Written Ministerial Statement

Published on Friday 29 October 2021.

 

Mr Murphy (The Minister of Finance): This statement notifies the Assembly of the outcome of the Executive’s October Monitoring exercise.

 

2021-22 October Monitoring

Funding

Following conclusion of the June Monitoring exercise there have been a number of changes which have resulted in additional funding being available for allocation.

The Treasury did not confirm the precise level of funding that will be provided as a Barnett consequential from the British Government’s 6 September announcement of an extra £5.4 billion being provided to NHS England to help tackle the backlog in the wake of the Covid pandemic and face the upcoming winter pressures. However, in order to ensure our health service has access to this funding as quickly as possible £160 million Resource DEL and £20 million Capital DEL was included  in October Monitoring.

Changes to a number of central items, including regional rates forecasts, reclassification of Financial Transactions Capital repayments and EU match funding have resulted an additional £20.8 million Resource DEL and £6.5 million Financial Transaction Capital DEL for allocation. We have also received £12.6 million Financial Transactions Capital from BEIS in respect of repayments of launch investment funding provided for the Bombardier C Series.

Reduced Requirements

Reduced requirements declared by departments come to £41.0 million Resource DEL, £19.6 million Capital DEL and £1.1m Financial Transaction Capital. 

Full details are included at Annex A.

Reclassification

The Department of Education’s request to reclassify £1.8 million from Resource DEL to Capital DEL for Voluntary Youth Service IT equipment has been approved.  This provides an additional £1.8m Resource DEL for reallocation with a corresponding pressure on the capital budget.

The result of these changes is that £223.6 million Resource DEL, £31.0 million Capital DEL and £66.7 million Financial Transactions Capital DEL are available to address pressures. 

 

October Monitoring Bids

Departments submitted Resource DEL bids of £516.4 million, the detail of which is provided in Annex C. The Executive has allocated the funding available to it, totalling £223.6 million.  Details of these allocations are provided in Annex D.

 

NI Protocol

DOJ have bid for £3.4 million for implementation of the Protocol and DoH £0.3 million. As there are negotiations ongoing with Treasury to secure further funding neither bid will be met at this stage. 

 

City Deals

There is a requirement to use Construction and Procurement Delivery (CPD) as part of the quality assurance process for City Deals projects. £0.2 million has been held centrally for this purpose. DfE has bid for £0.15 million of this funding in October Monitoring. This bid will be met from the earmarked centrally held funding.

A further £5.8 million Capital DEL continues to be held centrally for expected City Deals funding for 2021-22. This position continues to be kept under review.

 

New Decade, New Approach (NDNA)

In June Monitoring DfE was allocated £2.8 million Capital DEL and £0.26 million Resource DEL for the Graduate Entry Medical School. DfE has now submitted a bid for a further £0.1 million for this project. It is anticipated that funding for this will be provided from the NDNA financial package and therefore this bid has not been considered in this round. 

 

Allocations

Resource DEL

£200.0 million, 89.4% of the available Resource DEL funding has been allocated to the Department for Health. This provides:

• £80.0 million for COVID-19 Hospital Services pressures;
• £70.0 million for pay award requested by Health Minister;
• £30.0 million to aid with pressures in Elective Care;
• £15.0 million for Health and Social Care Trusts; and
• £5.0 million to expand the Mental Health Support Fund.

The Department of Education receives £9.2 million:

• £6.8 million to support Special Educational Needs (SEN);
• £1.7 million to assist with school based pressures; and
• £0.7 million for substitute cover.

£6.0 million is provided to the Department for Infrastructure.  This includes £4.0 million for roads (routine maintenance and winter pressures), £1.5 million for NI Water to aid with increased electricity costs and £0.5 million for support to Taxi services.

£3.2 million has been allocated to The Executive Office for lost FTC loan interest repayment income due to the revision of loan terms and holiday payment arrangements which impact on the timing of the interest repayment.

£3.0 million has been allocated to the Department of Finance for COVID-19 Local Restrictions Support Schemes.

£2.0 million has been allocated to the Department of Justice of which £1.5 million is for Legal Services Agency, and £0.5 million for Safer Communities programmes.

£0.2 million has been allocated to the Assembly to cover Members costs including allowances and pensions.

 

Universal Credit

The Department for Communities submitted a bid for £55 million to mitigate the withdrawal of the £20-per-week Universal Credit uplift in 2021-22. While it is clear that this vital support should be retained it should, of course, be funded by the British Government.  It is deplorable that this support should be removed from the most vulnerable at a time when households are facing unprecedented price increases.

