To ask the Minister of Finance to outline the timetable of the key stages for the approval of the draft Budget 2022-25.

Mr C Murphy

As the Member will be aware, the draft Budget is out for a 12-week consultation that ends on 7 March. As soon as possible after that consultation period ends, I will bring a further paper to the Executive outlining the consultation responses and seeking agreement on a final Budget. There is a legislative requirement for a Budget to be in place before the beginning of the next financial year. It is therefore imperative that a draft Budget is agreed by the Executive ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. Such an agreement will allow Departments to plan and deliver services appropriately, providing public services with the stability that is afforded by a three-year Budget settlement. I am under no illusion that the timetable is challenging. It will be important for the Executive to work collectively in agreeing a Budget.

Mr C Murphy

We have to ensure that that does not happen. First, any threat to collapse the institutions should be removed. As I have said in recent days, the rest of us are getting on with the work that we need to get on with in the time ahead. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted. It will be the first three-year Budget in many years that the Assembly and Executive will have dealt with. It gives an opportunity for planning. It does not contain the amount of money that we would have liked in order to support our public services, but, particularly for some of the services that the Member referenced, it is vital to give the certainty and continuity in the time ahead that is offered by the three-year Budget outcome. It would be cynical in the extreme to deny those people the opportunity to get that support. We will, of course, continue to work to ensure that we get Executive agreement, get the Budget through in due course and make sure that we give some certainty to those who most deserve it.

Mr McHugh

Minister, some Departments have already commented on the difficulties that they will face, especially if Health is prioritised. Whilst there are obvious pressures, can you confirm that this is the most difficult Budget that Departments other than Health have faced?

Mr C Murphy

The Budget that I have produced recognises and supports the priority that the Executive, Executive parties and, generally speaking, most of the MLAs in this institution have stated many times over the last number of years: that health is the priority and that we need to assist it in its transformation, bring down waiting lists and deal with issues like cancer treatment and mental health. The Budget that I have proposed reflected that. That created pressures in other Departments, because we have looked for efficiencies to support that. However, Departments will get a year-on-year increase in their budgets. While it is not all that they would have wanted — the outcome of the spending review is certainly not all that any of us would have wanted — nonetheless, there will be a year-on-year increase. It will be up to Departments to prioritise the spending of that Budget over the next three years in areas that are priorities for them and that can be met from the settlements that they receive. I hope that all parties will recognise the commitment that we all made to support Health in the time ahead and that they will get together and support the Budget proposals. I recognise that we will all face challenges in doing that, but it is a necessary prioritisation.

Dr Aiken

Will the Minister confirm that, if there is no agreed Budget by the end of the financial year, going forward, we will be limited to 45% of the total Budget in-year? That would be a significant challenge to all our public services.

Mr C Murphy

As I said, we should not contemplate that that will be the case. Any threats to bring us into that circumstance should be removed. We are a short distance from the end of the mandate. There is a lot of work to be done in the Chamber and the Executive. We need to conclude that work. We have had only a two-year mandate, essentially, given where we were. If that were to be the case, the Member is correct: in the worst-case scenario, the permanent secretary can ensure that funding continues, but it would be at that limited level. It would not give anywhere near the certainty that an awful lot of organisations depend on. Given that we have a three-year Budget, there is an opportunity to give certainty and allow for planning for the future.

Mr K Buchanan

Nobody disagrees that Health needs additional money to address the issues. Nobody disagrees with that. As the Finance Minister, are you content that the Department of Health is in a position to manage money effectively? Bearing in mind the amount of money that is spent on locum doctors and agency staff year-on-year and that, by the end of 2025, 52% of our Budget will go to the Department of Health, are you content that that Department is managing money effectively?

Mr C Murphy

There is no doubt that, despite the professed expectation that privatisation would create efficiencies, the attempt to transform the NHS over many years by introducing privatisation has created much greater inefficiencies. You can certainly see how the recruitment of agency staff creates a huge inefficiency, when we should have been recruiting people into the health service. That has not been the solution. The Executive have had discussions about wanting to see the timetable for how the additional money provided to Health will be spent, the milestones by which we will judge it and the outcomes in each of the big areas: waiting lists, transformation, cancer treatment and mental health. We want to see how that will be spent. Clearly, the Assembly will want to get an understanding of all that. We have been working and will continue to work with the Health Department to get a clear sense of how that money will be spent in the time ahead and to make sure that that investment, which is necessary, will be used efficiently to create that transformation.