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Rates (Capital Values, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

I too thank the Minister for introducing the order with great lucidity. I also congratulate the Minister’s department on publishing the consultation on the website. It has been very helpful. I am also most grateful to the Northern Ireland Office for the helpful explanation given to me about the order. It was extremely kind. In October last year the Secretary of State announced his intention to increase the rates in Northern Ireland. Members on these Benches recognise that the current system is out of date and unfair. It certainly takes no account of people’s ability to pay. However, by basing the rates on capital values rather than rental values, the new system will not address the problem either. It still fails to take adequate recognition of a person’s ability to pay and will be seen by many to be unfair. At the time of the Secretary of State’s announcement, we said that we believe the increase is grossly unfair. Average earnings in Northern Ireland are £100 per week below those in Great Britain, and people still pay more for basic necessities like food and fuel. The Secretary of State’s comparisons with England and Wales have little relevance when they operate on a totally different system of local taxation. The whole structure of those costs of living is different from that in Northern Ireland. But, as a matter of interest, is the Minister able to provide a comparison between the level of council tax in England and Wales and the average rate bill in Northern Ireland? We are extremely concerned about the impact on certain groups, such as the elderly. They may be asset rich, but they are cash poor. In many cases, this applies to those who are now in retirement, having worked very hard to pay off their mortgages. They should not be penalised with high rate bills. We believe that this will be particularly problematic in areas such as North Down and South Belfast, which are experiencing rapid house price rises, as indicated by the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran. These proposals will require exemptions for people living on low incomes, and I am grateful that the noble Lord has indicated that that will be taken into account, but that could create complications and add to the administrative costs. What will be the overall cost of the exercise? How will the revaluation be calculated? Will it be based on every individual property—unless I misunderstood him, he indicated that that was so—or decided by street or postcode district? It is extremely disappointing that the Government did not take the opportunity to bring in local income tax. That would at least have demonstrated a commitment to a fairer system of charging households. It recognises people’s ability to pay and is especially important for those senior citizens who, as I mentioned before, struggle on fixed incomes—many on tiny fixed incomes—and who bear the brunt of unfair taxation, perhaps on larger houses. Does the Minister think that the Government’s proposals are better than a system that is more equitable and much fairer than that which they seek to impose? Was local income tax considered at all in the overall scheme of things? My final question is: how can people challenge the rate value of their homes and what proposals are there to enable that? I think that the Minister said that there would be a year for people to find out more about the amounts they would be charged. How is that balanced? How would people go about challenging a decision? As we say all the time, we must deal with issues here that affect every household in Northern Ireland. As other noble Lords have said, I hope that this is the last time we will have to do this.