From an additional £370m for the NI Executive to money to scrap the ‘two-child limit’ here are some of the biggest things for NI in the budget
Everything you need to know:
- The Northern Ireland Executive will receive an additional £370 million in total funding through the Barnett formula over the Spending Review 2025 period. This allocation includes £240 million in resource funding and £130 million in capital funding as a result of the Budget 2025 decisions.
- The Northern Ireland Executive’s funding settlement will continue to grow in real terms between 2024-25 and 2028-29. It continues to receive at least 24% more funding per person than the equivalent government spending in the rest of the UK in all years of the spending review period, exceeding its independently assessed level of need.
- The government is providing £16.6 million of new funding over the next three years (from 2026-27) for an Internal Market Package to boost trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. This enhanced ‘one stop shop’ support service will help businesses navigate the Windsor Framework and take advantage of access to both UK and EU markets.
- As part of the Internal Market Package, £2.25 million of new funding is allocated to Intertrade UK to forge and strengthen trade and business links between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Intertrade UK’s work will focus on overcoming existing barriers to trade and enhancing connectivity within the UK internal market.
- The sector focus for the Enhanced Investment Zone in Northern Ireland has been confirmed as advanced manufacturing. This zone will specifically target clusters in photonics and biotechnology.
- The Enhanced Investment Zone in Northern Ireland is expected to leverage over £230 million in private investment. This initiative is also anticipated to support the creation of more than 1,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
- The government will fund the Northern Ireland Executive to remove the two-child limit from the Universal Credit Child Element, if the Executive chooses to do so. This is because welfare is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive.
- The government will fund the Northern Ireland Executive to increase the basic and new State Pension by 4.8% from April 2026. This policy area is devolved, meaning the Executive must choose to implement the increase.
- The planned increase in the National Living Wage by 4.1%, and the National Minimum Wage for 18-20 year olds by 8.5% and for 16-17 year olds/Apprentices by 6.0% from April 2026, will directly benefit up to 170,000 people in Northern Ireland. The government previously raised the NLW and NMW in April 2025, benefiting a similar number of people
- New separate tax rates for property income are being created and will apply in Northern Ireland, as well as England and Wales. This measure aims to narrow the gap between tax paid on work and tax paid on income from assets.
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