Wilson clashes over spending cuts

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DUP Finance Minister Sammy Wilson and the UUP's David McNarry have been involved in another war of words.

Mr Wilson warned earlier this week in an Executive memo that spending cuts of £370m were needed in the coming year.

The UUP finance spokesman said Mr Wilson's plans to tackle the deficit would not work because old efficiency targets of 3% were not being met.

Mr Wilson accused Mr McNarry of basing his claims on six months' performance against a 12-month target.

Mr McNarry said further savings planned by the minister would not work because targets set in the last budget were not being met.

"Evidence from official sources indicates that for the period covering 2008/09 47.7% of the planned savings are marked at being "at significant risk."

"The figure for 2010/11 is worse, with 51.6% of these savings assessed as being at significant risk.

"This is a trend already showing in 2008/09 - when £273m was to have been saved, only £174m was actually saved - a shortfall of £99m on the savings target."

'Climb-down'

Mr McNarry added: "What we now have since Sammy admitted to a £400m black hole, in one of the biggest ministerial climb-downs in recent history, is that once again Sammy is doing too little too late."

Mr Wilson insisted all departments had made significant progress in achieving savings.

"Indeed, when he claims only £174m was saved in 2008/09, he refers to the savings achieved in the first six months of the year - in other words the Executive actually achieved almost two thirds of the projected savings in the first half of the year.

"It would seem that Mr McNarry doesn't just have difficulty adding pounds and pence - he is also having difficulty adding months of the year - and there are only 12 of them."

He added: "In the context of lower than expected input costs and the evidence of inefficiency throughout the public sector, I am content that further savings can be made."