My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland (David Hanson) has made the following Ministerial Statement.

I am pleased to announce that the Northern Ireland Discretionary Social Fund budget for 2007-08 will be £64.57 million: £13.62 million will be allocated to grants, £50.85 million to loans and £0.1 million will be held as a contingency reserve. The total gross budget is made up of net Social Fund provision from Treasury of £20.99 million plus the amount of forecast loan recoveries for 2007-08, £43.58 million.

Details of the budget allocations, together with a note explaining the basis on which they have been made, have been placed in the Libraries of the House.