Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party). It was answered on Tuesday, 20 June 2006 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee.

Industrial Rates

Question: The Minister will be aware that the resolution was passed unanimously on a cross-party and cross-community basis. Even the party that did not take part in the debate agreed with the proposition that industrial rates should be capped at 25 per cent. Will the Minister tell us what the implications of a 25 per cent. cap would be for the Government’s estimated revenue from industrial rates next year, and thereby indicate how comfortably the resolution may be accommodated?

Answer: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the point as he has. My estimate is that, in the event of the resolution passed by the Assembly being implemented—as opposed to being passed by the Assembly when there is not an Executive—£7 million of revenue will be lost over the next financial year. In the period to 2011, the estimated loss of rates and revenue would be in the region of £60 million. Obviously, that will have an impact, because if the resolution of the Assembly went ahead, £60 million of expenditure planned for the next five years would not be funded. For my hon. Friend’s benefit, I should say that I welcome the following statement from 2002: ““We therefore support this proposal but acknowledge the requirement to phase it out in a manageable fashion in a timeframe to be negotiated with the sector””. That was the submission of the Social Democratic and Labour party when we had support for industrial derating at the time of the Assembly. I am sure that the party will stick to that pledge.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: NIGC c5
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons Grand Committees
Subjects: Industry Northern Ireland Business rates Rate limitation Tax yields
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk