Part of Ministerial Statements – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 3:30 pm on 13 December 2021.
Jim Allister
Traditional Unionist Voice
3:30,
13 December 2021
The Minister has proclaimed that it is not unusual for a Budget to go out to consultation without the express endorsement of an Executive vote. The difference this time is that there has been, from what I can glean, the express public disapproval of the Majority of parties on the Executive for this proposed Budget. Does that therefore mean that the real political horse-trading that will shape the Budget has yet to come? What is the consequence of that for the holding of a consultation, when it is clear that it is the political haggling that will shape the Budget?
Ministerial statements are made after questions and urgent questions, before the main business of the day. A minister speaks on behalf of the government to present its views to Parliament. Statements can be on any subject ranging from a new policy announcement to an important national or international event or crisis.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
