HL Deb 10 April 1973 vol 341 cc615-7

7.20 p.m.

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND (LORD WINDLESHAM) rose to move, That the Appropriation (Northern Ireland) Order 1973, be approved. The noble Lord said: My Lords, I beg to move the first Order standing in my name on the Order Paper. I can briefly summarise the purpose of this Order as being to authorise the issue from the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund of sums to meet the Spring Supplementary Estimates for 1972–73 and the amount required on account for 1973–74.

The amounts required under the Spring Supplementaries are listed at Part I of Schedule B to the Order and come to £20,696,800. The total amount of Northern Ireland Government spending in the financial year 1972–73, just completed, amounts to £466,146,100. Out of the Spring Supplementaries of approximately £20 million, a further £10.3 million is required for compensation for malicious injuries and damage, and about £2.2 million for additional expenditure on such items as police overtime and prison officers' overtime.

I should perhaps mention that the extra £10.3 million for compensation to the owners of property which has suffered from malicious damage brings the total for the year to £30.3 million. Great efforts are being made to settle claims and make payment of compensation just as quickly as possible. Indeed, the need to make compensation payments quickly was one of the reasons why it was necessary to lay this Order under the urgent procedure provided for in the Temporary Provisions Act. Supplementaries could not be prepared earlier because of the shifting situation about compensation, and it was necessary to produce a second supplementary estimate which is incorporated within the totals we are at present considering purely for this head. For the current financial year, the sum required on account for 1973–74 is £203,600,000. A breakdown of this sum is given in the Order at Part II of Schedule B. The total net estimate for 1973–74 is £561,551,000 and the sums which are asked for on account are intended to cover spending for the first four months of the financial year in the normal way.

This Order has been fully debated in another place, and it is, of course, financial business of a kind that is normally taken briefly in your Lordships' House. I think, therefore, that is all I need say by way of introduction. I beg to move.

Moved, That the Appropriation (Northern Ireland) Order 1973, be approved. —(Lord Windlesham.)

LORD SHACKLETON

My Lords, I noticed the noble Lord's optimistic hope that this Order would be taken briefly. He will be glad to hear that so far as I am concerned his optimism is justified. As he said, this is an Order which has been fully debated in another place. It is essentially a financial matter, and although it would be appropriate to raise a number of points on the Order, we have debated Northern Ireland very fully recently and we have two substantive and important Orders coming before us. So far as I am concerned, I hope that this Order will go through rapidly.

On Question, Motion agreed to.