Northern Ireland's budget broken down: Whose funding is growing and whose is shrinking in 2023/24?

As he unveiled a budget that is largely a repeat of the 2022/23 one with some fairly minor variations, Mr Heaton-Harris said that in Northern Ireland “public services offered are still not affordable and outcomes are not improving”.

He also voiced “considerable disappointment” that he was the one stepping in to set the budget (just as he did in 2022), instead of elected MLAs in a fully-functioning devolved government.

One of the main causes of concern surrounded the need for Treasury to recoup a £297 million advance down-payment it offered to help bridge the financial gap in Stormont's finances last year.

It had been anticipated this would have been deducted from this year's block grant.

But Mr Heaton-Harris said money would be drawn back in a different way, with the potential for it to be spread over two years.

He said it could be repaid using any future in-year funds allocated to Northern Ireland by the Government through the Barnett system process in 2023/24 and, if that was not enough to cover the cost, then the remainder could be recouped in the next financial year.

"With agreement from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, flexibility has been granted on the repayment of the £297 million overspend from the 2022/23 Budget," Mr Heaton-Harris said.

"This will provide some protection to frontline public services in Northern Ireland from having to take the most severe reductions. However, difficult decisions remain in order to live within the funding available.

"To support this, I am committing any future in-year Barnett consequentials for 2023-24 to repaying the reserve claim.

"Should this not amount to £297 million, I will work with HM Treasury to reallocate funding from previously announced Northern Ireland funding packages, with the residual to be repaid in 2024-25."

Here is a basic breakdown of the general funds available to each department in the 2023/2, with the previous year’s figures in brackets.

• Health – UP:

£7.301bn (£7.280bn)

• Education – DOWN:

£2,577bn (£2,643bn)

• Justice – DOWN:

£1,157bn (£1,184bn)

• Communities – UP:

£861.6m (£848.3m)

• Agriculture – UP:

£579.8m (£564.2m)

• Economy – DOWN:

£772m (£781.8m)

• Infrastructure – UP:

£523.4m (£521.23m)

• Finance – DOWN:

£147.5m (£178.7m)

• Executive Office – UP:

£181.8m (£156.8m)

These sums are known in technical terms as “non-ring-fenced” spending.

This makes up the overwhelming bulk of public spending, and covers things like salaries and operating costs.

In total, in 2022/23 this figure stood at £14.269bn.

For 2023/24 it stands at £14.212bn.

The other big area of the budget is known as “capital” spending, which covers things like bricks-and-mortar projects: school repairs, new roads, and so on.

In 2022/23, the capital budget was £2.054bn.

In 2023/24 it is £2.240bn.

The inefficiency of the NI public sector has been a long-running complaint of the Treasury in London.

And on Thursday, Mr Heaton-Harris said: “The Northern Ireland budget per person is around 20% higher than equivalent UK government spending in other parts of the UK.

"Yet, the level of public services offered are still not affordable and outcomes are not improving.

"We need the Executive back so that they can progress much needed and long promised public service transformation.”

While Mr Heaton-Harris has distributed the block grant among the Stormont departments, he will not be taking spending decisions within individual departments.

Civil servants have already been handed extra powers to take decisions usually reserved for ministers, and Mr Heaton-Harris also tabled legislation to extend those beyond their current expiration date of June 5.

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