NI Falls Behind UK With Decarbonisation Programmes

Northern Ireland is set to miss out on funding from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant, it has been revealed.

In response to a question from Alliance MP Stephen Farry, Treasury has confirmed that because the Barnett formula is not applied to changes in funding for all the individual programmes within a UK government department's DEL budget, the Barnett consequentials associated with these individual programmes cannot be identified. Treasury also stated that it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding in devolved areas, including environmental planning and decarbonisation.

Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong has criticised the lack of an Assembly putting Northern Ireland behind the rest of the UK.

Kellie Armstrong said: "Obviously because we do not have an Executive in place to prioritise achieving climate change goals, there will be no housing decarbonisation programme or home upgrade scheme for Northern Ireland. The rest of the UK is moving forward with decarbonisation programmes while NI households are left behind.

"The benefits of decarbonisation means enabling households to move to sustainable alternative heating, better insulation and more efficient use of energy - all have the potential to protect homes from volatile fossil dependent energy costs. 

"The lack of a working Assembly is denying access to funds and plans to meet environmental targets. Now, more than ever, we need a government to focus on delivering social, environmental and economic policies for Northern Ireland."