NI budget: Bill to be rushed through House of Commons
BBC Legislation allowing the government to pass a budget for Northern Ireland will be fast-tracked at Westminster later.
The budget sets out spending allocated to Stormont's nine departments for this financial year.
They have been operating without proper budgets since the start of the financial year in April due to the collapse of the executive.
The bill will be rushed through the House of Commons and a majority of MPs are expected to support it.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has tabled a number of amendments but it is up to the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to decide if any of them are chosen for debate.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will not take part. He is on a visit to the US to discuss trade and investment opportunities.
The five-day trip includes meetings in Washington DC, Boston and New York.
It is expected that he will hold his first in-person talks with the recently-appointed US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy III during the visit.
Significant cuts
The Stormont executive had not agreed a budget when the DUP withdrew from the first minister's role last February.
