The newly-appointed secretary of state, Sir Chris Bryant, has said he is coming to Northern Ireland with “a checklist of things I want to get sorted” rather than a chequebook.
Parties in the Northern Ireland Executive are calling for increased funding from the government so they can set a budget.
Stormont officials will have legal powers to spend up to 95% of last year’s funding from Saturday, as a deadline passes without an executive budget.
Sir Chris is visiting Northern Ireland on Friday for a series of engagements, which include meeting the political parties at Hillsborough Castle.
It is his first visit since he was appointed to the job following Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month.
Speaking to BBC News NI on Friday, Sir Chris said: “We need to get to a budget and I understand the financial pressures.
“I know everybody expects me to come with a chequebook – I’m actually coming with a checklist of things I want to get sorted.
“I want to get to decisions as soon as possible and I’m going to have meetings over the next few days both with people here in the executive to work out precisely how we can move forward – everybody’s going to have to give a bit – and also with my colleagues in the government back in Westminster.”
He said the parties had already made strong representations to him about funding but said he wouldn’t have “a set of decisions for people” on Friday.
“I want to work on this as fast as possible because in the end I want to keep the show on the road, I want the executive to function, I want public services in Northern Ireland really to deliver.”
