REVEALED: half a billion pounds of covid cash still to be spent in NI
Last updated 12th Nov 2020
Up £500m in covid-related funding to Northern Ireland from Westminster has still to be allocated, Downtown Radio & Cool FM can exclusively reveal.
It comes as businesses here say they are struggling to survive with a number already writing off Christmas
Around £400m of the total amount was announced only last week by the Treasury.
At the end of last month, the Finance Minister Conor Murphy allocated £687 million of COVID-19 funding to bolster the health service and support other sectors.
At that stage £100m was held centrally.
It is the Executive then which decides where the money goes.
TUV MLA Jim Allister said it was an unacceptable situation for businesses
“My heart goes out to the many businesses which have been left hanging on by this Executive,” he said
“First we had the circuit breaker - now what we need is a circus breaker as this delay and dither by the Executive goes on.
“And yet at the centre in the Executive there sits almost half a billion pounds of money unspent.
“That is a scandal when it comes to the fact that businesses are being kept closed down but are not being given the means to survive.”
In a statement the Department of Finance said:
"On 29 October, the Finance Minister allocated £687 million of COVID-19 funding to bolster the health service and support a range of sectors including education, transport and sport. At this time £100m was held centrally.
"The Executive was informed by Treasury last Thursday (5 November) that it would receive an additional £400m for its COVID-19 response as part of an extension of the guarantee for Devolved Administrations.
"COVID-19 continues to present many challenges and the Executive will consider how best to use this £500m for targeted support in the coming weeks and months. "