Chancellor Rachel Reeves to meet Emma Little-Pengelly and John O’Dowd in Belfast

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will meet Stormont ministers on Tuesday to discuss how to grow Northern Ireland’s economy, as part of her first visit to Belfast.

She will also visit Studio Ulster, Northern Ireland’s largest film and TV virtual production studio, to look at how government spending is helping the “creative industries”.

About a third of the funding for the £72m project came from the government’s Belfast Region City Deal.

Reeves is expected to meet Finance Minister John O’Dowd and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly during her trip.

Stormont’s first and deputy first minister met Reeves last September, in a bid to lobby for “fairer” funding for public services in Northern Ireland.

Since then, the government has faced criticism over its plans and subsequent U-turns on winter fuel payments and changes to welfare reform, both of which would have had significant impacts in Northern Ireland.

In the latest government Spending Review in June, the chancellor announced a 2% rise in funding for the Stormont Executive for next year.

But at the time, O’Dowd warned that Stormont would still be left in a “financially constrained position”.

Reeves is also expected to make a defence visit during her time in Belfast on Tuesday, and highlight how an uplift in defence spending across the UK will support jobs in Northern Ireland.