Turning to allocations to programmes, Mr Durkan went on to say:
"We have marked out a significant allocation for Agriculture and Rural Development, at £191 million, which is a 9.6% increase on 2001/02 on a like for like basis. The plans also provide for an important boost in spending for Culture, Arts and Leisure with 19% extra for the Arts, important increases for Libraries and Museums, and extra for important aspects of sport.

"The Budget will provide increases of 7.1% in spending on education, bringing total spending to just over £1.3 billion. This will provide scope for significant increases in both the recurrent and capital budgets for schools.

"On Enterprise, Trade and Investment, the plans make provision for some £140m to be available for aid to industry and a further £41m for the small business sector. Specifically, there is provision of £5.6m for the Information Age Initiative.

"In Health, the budget will grow by over £150m or 7.2%, to some £2.3 billion. Within this total, over £1.16 billion will be available for the hospital and community health services, and £460 million for the personal social services. Additional provision is also made to address winter pressures and waiting lists, while family health services show an increased funding of over 8%.

"The proposals provide for substantial increases in spending on further education and higher education, each of which will increase by over 10% in 2001/02.

"The Department of the Environment receives an increased budget of £100 million, up 14% compared to the current year

"On Roads and Transport, the Executive has made provision for the first stages of the safety work identified in the A.D. Little report, and for the procurement of new rolling stock for the network. This decision will allow some urgent work to proceed, while some of the longer term decisions about aspects of the network can be assessed as part of the important work on the regional transportation strategy.

"Also in DRD, the Executive has confirmed that spending on Water and Sewerage will increase by £14.5m over 2000/01, to ensure that progress with essential work to improve the service is sustained.

"In the Department for Social Development, there is provision for an initiative for accommodation for Travellers, and for the major initiative on welfare reform which is proceeding in parallel with work by the equivalent organisations in Great Britain."

The spending proposals are also supported by the revenue from the regional rate. The Executive has decided to roll forward the increase of 8% in the domestic regional rate which was assumed at the time of the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review. It is envisaged that an increase of 6.6% in the non domestic regional rate will be required to sustain spending levels as proposed in this Budget.

Concluding, Mr Durkan said:
"This Budget provides an important step in the evolution of our new Institutions. Incorporated in the full Programme of Government on which the First Minister and Deputy First Minister will make their statement next week, it represents a major milestone for the Executive. It demonstrates that we can and do work together effectively in pursuit of the interests of all the people in this community. In commending the draft Budget to Members, I invite the Assembly to work with us in making a real and positive difference to our society and economy through the real and positive politics which the Agreement has made possible."

Notes for Editors:

1. The spending plans announced today show the distribution of the allocation for Northern Ireland for 2001/02 announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 18 July. A summary table is attached. There are a number of adjustments to the total, mainly for technical reasons: the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has agreed that these can be reflected in today's announcement. Details of the changes to the total are shown below and include the additional amount for CAP Modulation as announced in early August, and the transfer of responsibility for the Welfare to Work programme.

2. The new Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) for 2001/02 is now £5733.5 million and not the £5667.4 million announced in July. As the changes are largely technical in nature, the spending power underlying this figure is essentially the same as announced in July. The new figure represents an 8.1% increase over the corresponding figure for 2000/01 though this is affected by the transfer in of provision for Welfare to Work. When the spending power from the regional rate is also taken into account, the amount available for allocation to departments is up by 7.3% compared to 2000/01 or almost 5% in real terms.

3. There was an error in the totals for the Northern Ireland DEL published by the Treasury: this does not affect the DEL Totals announced today, and will be corrected in a way which has a minimum effect on the spending plans.

 SR2000: DEL

Note:
The technical adjustments mainly reflect the transfer into the Executive's DEL of provision for Welfare to Work which was previously held in a separate DEL. The net effect is that the amounts available for WTW activities are some £37m a year for labour market programmes and £8m a year for the New Deal for Schools, which is in line with the planning assumptions underlying the July settlement.

4. The plans are the first to be made on the new basis of Resource Budgeting which involves the introduction of a clear distinction between "resources" (for the present time, essentially current spending on an accruals basis) and "capital". Within the DEL of £5733.5 as set by the Treasury, the allocations proposed by the Executive would result in the following division of the total:

£ million

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PLANS: 2001/02