Public Services Likely To Be Squeezed Despite £3.3 Billion Financial Package

You would have thought the small matter of £3.3 billion would go a long way to sorting out the public service finances here in Northern Ireland, but the latest noises coming from the people who take care of these finances are pretty downbeat about the prospects for the upcoming year.

Stormont will not have an agreed budget in place until the end of April, which means that there will be a ‘vote on account’ arrangement in the meantime. This will give legal authority for councils to carry on spending until the budget is in place, with strong limits naturally in place.

The Financial Position For Health Has Never Been So Tough

But after that, even with the financial package available, there will be little room for manoeuvre as far as public spending budgets are concerned. Here is what the finance director at the Department of Health, Brigitte Worth, said on this matter, as copied from an article on the BBC News website by John Campbell:

“It is fair to say the financial position for health has never been so tough,” Brigitte Worth said.

She outlined a looming funding gap of up £1bn for the new financial year.

Part of this is down to inflation; she said the service needs an extra £400m a year just to stand still.

“We’re unlikely to receive all we need to maintain services at existing levels, recognising that these existing levels are frequently inadequate,” she told the health committee.

There Is No Magic Reform Fairy Who Can Save Us Billions

And in the same article Health Minister Robin Swann is quoted as saying that:

“We need to push back against any notion that there is a magic reform fairy who can wave a wand, save us billions, transform services overnight and turn grey skies blue,” he told an audience of GPs.

“Reforming, reconfiguring, transforming healthcare is a slog, it’s a grind. To misquote Logan Roy in Succession, it’s a wrestle in the mud for a knife,” he added.

All of which paints quite a gloomy picture for anyone who has to rely on public services on a daily basis. Of course Northern Ireland are not the only region of the United Kingdom that is facing even more cutbacks in the upcoming months, but that doesn’t make the situation any easier to bear. Public services, already cut to the bone in some cases, may have to find a sharper knife to cut even deeper.