Carla Lockhart MP: The budget problem is caused by structural underfunding from Westminster

The current budget pressures mean the government and opposition parties need to face reality. The financial challenges facing government departments are real, but they are a symptom of structural underfunding at Westminster, not because Stormont isn’t currently operating. A return to devolution in the morning will not deal with the fundamental problem that the Treasury’s financial contribution to public services here is reducing, not rising.

Chris Heaton-Harris seems to be paving the way for a punishment budget which he will then blame on the absence of a finance minister. In truth he is simply refusing to grasp the nettle that the funding model for Northern Ireland is deficient, unsustainable and is leading to our public services and households becoming disadvantaged compared to the rest of the United Kingdom.

The issue of whether a finance minister is in place or not is academic when responsibility for commissioning a fundamental review of the Barnett Formula rests solely with the government. We need to see a practical willingness to press for the reforms that are needed to ensure frontline public services are placed on a more stable footing and our vital staff can be properly paid. Instead of preparing to weaponise the budget the secretary of state should be starting work on ensuring that funding is delivered on the basis of need.

Carla Lockhart MP, DUP, Upper Bann