Northern Ireland budget: Now Stormont could have to turn off the lights amid warnings of 'stark budgetary challenges'

​The warning comes after the department says it has been left with a 14% cut in its funding, which has left them facing “stark budgetary challenges” following last week's budget allocation by Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris.

Mr Heaton-Harris had responsibility for setting the Stormont budget due to the absence of devolved ministers.

Speaking to BBC News NI before a meeting with the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action yesterday, Mr Heaton-Harris took a swipe at local elected representatives.

He said: “Northern Ireland politicians got the budget into the state it's in, Northern Ireland politicians need to get us out of it.”

The decisions as to which services will be cut have yet to be made.

However, some of the proposed cuts are reducing public transport provision, impacting water and wastewater services, road maintenance and flood risk management operational activities being reduced to emergency-only services, no funding for community transport, streetlights being switched off, or no road gritting service provided this winter.

See also:

Streetlights could be turned off in cost-cutting measure, warns Department of Infrastructure

Matching public sector pay for Northern Ireland workers to UK will be ‘challenging’, MPs told

Some budget decisions can only be made by politicians, civil service head warns