at year-end.

Answer:

The In-year Monitoring process has always provided a formal mechanism for reviewing spending plans in light of the most up to date information to aid good financial management. This process not only ensures that resources are directed to priority areas but also includes the reallocation of resources surrendered by departments to ensure that any underspend at year end is within the limit of what can be carried forward to the next year.

All departments are encouraged to surrender any easements at an early stage so that the resources can be reallocated to other priority areas and my officials engage with departments regularly throughout the year to gauge the level of expenditure and any potential underspends.

The response to COVID-19 has provided an unprecedented level of additional Barnett Consequentials to the Executive. This has also required an unprecedented response from the Executive which has reacted in a dynamic way to ensure that allocations are made quickly and outside of the formal in-year processes where the need is critical. This allocations provided to departments are ring-fenced meaning that any unrequired funding should be returned to the Executive for reallocation at the earliest opportunity.