AQW 8492/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 09/10/2020
Answered On Date: 21/10/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Finance what work has been done with local councils to take forward their request for a guarantee from government that rates paid to councils will be based on the estimated figure agreed as part of the rate setting process for this financial year and the next two financial years.

Answer:

I have had a number of representations about this matter from individual Councils, SOLACE, and the Committee for Communities, and following consideration I am not minded to provide this guarantee. As I continue to review the emerging situation my position remains unchanged.

I have already put together a number of measures to benefit and protect Councils’ non-domestic rates bases. This has included the rates holiday support package for business worth £313 million, the full cost of which is borne by the Executive and therefore protects Councils’ income this year, and an emergency package of funding for Councils worth £20 million. It addition, the Executive has invested in an extensive range of schemes aimed at limiting the damage that the pandemic will cause to the economy. This support will help to reduce the number of business failures that result and, therefore, help to protect the rates revenue which Councils rely upon.

The focus for my officials now is on working in collaboration with counterparts in the local Councils to review and build on the well-established model for rate forecasting to take account of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the property tax base, to support a robust rate striking process for the 2021/22 rating year.