EMPEY OULINES UUP CREDENTIALS AS A RESPONSIBLE PARTNER IN GOVERNMENT AT LAUNCH OF PARTYS FORMAL RESPONSE TO BUDGET AND PFG
(slink img=regempey-big.jpg) Ulster Unionist Party Leader Sir Reg Empey today launched the party’s formal response to the Draft Programme for Government and the Draft Budget.
The paper, which was sent to the Department of Finance and Personnel yesterday evening as the consultation period ended, lists areas of concern in the Programme for Government including the water tax and funding transparency, identifies possible sources of additional funding/redistribution including trimming the over administration of OFM/DFM and North South Bodies, and priority areas for the distribution of additional funds.
The party is focused on getting answers to the big questions raised by the tight budget, which is what it is because of the inability to deliver a substantial financial package from Gordon Brown, the lack of imagination outlined in the Varney Report, and the worthless threat, ignored by the treasury, that ‘a financial package is a necessary pre-condition for any restoration of devolution’ (Peter Robinson, 1st November 2006, BBC) and which has left Northern Ireland with the toughest Comprehensive Spending Review settlement for many years.
Speaking at the launch Sir Reg said,
“The UUP is participating in the draft budget and programme for government process in good faith and we aim to create as broad a consensus as possible in support of the Draft Budget and Programme For Government that is consistent with and maximises the limited resources available.
This formal response is the democratic process in action. We see it as our duty to highlight areas of concern and suggest improvements. This marks a departure from the previous administration where the Assembly was faced by a barrage of sniping from the sidelines with little or nothing in the way of constructive criticism.
The people of Northern Ireland have huge questions that need to be answered on the proposed water tax and transparency on how their assets are to be taken care of through PFI projects and the Reform and Re-Investment initiative. We have identified a range of ways in which public money can be better spent and the resources of the Block Grant better utilized. The massive increases in the OFMDFM budget require very careful scrutiny, while the strait-jacket imposed on the Health Budget is entirely unrealistic.
For these reasons the UUP, as a responsible partner in government and as the original advocates of devolved institutions, are offering our vision on how we can proceed in what may well be a difficult year.”