If the Executive is to fund the uplift the money will have to come from our block grant, which already provides significant resources to mitigating welfare reform and other policies introduced by the Conservative government. This was acknowledged when the Universal Credit issue was discussed at the Executive meeting on 21^st October.

Unfortunately there are not sufficient resources in the monitoring round to adequately fund Health and meet the UC bid.  Another important factor is the need to provide a commitment to funding the uplift in future years if we are to avoid creating another cliff-edge at the end of March.

Certainty over future funding is also essential before investing significant amounts in developing the IT system that would be necessary to implement the change. 

Given that the Executive is likely to face a similarly constrained financial position going forward I set out the pro-rata reductions to Departments other than Health that would be needed to fund the UC uplift on a long-term basis. The Executive did not proceed with this option but it was agreed that the Executive would have a dedicated discussion on wider anti-poverty initiatives.

 

Capital DEL

All the bids for Capital DEL submitted by departments have been met, totalling £27.8 million, leaving £3.2 million conventional Capital unallocated at the conclusion of the October Monitoring exercise. Should bids for this not be received in January then we will look to reduce the borrowing being accessed this year to reduce future costs.

The allocations agreed will provide £8.6 million to the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for COVID-19 recovery of Small Settlements Regeneration programme and Rural Community Schemes.

The Department of Education receives £11.5 million of which £8.2 million for minor works, £1.3 million for IT equipment and £2.0 million for CO2 monitors.

The Department of Health will receive £6.7 million of additional Capital DEL. £3.1 million for COVID-19 health support services and £3.6 for Health and Social Care Trusts.

£1.0 million is being provided to The Executive Office for the Social Investment Fund.

 

Financial Transaction Capital

No bids were submitted by departments in October Monitoring. £66.7 million FT Capital remains unallocated. I would therefore ask that all Minister’s actively seek opportunities within their departments to come forward with proposals to spend this funding.

 

Ring-fenced Resource DEL

Ring-fenced Resource DEL is strictly controlled by Treasury and funding cannot be moved out of this area. Changes to this area are shown in Annex E. Colleagues should note that we exit this monitoring round with no surplus funding in ring-fenced Resource DEL for depreciation and impairments and with pressures of £21.9 million not being met. Historically underspends materialise during the latter part of the financial year, as such we expect this situation to resolve itself by January.

 As previously notified, there is £443.8 million unallocated in relation to Student Loan Impairment. This funding may only be used for this specific purpose, it is therefore not available for allocation by the Executive.

 

Flexibility

Departments have the flexibility to reallocate budgets across spending areas subject to restrictions to protect ring-fenced funding and where an allocation has been made by the Executive for a particular purpose.

Details of movements across spending area for each department are included in the tables provided with this Statement.

 

October Monitoring Outcome

At the conclusion of the October Monitoring round, all Resource DEL funding has been allocated and all Capital DEL bids have been met leaving £3.2 million conventional Capital available for allocation. Also remaining available for allocation is £66.7 million Financial Transactions Capital.

The tables accompanying this statement outline all changes to departmental Spending Areas which have occurred subsequent to the June Monitoring 2021-22 published outcome. 

 

INDEX OF TABLES

2021-22 October Monitoring:

Annex A Reduced Requirements

Annex B Reclassifications

Annex C Departmental Bids

Annex D Proposed Allocations

Annex E Ring-fenced Resource Expenditure

Annex F Administration Costs

Annex G Spending Area tables

 

Annex A

October Monitoring Reduced Requirements (£ million)

