North to cut 20,000 jobs

Around 20,000 jobs are to be slashed from the North’s public sector following a political deal to safeguard powersharing.

The posts will go over the next four years after money was borrowed in Stormont’s budget for a voluntary exit scheme plus a freeze on recruitment, Stormont finance minister Simon Hamilton said. The planned reduction represents 10% of the public sector workforce.

Extra loans from the UK Treasury increases the country’s indebtedness to £1.8bn (€2.3bn) or £1,000 per head of population, twice that in Scotland, in an effort to tackle an historic lack of infrastructure.

Money has been set aside to help police combat the threat from dissident republicans opposed to the peace process and as well as £40m to deal with the toxic legacy of past violence and investigate historic offences.

Mr Hamilton said: “In many respects, the most difficult decisions on public spending have yet to come.

“No one wants cuts, but I believe that in agreeing this budget we have done the right thing.

“We have accepted the realities facing us and have done what we can to protect and support what is most important to our people.”

The final budget makes additional allocations of more than £150m, most of it following changes announced last autumn to how the North’s public sector is funded by Westminster. Schools, the health service and a government jobs agency which pays multi-million pound grants to encourage foreign direct investment are among those to benefit.

It also means the UK government can press ahead with legislation to devolve the power to set corporation tax levels to the executive.

However, the three smaller parties in the powersharing executive refused to endorse the budget agreed by Sinn Féin and the DUP.

Key points in the budget include:

• An additional £204m for the Department of Health to help protect frontline services, up 3.4% on last year;
• An extra £65m for the Education Department on top of that already allocated in an earlier draft budget to alleviate pressure on classrooms;
• The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to receive £3m for job creation agency Invest NI;
• The Department for Regional Development will receive £5m for bus services in towns and road repairs.
• The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister is to receive £1.5m for victims’ services;
• £10m to a shared education and housing scheme called Together: Building a United Community.