evidence: - According to Treasury figures, NI’s departmental spending will go up by 3.6% per year to 2025, compared with 6% per year in the UK as a whole. [...] "Because spending per head starts higher in NI than in England, increasing spending per head by the same cash amount means a smaller percentage increase in NI and gradual convergence over time in NI relative to UK Government spending in the rest of the UK." [...] Departmental spending is mainly funded from money sent to Northern Ireland from the UK Treasury. The only major additional source of public spending in NI is rates, which raises around £700m (compared to £15bn of "regionally identifiable expenditure" alone). "Treasury contributions" therefore equate more or less directly with public spending, when comparing trends.