Invest NI granted new budget amid funding concerns

Invest NI said it cannot carry on business as usual

Invest NI has been given an indicative budget for the new financial year, but said it cannot carry on business as usual.

The agency had been unable to offer new financial support to firms due to budget uncertainty.

The agency's interim chief executive told MLAs he did not believe any investment projects had been lost as a result of the budget situation.

He said it is now prioritising spending decisions for the new financial year.

Mel Chittock said there was no crisis at the organisation but cautioned that Invest NI would not be able to support businesses in the same way as it had in the past.

He said the "biggest challenge" over the next few years would be dealing with the loss of European Union (EU) funding.

A significant part of the economic development agency's budget - about £20m a year - came from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

That money is no longer available due to Brexit and has, so far, not been fully replaced by the UK government.

Shared Prosperity Fund

Invest NI's chair, Rose Mary Stalker, said that in future they would have to compete to win funds from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

"In order to win in those competitions we need to have better projects," she said.

"The better projects are not just going to be one company coming with an idea, they're going to come with societal opportunities that generate improvements in lives and deliver economic growth."

The focus on collaboration was echoed by Mr Chittock who said it "might mean less intervention on individual projects as we try and drive collaboration".

He said they were still working through the detail of how the agency would align with the Department of the Economy's economic strategy.

"That will mean some of the work we have done before we will not carry forward," Mr Chittock said.

Invest NI is an arms-length body of the Department for the Economy.

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said Invest NI would be able to lift its "pause on new financial support for businesses".

"The draft budget created huge uncertainty for my department, and any new budget settlement must recognise the importance of supporting our economic recovery," he added.