To ask the Minister of Justice for an updated assessment of the budgetary situation facing her Department in 2024-25.

Mrs Long

The Minister of Finance made a written ministerial statement to the Assembly on 25 April 2024, after which the Budget allocations were issued to Departments. My Department's allocation was £95 million or around 9·9% of the total funding available. That compared with our pressures of £446 million, which represented 14% of the total pressures reported by Departments. Had we been funded on a pro rata basis, our expected allocation would have been £134 million or £39 million higher than it was. The additional allocation of £95 million is only £9 million more than the funding of £86 million that was required in 2023-24 to meet the Department's pressures. Against that marginal increase in funding, my Department is facing increasing demand for services and inflationary cost rises, as well as the impact of pay awards. I am very conscious of the limited funding that the Executive had available to allocate. However, whilst the additional £95 million of funding is welcome, it still leaves my Department facing pressures of £351 million in 2024-25. To put some perspective on the scale of the pressures involved, I will say that £351 million equates to the combined annual spend of prisons, courts and tribunals, legal aid, forensic science and the core Department. The severity of the financial position for Justice is exacerbated by the combined effects of historical underfunding compared with need for Northern Ireland and the demand-led structure of the majority of services delivered by justice organisations.

Mrs Long

There is a major question about not only how they can be managed but whether they can be managed. However, it is my job as Minister to seek a way to do that. There is no recognition in the 2024-25 Budget settlement of the increased demand facing the Department. We have already heard mention in the Chamber of the 35% increase in prison numbers in the last three years, the fact that police officer numbers are at an all-time low of 6,394 against the New Decade, New Approach recommended level of 7,500, the 30% increase in legal aid costs and the significant backlogs in our courts. Difficult decisions on prioritisation in service provision will be required, as the Department will have to manage those pressures in order to live within its Budget allocation. Given the challenging budgetary position, there will inevitably be a detrimental impact on the ability to continue to fund all the services that we currently deliver. That will inevitably result in the justice system slowing down, and, whilst that is regrettable and damaging to our citizens, it is unavoidable, given the scale of the financial pressures. However, more concerning is the fact that it will, without doubt, increase the risk of a catastrophic failure of the system, compromising our ability to preserve life, protect the public and keep people safe. It is around that that I am making my priorities.

Mr O'Toole

Minister, I acknowledge that there is real constraint on your and every other Department's budget. That is obvious. It is true to say that, in this round, your Department has done slightly better than some other Departments, but it is worth acknowledging that that comes after years of constrained budget settlements. You mentioned that that will constrain and curtail services. Can you be more specific about which services you are looking at for prioritisation and, by extension, for de-prioritisation?

Mrs Long

I cannot be more specific, because, first, the budget allocations to the various arm's-length bodies (ALBs) and partner organisations have not been issued. Those will go out in the first half of this week. Secondly, I am working my way through a list of operational areas that are within the gift of the core Department and that I may wish to scale back or take forward more quickly in order to manage the budget. As I said in response to the original question, my priority is to do all that I can within budget without compromising our ability to preserve life, protect the public and keep people safe, which are our first and primary duties.

Mr Beattie

Minister, if — I repeat the word "if" — there is a major increase in funding through the June monitoring round and if you take that into account, do you believe that the Budget process that was run at the Executive should be delayed and rerun?

Mrs Long

There are two separate issues. First, we need to give certainty to the organisations that need a budget in order to be able to spend money this year. Secondly, we need to give my Department a definitive answer on the resource that it will have. We have to proceed with this year's Budget. It is essential that we do so. As the June monitoring round comes hot on the heels of the Budget-setting process, it will be a supplementary process, to be honest. It is likely to be done shortly after the main allocations if not alongside them. I do not see that holding back one to do the other would be helpful. It is much better to give people clarity so that they have the maximum time to adjust to the new spending environment in which they will find themselves. If we get significant extra resource, it will be a matter for the Executive to decide where that is reallocated on the basis of the bids that we put in, any new bids that emerge and, indeed, any money that is surrendered by Departments, which, I expect, will be rather small at this stage in the year. We should do that process through the normal route.

Madam Principal Deputy Speaker

Question 6 has been withdrawn.