Northern Ireland Office

Secretary of State, Peter Hain MP, has announced a major cash boost for schools in Northern Ireland as a result of the Chancellor’s Budget.

He said: “The Chancellor has announced today that Northern Ireland will receive an additional £26 million over the next two years, £10 million in the coming year and £16 million in the next. I intend to invest the bulk of this money into the new Children and Young People Fund that I recently announced, with the lion’s share going direct to schools across Northern Ireland.”

The Children and Young People Fund is already worth over £75 million pounds, with nearly £15 million of this going direct to the voluntary and community sector. Following today’s announcement, the Secretary of State confirmed that:

“This takes the total value of the Children and Young People Fund over the next two years to over £100 million.”

The Secretary of State also made clear that he wants to see more money going direct to schools:

“I have already announced that, in each of the next two years, £10 million of the Children and Young People Fund will go direct to Headteachers of schools in the most deprived parts of Northern Ireland. This money will enable them to turn their schools into ‘extended schools’ – open from 8am to 6pm and offering a range of breakfast clubs and after school activities. Today’s Budget announcement will mean we can significantly increase the number of schools that will benefit, with many more pupils enjoying new before and after school activities.”

The Secretary of State also welcomed Budget measures that will help people across Northern Ireland:

• Support for families, by increasing the child element of the Child Tax Credit at least in line with earnings to the end of this Parliament;
• Further payments into Child Trust Fund accounts at age 7 of £250 for all children with Child Trust Fund Accounts, with £500 for children from lower-income families;
• An increase in the starting threshold for stamp duty on property to £125,000 to help first-time buyers;

The Secretary of State has also recently announced a new Environment and Renewable Energy funding package, with nearly £60million for Northern Ireland. Today’s Budget backed this commitment to the environment.

Mr Hain said: “The Chancellor has today demonstrated the government’s commitment to renewable energy by backing small grants for microgeneration schemes. The Environment and Renewable Energy Fund that I announced recently will enable people across Northern Ireland to help the local environment by applying for grants to fund micro-generation for their own homes.”

Other measures to tackle climate change announced today include an increase in line with inflation of the Climate Change levy from April 2007; the introduction of a new zero rate of Vehicle Excise Duty for the small number of cars with the very lowest carbon emissions and a new top band for the most polluting new cars. The Chancellor also announced support for business users of natural gas in Northern Ireland with an extension of the exemption from the climate change levy. This will save non-domestic gas users approximately £20 million over the next five years.

Commenting on the overall economic picture in today’s Budget, the Secretary of State said: “In recent years the performance of the Northern Ireland economy has been stronger than the UK average, especially growth in the retail and business services sectors and a more stable manufacturing base. We also have a record number of jobs and low levels of unemployment. The Chancellor’s forecast growth figure, reaching 3.25% by 2008 indicates that this economic success will continue and further improve the lives of people in Northern Ireland. The £16 billion Investment Strategy I announced in December will ensure that Northern Ireland can enjoy many more years of record spending and prosperity as part of our drive to make Northern Ireland truly world-class.”