Northern Ireland Executive Not to Receive Extra Treasury Funds for PSNI Data Breach

The finance minister has stated that the Northern Ireland Executive is not presently slated to receive specific one-off funding from the government to address the expenses associated with the PSNI data breach. The Executive had anticipated submitting a “reserve claim” to cover these costs, which could amount to as much as £240m. Such a “reserve claim” represents a request for funds from a Treasury reserve established to manage unforeseen, unavoidable, and unaffordable spending pressures. The minister informed Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) that the Treasury’s stance is that these costs should initially be met from the Executive’s existing budget. Caoimhe Archibald was providing an update regarding the implications of the Westminster budget announced last week. Northern Ireland received an additional £660m for the current year, with a further £1.5bn allocated for the upcoming year. Archibald also informed MLAs that the Executive had hoped a reserve claim could be utilized for other singular expenses, including the PSNI holiday pay judgment. She stated: “It was anticipated that if these costs were to crystallise in 2024-25 that they might be funded by a Reserve claim.”However, given the level of in year funding provided to the Executive in this Autumn Budget, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has indicated, that while further conversations are possible, the Treasury position is that in the first instance, that these should be funded from the settlements announced.” She further noted that she continues to view these expenditures as unaffordable and is still pursuing negotiations for a reserve claim. The minister additionally confirmed that subsidies for farming and fisheries will cease to be ringfenced, requiring their allocation to be determined within Stormont’s broader budget process. Prior to Brexit, the European Union was directly responsible for the payment of these subsidies. In the period following Brexit, the UK’s devolved governments were allocated a ring-fenced supplement to their standard Treasury funding specifically for subsidy payments. The government has announced that this particular arrangement will cease to be in effect starting next year. Archibald stated: “Previously the Executive received a ringfenced allocations for both agricultural and fisheries support based on the level of EU funding in 2019.”This £332.5m has now been included in the Executive’s baseline from 2025-26.”It will therefore now be for the Executive to agree funding for agriculture as part of the budget process.”