HL Deb 03 June 2003 vol 648 c140WA
Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 30 April (WA 101) concerning the ability of Northern Ireland departments to move money from one financial year to another as underspend, whether this applies to cross-Border bodies and to other government organisations; and, if not in either case, why.[HL2713]

Lord Williams of Mostyn:

The end year flexibility (EYF) scheme applies to the NI departmental expenditure limit (DEL), and as a consequence all organisations which are funded from this source can benefit in that the resources available to Northern Ireland are higher than would otherwise be the case. Within this arrangement there is automatic carry-over for some specified categories of expenditure, the largest of which is capital: for the remainder the amount carried over is returned for central redistribution to programmes early in the following financial year. In the case of North/South bodies, the budgets are set for each calendar year, as distinct from financial year, and thus there is no scope for specific EYF arrangements for their individual budgets. In practice, the contributions from Northern Ireland and Ireland to North/South bodies can be managed to address any planning issues that emerge.