Public Finance Minister Kate Forbes has joined with her counterparts from Northern Ireland and Wales to call for the UK Government to hold urgent pre-Budget talks.
The devolved administrations also sought clarity on plans for a forthcoming comprehensive spending review.
It comes after Sajid Javid shocked Westminster last week by quitting as Chancellor of the Exchequer during Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle.
Javid, who was due to deliver his first Budget in just four weeks’ time, rejected the Prime Minister’s order to fire his team of aides.
This has added to uncertainty over the date of the UK Budget, which had already been delayed over the General Election. Forbes, together with Stormont Finance Minister Conor Murphy and Welsh Finance Minister Rebecca Evans, called for the joint meeting in a letter to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay.
It stated: “It will be important to discuss the challenges for public spending as a result of leaving the European Union and how we can work together to ensure as smooth a transition as possible to a UK funding framework which delivers for all parts of the United Kingdom and respects devolution.”
It added an early meeting could cover the “likely implications” for devolved administrations saying: “This would be especially welcome given challenges created by the delay in the UK budget and the late consequential changes to our 2019-20 budgets at supplementary estimates.”
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