It will be more difficult for the Stormont powersharing Executive to balance its budget without using revenue-raising measures, Secretary of State Hilary Benn has said.
Mr Benn told MPs there was “no getting away” from the fact that decisions had to be made around raising money and stated that there are “plenty of people” in Northern Ireland who could afford to pay water charges.
During his first appearance before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Mr Benn also said he wished more people in Northern Ireland asked questions over why the region has the worst hospital waiting lists in the UK.
Stormont ministers have repeatedly warned over the strained situation of public finances since the powersharing Executive was restored earlier in February.
Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald recently said that, despite the funding boost from the Chancellor’s Budget, the devolved administration is still over-committed by around £180 million this year.
Mr Benn told MPs that Northern Ireland had got more funding in the budget than devolved ministers were expecting.
He added: “I would make the point: all governments, whether it’s the UK government, the Northern Ireland Executive, Scotland, Wales, have to make decisions about how it is going to spend money and how it is going to raise money to boost their spending.
“There is no getting away, in any circumstance, from that choice.
“Quite properly, Northern Ireland gets additional funding because of its additional needs.
“This year’s budget is 24% more.
“To take the example of health service (hospital) waiting lists, some people might ask the question – I wish more people did in Northern Ireland – you have 24% more funding than England, and yet you have the worst waiting lists in the whole of the United Kingdom, how exactly has that come about?
“But more crucially, what are you going to do about it?”
Mr Benn was asked about current fiscal negotiations between the Treasury and Ms Archibald over the projected overspend.
He pointed out that part of the financial deal with the previous UK government which restored the devolved institutions was a balanced budget this financial year.
He said: “The additional funding that came through the budget will assist enormously, the Executive has had its monitoring round where it has divvied up the additional cash, £350 million has gone to health which consumes a very considerable part of the budget for understandable reasons.
“But there is still a gap which needs to be closed because the arrangement was if you don’t close the gap, then the Treasury will say you’ve got to pay back the overspend from previous years.”
The secretary of state was asked if the British government would enforce the agreement that there would have to be a repayment of Stormont’s overspend from previous years if it did not balance its budget.
He said: “Well, there was a deal. The previous government made that part of the condition.
“It also said the Executive had to raise some funding itself.
“All government is about making choices, there are a number of decisions that the Northern Ireland Executive has made over the years to spend money on various things, or not to raise finance from various sources.
“There has been a long debate about water charges in Northern Ireland, now there are plenty of people in Northern Ireland who could well afford to pay water charges.
“But if you don’t make use of the means that are available to you to raise funding, then it is going to be more difficult to balance the budget.”
He was also asked about government support for the health service in Northern Ireland.
He said: “Whoever is in government in Northern Ireland has a responsibility to make sure it takes decisions that improve public services, not least in respect of those who are waiting a very, very long time for treatment.
“I find it hard to see how the argument can be made that because of the nature of powersharing it is not possible to do that.
“It is the responsibility of those in government, that is what devolved government is all about.
“We really stand ready to support them in that process, but ultimately it falls to the Executive to do it.”
