8. Ms Brownlee asked the Minister of Finance for an update on the approval of the business case for non-teaching staff pay awards. (AQO 241/22-27)

I recognise the vital role of non-teaching staff and the crucial contribution that they make to the education of our children and young people. My Department provided expenditure approval for the implementation of the non-teaching staff pay and grading review on 3 April 2024. It is now for the Department of Education to ensure the affordability of the measures before implementation.

Will the Minister confirm whether the business case that has been approved will be provided for the meeting on 18 April for the unions?

I assume that that will be a matter for the Education Minister. My Department has approved the business case and the expenditure for the implementation of the pay and grading review. It will obviously be for the Education Minister to take that forward and to ensure that the implementation of the proposed measures is affordable.

Has the Minister had any meetings with the Minister of Health to try to secure additional funding for nursing staff, following the Royal College of Nursing's decision to turn down the Executive's pay offer?

I have been involved in bilateral meetings with all of my Executive colleagues as part of the budgetary process, and we have discussed the various challenges that face each of the Departments and their Ministers. It would not be appropriate for me to go into the individual bids at this point, because there is a process still to go through. I assure the Member that all Departments face significant pressures and challenges and we will have some difficult decisions to make in the weeks ahead in respect of the Budget.

Why was there a delay in providing approval for the business case for non-teaching staff pay awards?

At every stage of the process, my officials worked at pace to complete the review of the information and reach a judgement on whether it was sufficient to enable expenditure approval. Unfortunately, the review identified at several stages that the information provided to my Department contained significant errors and was incomplete. I am sure that the Member will agree that decisions involving significant expenditure cannot be made on the basis of incorrect or inadequate information. Approval was provided as soon as the information was confirmed as being accurate and robust.