Discussions by political parties in Northern Ireland about introducing water charges as part of efforts to solve a public service funding crisis “should not be avoided”, a Westminster committee has said.
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) has called on the UK Government and the Stormont Executive to agree a route map to further fiscal devolution to reduce the region’s reliance on central government funding and give it the ability to raise more revenue itself.
MPs have urged the Government to rethink “both the levels and mechanisms” for funding public services in Northern Ireland amid warnings of the impact the continuing state of crisis is having on people’s quality of life. The cross-party committee has published a follow-up report into the funding and delivery of public services.
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The report said that since the powersharing political institutions were restored, Northern Ireland has received 124% of any increase in funding for England, but added that this will not be enough to make a significant difference to public services in the short term.
The committee called on the Government to ensure that Northern Ireland’s next block grant baseline, from 2026–27 onwards, is “calculated according to Northern Ireland’s level of need”.
The report said: “Northern Ireland’s public services remain in crisis. Its health service is under immense pressure, with long waiting lists, a struggling primary care sector and an acute mental health situation, in part due to Northern Ireland’s recent history.
“There are severe demands on the education sector, too, with SEN (special educational needs) pupils suffering and schools operating with large deficits.
“Policing and justice continue to operate under budgetary constraints, while dealing, among other things, directly with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s recent past.”
It continued: “From the evidence which we have taken, it seems clear that a figure of 124% or 127% will not make a significant difference to Northern Ireland’s public services on its own in the short term, if it is applied in future only to Barnett consequentials.
“To ensure that Northern Ireland is funded according to need as quickly as possible, and to avoid a potential cliff edge in funding from 2026–27 when the additional one-off funding Northern Ireland received under the 2024 Executive restoration package comes to an end, there is a compelling case for backdating the 124% uplift to the start of the 2021 spending review period, and reflecting that in the block grant baseline figure for the next.”
The report said the Government “must provide stable, sustainable, multi-year funding as part of future budget settlements” to enable the Executive to plan for long-term public services transformation. The report said one way in which Northern Ireland could reduce its reliance on the block grant from the UK would be to raise more revenue itself.
It said: “That is, of course, easier said than done. The introduction of water charges (for example) may be politically difficult, but the public elect politicians who are expected to make difficult decisions and therefore the discussion should not be avoided.”
It added: “As a matter of urgency, the Government and Executive should agree a final fiscal framework which includes a route map to potential further fiscal devolution — to improve Northern Ireland’s public services and the daily lives of all the people of Northern Ireland.”
NIAC chair Tonia Antoniazzi said the crisis afflicting public services in Northern Ireland had gone on “far too long”.
She said: “The current hand-to-mouth approach when it comes to funding has often been too little, too late, particularly when it comes to what one witness to our inquiry called the three hungry children of the health service, schools and the police.
“The aim must be that public services in Northern Ireland are fully funded according to need, through stable, sustainable and predictable allocations, and our recommendations for the short, medium and long term set out the path to get there.”
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