Morning View: Years of bungling contributed to financial woes

An independent financial watchdog has concluded that the vast majority of the power-sharing executive’s overspend can be attributed to ‘inflation and pay pressures’ that are affecting the whole UK.

According to the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council, the rest is due to ‘weak budget management’.

This does not tally with the view that all would be right with the province’s finances if the Stormont institutions were working normally. And it certainly does not support the idea that ministers would be helping dramatically with the cost of living, if only the devolved government were restored.

The finance minister, Sinn Fein’s Conor Murphy, estimated that Stormont departments will overspend by some £960 million this year, although £300 million can be offset by ‘central funds’. The view articulated by his party, among others, is that this situation has been created by the absence of a functioning executive.

While the NIFC agrees that the lack of ‘spending controls’ in the current situation is exacerbating the problem, it pointed out that Stormont is always weak in this area. The watchdog previously found that the much-hyped multi-year draft budget, planned before the executive collapsed, “lacked evidence of strategic intent and prioritisation.”

Two departments, health and education, make up nearly 80% of the current overspend, and these are two prominent policy areas where devolved ministers have long refused to implement much-needed but potentially difficult reforms. It is highly improbable that those decades of neglect are not now contributing to the current financial issues.

The NI Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, is due to step in soon at Westminster to provide some budgetary certainty for the Stormont departments. We wish him luck, but his task has not been made easier by years of ineptitude from devolved ministers.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​