As talks to restore the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland break down it has been announced that budget setting powers will be taken on by the civil service.
Northern Ireland’s first minister Arlene Foster is under fire following claims about the mismanagement of a scheme designed to promote the use of renewable energy.
The number of government departments in Northern Ireland is being reduced after the assembly elections, to both save money and reflect political changes. How much of a difference will this make in...
Following an agreement to end the devolution impasse in Northern Ireland, the Executive now has to deliver amid both funding constraints and moves towards tax localisation.
Arlene Foster is set to be the next first minister of Northern Ireland after she was unanimously elected as the next leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.
A round-up of facts and figures from the November 2015 edition of Public Finance, looking at the living wage, apprenticeships versus degrees, the productivity puzzle and Brexit opinions
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers has warned that public services in the province could suffer if a deal of welfare reform is not struck, derailing the £2bn Stormont House Agreement.
Northern Ireland’s politicians have been told that they will be given control of corporation tax before May’s general election if they push on with agreeing the budget and implementing welfare...
George Osborne’s Autumn Statement support for the principle of devolving corporation tax to Northern Ireland brought immediate demands from the Scottish National Party for similar powers in Scotland.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has today warned that number of people in poverty is likely to start increasing due to caps in the uprating of benefits coupled with an increase in wage rates.
The Northern Ireland executive has been able to avoid the worst impacts of its public spending crisis, finance minister Simon Hamilton has said. But he warned that some departments still face ‘...
Northern Ireland’s finance minister has accused parties opposed to welfare reform of having ‘needlessly squandered £87m’, as the Treasury moved to bail out the province’s government with an emergency...
William Hague has said the Conservatives are ‘wholeheartedly committed’ to increasing the autonomy of Scotland and Wales, but indicated this must be matched with reforms to ensure that only English...
Devolved administrations in the nations and regions of the UK are increasingly getting the blame when public services go wrong, but Whitehall still carries the can where division of power is murky, a...
Iain Duncan Smith will today defend the government’s welfare reforms by insisting that measures including the introduction of a £26,000 benefit cap are ensuring a ‘social recovery’ in the UK...
Welsh finance minister Jane Hutt has criticised Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget, saying it was full of missed opportunities and would do nothing for economic growth in Wales.
Local communities in England lose £4.1bn each year to the UK’s devolved nations through the ‘outdated’ Barnett Formula for distributing public spending, the Local Government Association has claimed...
Northern Ireland will be hit harder by the government’s welfare reforms than any other part of the UK, with cuts set to take around £750m out the economy, charities have warned.
Public services in Northern Ireland are not subject to the burning platform of fiscal meltdown currently being experienced by English local government. But leaders in the province are taking this as...
