Budget 2024: £20m for Derry regeneration over 10 years and £99m Barnett knock-on for Stormont

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced the funding as part his Budget 2024 on Wednesday.

The allocation is part of a £400m extension of his Long-Term Plan for Towns. Coleraine will also get £20m.

"This provides places with ten years of endowment style funding and support worth up to £20 million to invest in communities and regeneration,” his budget document stated.

Extra spending for Britain announced by Mr. Hunt on Wednesday will also mean that Stormont is due to receive ‘around £100m’ under the Barnett consequentials according to the Spring Budget paper, although the Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald puts the figure at £99m.

"As a result of the decisions we take today, the Scottish Government will receive nearly £300 million in Barnett consequentials; there will be nearly £170 million for the Welsh Government and £100 million for the Northern Ireland Executive,” he said.

The Barnett formula is named after the late Joel Barnett, a former Labour minister, who devised it as a temporary measure in the late 1970s to allow the North’s ‘block grant’ to increase in line with rising British Government expenditure in Britain-only.

The Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald said: “I welcome the £20 million for Coleraine and Derry under the Long-Term Plan for Towns which will help fund and invest in local priorities over the next 10 years.

“However, the decision not to allocate additional capital funding is shortsighted. Investment in infrastructure stimulates economic growth. It creates jobs, including in construction.

"It boosts innovation and improves how our public services are delivered. As we focus on economic recovery, it won’t help create the circumstances and conditions needed,” she said.

But she said the £100m in Barnett consequentials would not address the financial challenges faced by the Executive.

“While additional funding of £99 million will come to the Executive in Resource funding, this allocation won’t make a dent in the many financial challenges we face.

“At a time when our hospitals, schools, infrastructure and other public services need bolstered, the Chancellor has failed to provide adequate funding for devolved administrations.”

As a result of the Budget, the Executive will receive £99 million Resource funding. This is based on the current Barnett formula which will need to be updated to reflect the new 124% as part of the restoration package, she said.

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said a much-touted 2p cut in National Insurance would be ‘cold comfort’ to households.

“Jeremy Hunt’s brass necked budget statement defies all belief. A Tory Chancellor stood for an hour telling MPs that everything is fine, the economy is growing, the sun is shining and the government is doing a great job. This government could hardly be more removed from reality and it is time they were removed from power.

“A 2p cut in national insurance will be cold comfort to people facing higher prices, higher household bills and a desperate squeeze on public services,” he said.

Ms. Archibald concurred: “The Chancellor’s Budget is a real opportunity missed for investment in public services. While the cut in National Insurance will provide some relief for workers, it is regretful the Chancellor has chosen not to invest more in public spending.”