Written Ministerial Statement

The content of this written ministerial statement is as received at the time from the Minister. It has not been subject to the official reporting (Hansard) process.

Cash Advance from the NI Consolidated Fund - SUB-0012-2025

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Published on Tuesday 14 January 2025

The purpose of this Statement is to inform the Assembly of a cash advance from the NI Consolidated Fund to the Food Standards Agency under Section 6(1) of the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.

During January 2025, the Food Standards Agency will reach the limit of cash which it can access from the NI Consolidated Fund under existing statutory powers.

I have therefore approved a cash advance of up to a maximum of £3.945 million from the NI Consolidated Fund to the Food Standards Agency under the powers in Section 6(1) of the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.

The existing limit is set by the Budget (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2024 which gave DoF the authority to issue cash out of the NI Consolidated Fund to departments and other bodies to fund their expenditure in 2024-25. 

Once the Budget Bill 2025 is passed by the Assembly and has received Royal Assent, the advances paid to the Food Standards Agency from the Consolidated Fund will be repaid.