Financial context for revenue raising consultations published

Date published: 11 October 2023

On 20 September, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP wrote to the Northern Ireland Civil Service departments, directing them to launch public consultations on measures to support budget sustainability and raise additional revenue.

Consultation documents will be shared with the Northern Ireland Office for approval in line with the Secretary of State’s letter. Departments will then begin to launch consultations on their specific revenue raising measures as soon as they are ready to ensure those who want to provide their views have adequate time to contribute to the individual consultations. Further information on the consultations being undertaken by individual departments can be found at www.finance-ni.gov.uk/articles/revenue-raising-ni-consultations

In addition to the financial context document, the Department of Finance is seeking views on four wider cross-cutting questions to complement the departmental specific consultations including:

1. Are there other revenue raising measures that should be considered?
2. Are there any services/ programmes that should be stopped or reduced to divert funding to more critical services?
3. Are there public services that could be delivered in a different way?
4. Are there public services that could be delivered by others (e.g., local government, voluntary & community sector, or private sector) or are there other areas in which greater collaboration could deliver better outcomes?

These questions are intended to gather views on other aspects of fiscal sustainability including efficiency, transformation or collaborative activities that could be considered alongside revenue raising options. For further information on these questions and how to respond visit www.finance-ni.gov.uk/consultations/financial-context-revenue-raising-consultations