Dr Steve Aiken OBE MLA, UUP Finance Spokesperson and Chair of the Assembly Finance Committee, has said that the publication of the Independent Fiscal Commission Report has passed judgement on the Executive’s approach to budgeting and management of our finances and that the grade is an ‘F’.

Steve Aiken said:

“The Ulster Unionist Party welcomes the reports from both the Fiscal Council and the Fiscal Commission over the last few weeks. It is beyond past time that a critical and independent view was taken about how NI PLC conducts its business.

“It is beyond doubt that there are considerable shortcomings in how we manage our budget, both at the political level and within the civil service. It is clear ‘stovepiping’ is rife, often hidden behind the excuse of single year budgets.

“The two combined report cards would show an ‘F.’ Indeed the comments from the UK Chief Secretary of the Treasury reported in today’s report that “the Executive has not yet been able to demonstrate that its finances are on a  sustainable footing…” underline just how far we as an Executive and a devolved administration - after well over a decade - need to travel if we are to act as a responsible and above all, accountable administration.

“In summary, both of these interim reports show that there is much work to do before we should even be considering taking on additional tax raising or adjusting powers.”