Department	Description	Non Ring Fenced  Resource	Capital	FT     Capital
DfC	Benefit Cap Mitigations	-2.0
	COVID -19 NIHE Supporting People PPE	-0.5
	COVID-19 Benefit Delivery Response	-7.2
	FTC Project Delays			-1.1
	Housing Benefit Rates	-8.0
	NIHE - Urban Renewal
	Universal Credit Welfare Reform - Staffing	-1.5
	Welfare Reform	-4.0
TOTAL  DfC		-23.1		-1.1
DfE	COVID-19 Restrictions Business Support Scheme (CBRSS)	-3.3
	Insolvency Service CFERS	-0.1
TOTAL  DfE		-3.5
DE	COVID-19 - School Holiday Food Grant Payments	-3.0
	COVID-19 - Trauma and Attachment Resources	-0.0
	COVID-19 Response - Schools	-0.4
	COVID-19 Standards and Learning	-0.0
	COVID-19 Transport - Face Coverings Compliance	-0.1
	Excess Capital Receipts		-0.2
TOTAL  DE		-3.6	-0.2
DoF	COVID-19 Lost Income	-1.1
	Census	-1.0
	IT Assist Contract		-1.8
	Project Delay		-2.1
	Rate Relief	-0.5
TOTAL  DoF		-2.6	-3.9
DoH	FTC Loan Repayment			-0.1
	NI Fire and Rescue Service		-0.8
TOTAL  DoH			-0.8	-0.1
DfI	COVID-19 Airport Funding	-0.2
	Roads CFER	-0.1
TOTAL  DfI		-0.3
DOJ	COVID-19 NI Courts and Tribunals Service	-0.2
	Justice Delivery		-1.9
	Legacy	-0.4
	PSNI Training College		-10.0
TOTAL  DOJ		-0.6	-11.9
TEO	EU Exit	-0.7
	Historical Institutional Abuse	-3.3
	Maze/Long Kesh		-0.6
	Staffing	-0.0
	Urban Villages		-1.3
TOTAL  TEO		-4.0	-1.9
FSA	Delays in the Recruitment Process	-0.3
	Grants to Local Authorities	-0.7
	National Diet and Nutrition Survey	-0.2
	Planned Communications Activity	-0.2
	Staffing	-0.1
	Travel and Office Administration	-0.1
TOTAL  FSA		-1.6
NIAO	Staffing	-0.3
NIA	Staffing	-1.4	-1.0
Total Reduced Requirements		-41.0	-19.6	-1.1

Total may not add due to roundings

 

Annex B

October Monitoring Reclassifications (£ millions)

Department		Description	Non Ring Fenced  Resource	Capital
DE		Reclassification  EA Behaviour Support	-0.8	0.8
		Covid-19 Voluntary Youth Service – laptops and mobile to capital	-1.0	1.0
Total Proposed Reclassifications			-1.8	1.8

 

October Monitoring Technical Adjustments Depreciation and Impairment (£ millions)

Department	Description	Non Ring Fenced  Resource	Ring- Fenced Resource
FSA	Depreciation		0.0
	Salaries and pension	-0.0
Total Proposed Reclassifications		-0.0	0.0

 

Annex C

October Monitoring Departmental Bids (£ millions)

Department	Description	Non Ring Fenced  Resource	Capital
DAERA	COVID-19 Community Renewal Fund	0.1
	COVID-19 Information Technology	1.4
	COVID-19 Recovery Small Settlements Regeneration Programme		5.4
	COVID-19 Rural Community Schemes		2.1
	Rural Business Community Fund		1.1
TOTAL DAERA		1.4	8.6
DfC	COVID-19 Councils Lost Income	7.0
	COVID-19 Universal Credit Uplift	55.0
TOTAL DfC		62.0
DfE	City Deals - Central Procurement Directorate Fees	0.2
	FE Colleges Depreciation
	NDNA Graduate Entry Medical School	0.1
TOTAL DfE		0.2
DE	COVID-19  Fair Start - Supply of Digital Devices		0.5
	COVID-19 Access NI	0.0
	COVID-19 Asymptomatic Testing in Special Schools	1.0
	COVID-19 CO2 Monitors		2.0
	COVID-19 Human Resource Local Support Emergency Resourcing Team	0.0
	COVID-19 PPE for Education Authority Services	3.4
	COVID-19 PPE for Special Schools	0.7
	COVID-19 Schools based pressures including PPE	14.4
	COVID-19 Special Educational Needs Services	1.1
	COVID-19 Special Schools - Substitute Cover	0.9
	COVID-19 Teachers Laptops		0.8
	COVID-19 Teaching and Non-Teaching - Substitute Cover	0.4
	COVID-19 Transport - Additional Routes	0.3
	COVID-19 Transport - Lost Income	0.1
	Depreciation/Impairments
	Education Authority	11.1
	Minor Works		8.0
	Minor Works Primary - Voluntary Maintained		0.2
	Non-Teaching Pay Awards	7.7
	Schools Maintenance	7.3
	Special Educational Needs	19.9
	Teaching Pay Award 2021 - Contractual Incremental Costs	3.8
	Teaching Pay Awards 2019 and 2020	9.0
	Voluntary Exit Scheme	3.1
TOTAL DE		84.3	11.5
DoF	COVID-19 Local Restrictions Support Scheme	3.0
TOTAL DoF		3.0
DoH	COVID-19 Health Support Services		3.1
	COVID-19 Hospital Services	80.0
	Depreciation
	Elective Care	30.0
	Health and Social Care Trusts	75.0	3.6
	Mental Health	5.0
	NI Protocol	0.3
	Pay	70.0
TOTAL DoH		260.3	6.7
DfI	COVID-19 - Lost Income	3.0
	COVID-19 DVA - Lost Income / Increased Costs	8.0
	COVID-19 Roads - Parking and Enforcement Lost Income	1.3
	COVID-19 Taxi Support - First-time Drivers and Taxi-meters	0.5
	COVID-19 Translink - Lost Income	13.6
	NI Water	19.7
	Roads - Energy and Drainage	1.9
	Roads - Routine Maintenance and Winter Service	4.0
	Translink - Revenue	24.0
TOTAL DfI		76.0
DOJ	Access to Justice - Legal Costs	0.1
	COVID-19 PSNI	1.1
	Legacy Inquests and Access to Justice	0.3
	Legacy Inquests and Legacy Related Costs	0.6
	Legal Services Agency NI	5.0
	NICTS - Transformation Costs	0.4
	NICTS- Deprivation of Liberty and Review Tribunal	1.2
	PBNI - Voluntary & Community Sector	0.2
	PSNI - Depreciation
	PSNI - Implementation of NI Protocol	3.4
	PSNI - McCloud Staffing	0.1
	Pay, Price and Pension Costs	4.6
	Personal Injury Discount Rate -Compensation Services	2.6
	Personal Injury Discount Rate - Compensation Services	5.4
	Safer Communities - Legal Costs	0.2
	Safer Communities - Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking	0.3
TOTAL DOJ		25.4
TEO	FTC Capitalised Interest Pressure	3.2
	Social Investment Fund		1.0
TOTAL TEO		3.2	1.0
PPS	COVID-19 Backlog Additional Support	0.1
	Legacy	0.2
TOTAL PPS		0.3
NIA	Members Costs	0.2
TOTAL NIA		0.2
Total Bids Submitted		516.4	27.8
Totals may not add due to roundings

