Colin.Pidgeon

In the 2011-16 Assembly Mandate, MLAs debated, scrutinised and passed a range of legislation across a number of policy areas – from Mental Capacity to Licensing of Pavement Cafes, from Tobacco Retail to Rural Needs.  When a Bill is introduced in the Assembly, it is accompanied by an Explanatory and Financial Memorandum (EFM).  The EFM is essentially a guide to understanding the policy intentions and the cost of a proposed measure. But how useful are these EFMs?

Read More »How good are Northern Ireland’s Explanatory and Financial Memoranda?

Northern Ireland (NI) receives a sizeable fiscal transfer from the United Kingdom (UK) Government. In other words, considerably more is spent on public services than is raised in revenue. NI therefore relies on taxpayers elsewhere in the UK. Fiscal transfers from national government to sub-national regions are commonplace; they are intended to help redress variances in local economic performance.

Read More »How much of what we spend on public services in Northern Ireland is paid for by locally raised tax revenue?