Dr Steve Aiken OBE MLA, Ulster Unionist Party Finance Spokesperson said,

“The Chancellor has delivered her much anticipated, and trailed, budget today. There is no doubt that our finances and public services have been significantly strained by Covid-19, Brexit and austerity. Today the Chancellor set out how she intends to plug the £40bn gap and to reinvest in our nation. For Northern Ireland, the extra £1.5bn is to be welcomed, as this represents an additional £1bn on what our Finance Minister had anticipated. The announcement about the two remaining City and Growth Deals is also to be welcomed, however, the exclusion of NI from the green hydrogen projects is disappointing. The significant investments being made in health, education and infrastructure outlined in her statement refers, of course, to England; however, the over-inflation rises, and prioritisation of Health and Education shows where investment is badly needed – everywhere in the United Kingdom. The extra £1.5bn funding in revenue and capital we receive should be prioritised in the same areas, as well as supporting our policing service. 

“Announcements on Air Passenger Duty will not be well received and corporation tax rates of 25% will continue to make Northern Ireland less competitive on this island, but we should be availing of access to the National Wealth Fund, especially for our crumbling water and sewage systems and tapping into GB Energy to support our push to zero net carbon. We also need to ensure that our universities get an equitable proportion of the additional £20bn in UK-wide research and development. Overall, with an anticipated extra £100bn in additional Capital Expenditure being made available over the next 5 years we should be pushing hard to secure as much of that as possible.

“Increases in the National Living Wage, are again, to be welcomed, although the changes in employer contribution to National Insurance (NIC) are significant challenges to all but the smallest businesses. It remains to be seen whether any changes in business rating in England are mirrored here, but the combined NIC changes and living wage increase will increase business costs significantly.

“There will be much to be analysed over the coming days on this budget.  For Northern Ireland, we will have to see how the increases in funding can be effectively brought into our next budget cycle which should be starting shortly. The increase should not be squandered, we need resources to help fix health, repair education, and adequately fund our police, doing business as normal cannot be an option for this NI Executive.”