• Skip Navigation
• Help |
• Contact us |
• Privacy and Cookies |
• Site map |
• A-Z

• Home 
• Budget  
• • Budget 2013  
  • Budget 2012  
  • 2011 Budget  
  • 2010 Budget  
  • Guide to the Budget  
  • Budget and Pre-Budget Report archive  
  • Budget representations  
• Newsroom & speeches  
• Economic data  
• Consultations & legislation  
• Independent reviews  
• Financial services  
• Infrastructure  
• International issues  
• Public spending & reporting  
• Taxation, work and welfare  
• UK economy  
• About us  

Northern Ireland

To help build an economy that works for Northern Ireland, the Budget announces:

A new three-year scheme will exempt new businesses from up to £5,000 of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs).  Any new business set up from 22 June which meets the criteria set out in the forthcoming announcement will benefit from the scheme. Over 15,000 businesses in Northern Ireland will benefit.

The impact of the employer NICs rate rise previously announced will be largely reversed. This will lead to a saving of around £80 million in Northern Ireland.

The Budget 2009 proposal to repeal the special tax rules for furnished holiday lettings will not be implemented. Instead, the Government will consult over the summer on an alternative proposal. This will benefit an estimated 800 individuals in Northern Ireland who have income from furnished holiday lettings.

The Income Tax personal allowance for those aged under 65 will be increased by £1000 in cash terms, taking it from £6475 in 2010-11 to £7475 in 2011-12. In Northern Ireland over 600,000 basic rate taxpayers will gain from this measure. 

The Budget sets out the path that the Government will take for reducing spending over the course of this Parliament. Full details of the Spending Review, which will have implications for Northern Ireland, will be set out on 20 October.

The following statistics illustrate the current economic landscape in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland in the latest reported full year, 2008:

• Northern Ireland contributed £28.7bn to UK economic output. This was 2.3 per cent of the UK’s total economic output [1];
• the average economic output per person was £16,188. This was below the UK average of £20,520 [1];
• 5,690 new businesses were started, accounting for 2.1 per cent of new business started in the UK [2];
• the public sector employed 220,000 people, which accounted for 28.8 per cent of total employment [3]; and
• the private sector employed 545,000 people, which accounted for 71.2 per cent of total employment [3].

The latest labour market figures for Northern Ireland, from the three months to April 2010 [4], show:

• that 775,000 people aged 16 and over were in employment. This was 68.1 per cent of people in Northern Ireland aged 16 to State Pension age; and
• 58,000 people aged 16 and over were unemployed. This was 6.9 per cent of all employed and unemployed people aged 16 and over in Northern Ireland.

Sources

1. Office for National Statistics: Regional, sub-regional and local gross value added, 9 December 2009 (PDF, opens in new window)
2. Office for National Statistics: Business demography 2008, 30 November 2009 (PDF, opens in new window)
3. Office for National Statistics: Regional analysis of public sector employment, September 2009 (PDF, opens in new window)
4. Office for National Statistics: Labour Market Statistics Regional Monthly Data, 16 June 2010 (opens in new window)

Back to top

Share