Some thoughts on a missed opportunity Budget. While acknowledging the fiscal position the Executive is in, and the squeeze of high inflation and UK austerity, the Budget statement is abysmally weak on prioritisation, clarity and far short of Executive parties promised. Thread..
First, the framing. Everyone knows and accepts the Executive does not have as much money to spend as we would wish. But from the very beginning this "very difficult" Budget offers no vision of where the Executive *wants* to go or why, just how much is being allocated...
Here is the big strategic statement. Tl;dr: 'we had X amount of money, it's not enough but sure everyone got a bit'. Everyone campaigns in poetry and governs in prose but this is risible. Big promises made, and the least the public can expect is an explanation of decisions.
On health, the urgent priority for public services had to be tackling the rolling crisis in the NHS. There are legitimate debates about balancing health vs other needs, but to be clear: both SF and DUP explicitly promised an extra £1bn for health. They havent delivered it.
As for other agreed priorities. Childcare support has been described as a priority by all the Executive. They have allocated... a paltry £25m, which as @MeltedParentsNI note, amounts to half an hour a month per NI child. It isn't clear what it's even funding so feels tokenistic
On the big ideas for renegotiating the Fiscal framework and revenue raising (which the Executive mow admits it is examining after first denying it) this document is totally silent. Again no vision, it simply allocates money without strategy. Or, as in this para, 'alcoates'.
No one expected miracles or quick fixes. The Executive is constrained and they do not have an easy job. But they did seek office and promise The least they can offer is a plan, a vision and an explanation of how we get there. This isn't it.
@MatthewOToole2 No where has it addressed poverty within communities