 

Annex D

October Monitoring Proposed Allocations (£ millions)

Department	Description	Non Ring Fenced  Resource	Capital
DAERA	COVID-19 Recovery Small Settlements Regeneration Programme		5.4
	COVID-19 Rural Community Schemes		2.1
	Rural Business Community Fund		1.1
TOTAL DAERA			8.6
DE	COVID-19  Fair Start - Supply of Digital Devices		0.5
	COVID-19 Asymptomatic Testing in Special Schools	1.0
	COVID-19 CO2 Monitors		2.0
	COVID-19 PPE for Special Schools	0.4
	COVID-19 Schools based pressures including PPE	1.3
	COVID-19 Special Educational Needs Services	1.1
	COVID-19 Special Schools - Substitute Cover	0.5
	COVID-19 Teachers Laptops		0.8
	COVID-19 Teaching and Non-Teaching - Substitute Cover	0.2
	Minor Works		8.0
	Minor Works Primary - Voluntary Maintained		0.2
	Special Educational Needs	4.6
TOTAL DE		9.2	11.5
DoF	COVID-19 Local Restrictions Support Scheme	3.0
DoH	COVID-19 Health Support Services		3.1
	COVID-19 Hospital Services	80.0
	Elective Care	30.0
	Health and Social Care Trusts	15.0	3.6
	Mental Health	5.0
	Pay	70.0
TOTAL DoH		200.0	6.7
DfI	COVID-19 Taxi Support - First-time Drivers and Taxi-meters	0.5
	NI Water	1.5
	Roads - Routine Maintenance and Winter Service	4.0
TOTAL DfI		6.0
DOJ	Legal Services Agency	1.5
	Safer Communities Programme	0.5
TOTAL DOJ		2.0
TEO	FTC Capitalised Interest Pressure	3.2
	Social Investment Fund		1.0
TOTAL TEO		3.2	1.0
NIA	Members Costs	0.2
Total Proposed Allocations		223.6	27.8
Totals may not add due to roundings

 

Annex E

2021-22 Ring-fenced Resource DEL Expenditure (£ millions)

Totals may not add due to roundings

 

Annex F

2021-22 Administration Costs (£ millions)

Totals may not add due to roundings

 

