Willie Hay says Barnett must be reviewed urgently as public investment in the North lags behind England
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00:00My Lords, the time I have left I want to dwell very much on public services in Northern Ireland.
00:06No all of the parties have been campaigning that public services are constrained because of the Barnett formula.
00:14The Northern Ireland Fiscal Commission highlighted that funding for public services in Northern Ireland continues to fall well below the level of need.
00:26Therefore, my Lords, year in year, public services are being reduced.
00:33We are not receiving the uplift we need to run our public services in Northern Ireland.
00:41In fact, the Treasury's contribution to fund public services in Northern Ireland is going down rather than rising.
00:50As an example, in England up to 2025 spending will increase by over 6%, but only 3.6% in Northern Ireland.
01:01My Lords, these funding problems are not new and have been flagged up by the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council repeatedly over and over again.
01:11The Barnett formula is not working for Northern Ireland as it does not take account of need within Northern Ireland.
01:19My Lords, the Government need to understand that if public services in Northern Ireland are to be put on a sustainable footing,
01:27there needs to be real change in how Northern Ireland is funded into the future.
01:34My Lords, we need to see a review of the Barnett formula to ensure that Northern Ireland's funding is based on need rather than on population size.
01:44There is an urgent piece of work to be done on a new funding model for Northern Ireland.
01:52We are £500 million to £600 million short of what other parts of the United Kingdom receive.
02:01The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and all of its parties on the Committee, when they held an inquiry looking at the funding model for Northern Ireland,
02:10were very much aware of addressing the urgency of this particular issue.
02:15In fact, all the Members of that Committee supported a new funding model urgently for Northern Ireland.
02:22My Lords, I hope that this is an issue that this Government will focus on sooner rather than later.
02:29As a devolutionist, I want the devolved Government to succeed.
02:34Working alongside the Government, hopefully we can find the right funding model for Northern Ireland,
02:41provide the funding to reform our public services and deliver an effective Government in Northern Ireland.