Sam McBride: Suspicions as Murphy drags his feet on agreed body to oversee spending (and four other things we learned at the NI Assembly this week)

Political editor Sam McBride examines five developments at the Northern Ireland Assembly this week.
More than seven months after the Fiscal Council was meant to have been set up by Conor Murphy, there is still no sign of itMore than seven months after the Fiscal Council was meant to have been set up by Conor Murphy, there is still no sign of it
More than seven months after the Fiscal Council was meant to have been set up by Conor Murphy, there is still no sign of it

Fiscal Council months late

Largely behind the scenes, a battle has been going on between the government and Stormont’s Department of Finance .

Its roots lie in the cash for ash scandal which opened Treasury eyes to how some within Stormont were not just unconcerned about overspending in a way which was at best questionable – it was in fact an undeclared policy goal to relentlessly milk the Treasury teat until being shaken off.

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In what one senior source said at the time was a direct consequence of RHI, the terms of devolution’s restoration a year ago included a new Independent Fiscal Council. The New Decade, New Approach deal made clear that the body – which would “assess and report on the sustainability of the Executive’s finances and spending proposals” – was a “condition” of Treasury cash.

Westminster wants a body with oversight of Stormont to weed out anything akin to RHI which is either going on now, or might happen in the future. The Fiscal Council was to have been in place by last July. Yet, seven months after that deadline, there is still no sign of it.

Two months ago, NIO minister Robin Walker implied that if the Fiscal Council is not established then the remainder of the New Decade, New Approach funding will not be released. He said: “Subject to these conditions being fulfilled, there will be a further £447m released to the Executive over the next four years. This will be for; public service transformation, nurses’ pay, ultra-low emission transport, support for the NI Graduate Entry Medical School and funding to address NI’s unique circumstances.”

Mr Murphy’s department blamed the pandemic for the delay but said the Fiscal Council’s establishmen was at “a very advanced stage and the Finance Minister hopes to make an announcement in the very near future”.

Victims a pawn in spat

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That unresolved spat between Stormont’s Department of Finance and London helps explain a curtly dismissive response which Finance Minister Conor Murphy received to a complaint that the government is not giving him enough money to fund a pension for victims of the Troubles.

Almost three weeks ago Viscount Younger of Leckie, a government whip, told Lord Empey in the House of Lords that Stormont had received £918 million from the Treasury and could therefore afford to fund the victims’ pension.

Mr Murphy wrote to the Tory peer, telling him that the funding was either ring-fenced or for covid and added: “I would ask that you correct this statement at the earliest opportunity.”

Last week, Viscount Younger wrote back robustly to the Sinn Féin minister: “I do not think there is a need to correct my statements...I highlighted our continued and clear position that this is a devolved matter, and the costs of the scheme should be met from the substantial resources available to the Executive, including through the Block Grant which amounted to over £14bn in 2021/22”.

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Highlighting that Stormont gets more cash than anywhere else in the UK, that it has this year got far more on top of that because of covid, and still more money as part of the deal to restore devolution, he said pointedly: “The Secretary of State is keen that the Executive also establish an Independent Fiscal Council as quickly as possible. The Council will provide a useful independent perspective on Northern Ireland’s public finances.”

Aside from Sinn Féin’s political reluctance to progress the victims’ pension as it stands, in an indirect way victims are also suffering for past and current Stormont financial fecklessness. London doesn’t believe what it is being told – and they are caught in the middle.

Now a Vast RHI underspend

Many people believe that RHI claimants are still raking in huge sums when in fact that has not been the case for almost four years.

Rates were retrospectively slashed in 2017 and a legal challenge is bogged down in the courts.

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Advice commissioned by Mrs Dodds’ own department – at public expense – suggested that current rates are unfair recommended that she increase tariffs but she has refused to do so.

Now Mrs Dodds has revealed in response to a question from Jim Allister that by last March her department – which once was massively overspending on RHI – expects to have underspent on the Treasury money available for promoting green heat by almost £60m by next month.

Licence to hide

Last week Jim Allister demonstrated his skill in managing to steer through the Assembly a bill criminalising some of the behaviour exposed by RHI and toughening many other standards – a remarkable achievement when Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill wanted the bill blocked.

However, an amendment to the bill stripped out a key provision – it does not, as Mr Allister intended, make it a criminal offence to hide material on private electronic devices. In simple terms, that means that what is criminalised by the bill – leaking sensitive material for improper gain – is unlikely to ever be found because it can be hidden.

Flying cash

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Finance Minister Conor Murphy may give more money to airports to compensate for the collapse in air traffic.

Mr Murphy said that £1.23m was given to City of Derry Airport and up to £7.8m to the Belfast airports but that “the financial performance and outlook for these airports has deteriorated further in recent weeks” and he was considering “how this can be addressed to ensure they receive the support they need”.

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