Annex G

2021-22 Departmental Outcome by Spending Area - Resource DEL

Department	Spending Area	June Monitoring Position	1 Reduced Requirements	2 October Allocations	Technical Adjustments	October Monitoring Position
DAERA	Food and Farming	422.9			-4.7	418.2
	Veterinary Service and Animal Health	66.6			2.2	68.8
	Rural Affairs	15.6			0.6	16.2
	Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission	1.9			0.2	2.1
	Environment, Marine and Fisheries	58.3			-0.8	57.5
	Forestry	5.1			-0.1	5.0
Total DAERA		570.4			-2.6	567.8
DfC	Welfare and Employment	417.5	-14.7		-10.3	392.6
	Local Government	64.6				64.6
	Housing Benefit (Rates Element)	110.2	-8.0			102.2
	Housing and Regeneration	167.7	-0.5		6.7	174.0
	Culture, Arts and Sport	101.7			5.5	107.1
	Voluntary and Community Funding	58.3			-1.0	57.3
	North South Language Body	6.2			0.6	6.8
Total DfC		926.2	-23.1		1.5	904.6
DfE	Economic & Business Development	369.5	-6.0	0.2	9.7	373.4
	Tourism	44.9			-4.4	40.5
	Employment and Skills	363.3			-5.8	357.5
	Student Support & Higher Education	334.0			7.1	341.0
	Tourism Ireland Ltd.	17.3			-0.1	17.2
	InterTradeIreland	5.4			1.7	7.1
	Representation & Regulatory Services	29.6	-0.1		-0.4	29.1
Total DfE		1,164.0	-6.1	0.2	7.8	1,165.8
DE	Pre-school, Primary School & Post Primary Education	2,209.7	-3.6	9.2	-3.0	2,212.3
	Youth and Other Children’s Services	45.2			-0.9	44.3
	Activities to Support Education	241.7			1.6	243.3
Total DE		2,496.6	-3.6	9.2	-2.3	2,499.8
DoF	Finance, Procurement & Policy	21.4	-0.1		0.2	21.5
	NICS Shared Services	67.0			-0.3	66.7
	NI Statistics & Research Agency	22.3	-1.0		-2.4	18.9
	Land & Property Services	103.7	-1.6	3.0	2.6	107.7
	EU Programmes	0.5			0.2	0.7
	Special EU Programmes Body	1.4				1.4
	NICS Accommodation Services	44.1			-0.5	43.6
Total DoF		260.4	-2.7	3.0	-0.1	260.6
DoH	Hospital Services	4,119.5		195.0	-152.8	4,161.7
	Social Care Services	1,285.3		5.0	30.5	1,320.8
	FHS - General Medical Services	326.5			4.9	331.4
	FHS - Pharmaceutical Services	506.9			49.8	556.7
	FHS - Dental Services	117.2			11.9	129.1
	FHS - Ophthalmic Services	25.5			0.1	25.6
	Health Support Services	156.4			15.6	171.9
	Public Health Services	79.2			15.7	94.9
	Paramedic Services	89.2			21.0	110.2
	Food Safety Promotion Board (N/S Body)	2.1			-0.5	1.6
	Fire & Rescue Services	86.8			0.6	87.4
Total DoH		6,794.6		200.0	-3.2	6,991.4
DfI	Roads, Rivers and Waterways	203.2	-0.1	4.0	2.3	209.4
	Waterways Ireland	3.5			0.1	3.6
	Bus, Rail and Ports	123.4	-0.2		-2.9	120.2
	Road Safety Services Including DVA	11.9		0.5	0.6	13.0
	Planning and Legacy Sites	5.2			0.0	5.2
	Water and Sewerage	132.4		1.5	0.1	133.9
Total DfI		479.6	-0.3	6.0	0.1	485.4
DOJ	Access to Justice	174.5	-0.2	1.5	-1.1	174.7
	Safer Communities	75.4	-0.4	0.5	0.3	75.7
	NI Prison Service and Youth Justice Agency	137.5			-0.2	137.4
	Police Service of Northern Ireland	790.7			0.4	791.1
Total DOJ		1,178.0	-0.6	2.0	-0.5	1,178.9
TEO	Executive Support	119.7	-4.0	3.2	-0.5	118.4
	Good Relations	18.9			-1.3	17.6
	North-South Ministerial Council	1.8			0.0	1.8
	Attorney General for Northern Ireland	1.3			0.1	1.4
Total TEO		141.7	-4.0	3.2	-1.7	139.1
FSA	Food Standards Agency	15.9	-1.6		-0.0	14.3
NIA	Northern Ireland Assembly	45.8	-1.4	0.2		44.6
NIAO	NI Audit Office	8.3	-0.3			8.0
NIAUR	NI Authority for Utility Regulation	0.2			-0.1	0.1
NIPSO	NIPSO	3.6				3.6
PPS	Public Prosecution Service	37.2				37.2
Total		14,122.5	-43.7	223.7	-1.3	14,301.2

Totals may not add due to roundings

1 See Annex A for breakdown of Reduced Requirements (note: this table also includes reduced requirements of £2.7m for New Deal and £0.1m for NI Protocol)

2 See Annex D for breakdown of October Allocations (note: this table also includes £0.15m City Deals allocated to DfE)