The Executive Office is an unusual Department in that it has a relatively small budget but a diverse portfolio of expenditure. That ranges from highly sensitive areas, such as victims and survivors of the conflict, of historical institutional child abuse and of mother-and-baby institutions, to items such as strategic investment and maintenance of the Executive's three overseas offices. The diversity of the Department's responsibilities requires enhanced scrutiny to keep track of the different strands of the work that is undertaken by the Executive Office and to ensure that public money is spent wisely and well. That requires detailed advance planning on the part of the Department and time for the Committee to receive the necessary financial information, subject that information to scrutiny and discuss departmental expenditure in an open and public way.

Public consultation on and parliamentary scrutiny of budgets are essential components of a democratic society. Victims and survivors of mother-and-baby institutions need to know that the resources are there to consult on and initiate legislation to establish a public inquiry into what happened to them and to provide them with the personalised support and redress that they deserve. People who are working towards peace and reconciliation in communities need to know when and how they will be paid to undertake the challenging work that they are engaged in. While we welcome the June monitoring round's allocation of £0·5 million for central good relations, I have already been contacted by groups asking when they will receive firm letters of offer.

People who live in the north-west or south-east need to know that the investment in strategic sites is sufficiently and appropriately spent. How can the public be sure that the money is being spent wisely if the Committee does not have the information in detail and in a timely manner? How can the Committee receive the information in detail and in a timely manner if the Department is uncertain as to how much it has to spend? How can the Department know the extent of its finances for the coming year in the absence of certainty in Budgets and monitoring rounds?

Next year, the Committee looks forward to a Budget's being decided well in advance, fully consulted on, with the necessary equality impact assessment. The Committee looks forward to receiving detailed spending plans well in advance to be able to fully scrutinise the Department's expenditure. Finally, the Committee looks forward to having the time and space to assist and advise the Department on the challenges of allocating money to its diverse but important areas of work, as it is required to do.