Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“A significant but largely unnoticed part of the so called Fresh Start document is the firm financial restraints which HM Treasury has placed on the Stormont executive. Paras D4.1-4.2 of the document refer.
“The planned Independent Fiscal Council has the appearance of an OBR type role, with its members and terms of reference, significantly, having to be approved by the Treasury.
“Under D4.2 the Assembly is being required to consent to Westminster putting into statute a prohibition on any future unbalanced budget. This amounts to a substantial rebuke to Arlene Foster over her fantasy budget manoeuvrings when she brought a budget exceeding Treasury control totals for NI. Never again, by force of statute, will planned spending exceed the block grant allocation.
“I welcome the Treasury putting the executive in its place and stamping down on its profligacy.
“The supposed extra money in D8.1 & 3.5 would, I suspect, have been coming our way in any event. The £160m for the PSNI is linked directly to countering the severe national security threat and the £25m for five years to tackle social security fraud is something which I believe is being rolled out across the UK.
“Accordingly, I am tabling a series of questions as follows:-
To ask DSD whether the ring-fenced funding of £25m referred to at D3.5 of ‘A Fresh Start’, is part of a UK wide initiative and likewise is the 50:50 sharing of savings in parallel to the arrangements for the rest of the UK.
To ask DFP is D 4.2 of ‘A Fresh Start’ a rebuke for the department this year bringing forward a Budget Bill which exceeded Treasury control totals for Northern Ireland and a protection against same happening again.
To ask DFP what will be the relationship between the Independent Fiscal Council for NI, referred to at D 4.1 of ‘A Fresh Start’, and HM Treasury and the Office of Budget Responsibility, particularly since its membership and terms of reference have to be agreed with Her Majesty’s Government.
To ask DFP to confirm that the £160m to address the Severe National Security threat, mentioned in D 8.1 of ‘A Fresh Start’, would have been payable to the PSNI with or without the Agreement of 17 November 2015.