§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what savings to public funds he estimates occurred as a result of the IRA ceasefire; and if he will indicate where these sums were spent, breaking the figures down by heading. [19363]
§ Sir John WheelerFollowing the provisional IRA and loyalist ceasefires, the 1994 Northern Ireland public expenditure survey identified some £180 million over the period 1995–96 to 1997–98 which could be prudently reallocated from the plans for the law and order budget. The 1995 survey identified a further £106 million which could be reallocated from the Police Authority for Northern Ireland grant over the period 1996–97 to 1998–99. In addition to the survey changes, it was possible to release a further £12 million and £13 million during 1994–95 and 1995–96 respectively, largely from the PANI grant.
Resources reallocated from law and order, together with other easements internal to the Northern Ireland block, are included in an undifferentiated pool of resources available for reallocation within the block. Moreover, the pool of resources is also affected by external changes driven by national fiscal policy—that is, the Northern Ireland totals were reduced in the 1994 survey and increased in the 1995 survey. Consequently, while it is not possible to identify allocations to individual programmes as coining specifically from law and order, it is a fact that the totals allocated to Northern Ireland programmes, other than those from which the law and order savings were withdrawn, were enhanced by the value of those savings.
As a result of the breakdown of the PIRA ceasefire in February 1996, and of major public order problems, some £36 million had to be reallocated back into the PANI grant
532W
Total properties Increases Decreases Above 25 per cent. below 50 per cent. Above 50 per cent. below 75 per cent. Above 75 per cent. below 100 per cent. Above 100 per cent. Antrim 1,458 187 116 70 123 606 Ards 2,514 410 341 125 219 952 Armagh 2,291 390 203 92 99 840 Ballymena 2,321 248 71 38 81 1,224 Ballymoney 1,053 88 30 12 27 609 Banbridge 1,623 175 93 58 129 831 Belfast 15,639 2,130 1,512 945 2,347 5,141 Carrick 1,050 78 37 23 58 721 Castlereagh 1,157 198 165 69 113 407 Coleraine 2,483 288 131 61 86 1,411 Cook stown 1,518 309 213 89 101 519 Craigavon 3,062 590 387 142 113 1,069 Down 2,349 382 209 105 173 994 and compensation for 1996–97 and a further £120 million added back in the 1996 survey, covering the plans for the period 1997–98 to 1998–00.