Question Time: Finance, Tuesday 27 February 2024
00:00 Questions to the Finance Minister
00:14 To ask the Minister of Finance for an update on negotiations with the UK Government on the fiscal framework and revenue raising in Northern Ireland.
04:17 To ask the Minister of Finance to outline what discussions she has had with the banking sector to promote banking hubs in towns impacted by bank closures.
11:20 To ask the Minister of Finance for her assessment of the relationship between fiscal devolution and long-term budget sustainability.
15:44 To ask the Minister of Finance for an update on the Derry City and Strabane District Council City Deal.
19:29 To ask the Minister of Finance to outline what support her Department can provide to the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.
22:15 To ask the Minister of Finance to outline the status of the consultations on measures to support budget sustainability and raise additional revenue.
25:36 To ask the Minister of Finance to outline timescales in relation to the consultation on Non-Domestic Rating Measures issued in November 2023.
27:55 To ask the Minister of Finance to outline how much the consultation process on measures to support budget sustainability and raise additional revenue has cost to date.
29:05 To ask the Minister of Finance whether she intends to extend the Small Business Rate Relief scheme beyond this financial year.
30:06 Topical Questions
The sitting is room zoomed it’s time for questions to the Minister of Finance question eight has been withdrawn I call Matthew to thank you Mr Speaker question one minister with the speaker’s permission I will answer question one and seven together I have written to the chief secretary to the treasury setting
Out my significant concerns in relation to elements of the financial package including the St ulations on Revenue raising I am meeting with the chief secretary to the treasury tomorrow where I will will be pressing for substantive engagement on how we develop and Implement a new fiscal framework I view
That very much as a start of the engagement with treasury on these matters the immediate priority is for the British government to put in place a fair and appropriately baselined needs-based fiscal floor which recognizes our under funding for the start of the next Bandon review it is essential that the right level of
Funding is provided Ed by treasury to ensure we have a sustainable foundation for our public finances going forward thank you Mr Speaker Minister um executive ministers have said various contradictory things about Revenue raising some in print uh some verbally as a constructive opposition we have said we don’t think it would be
Appropriate to impose punishing new Rises on the people of Northern Ireland this year the executive will meet this week to discuss the regional rate rise can the minister confirm whether she will be recommending an above or below inflation rise in the regional rate um as as the member will will know um we
Have quite a tight time frame within which we need to set the rate to ensure that um rat bills go out for the beginning of um April um I will be hopefully discussing with executive colleagues this week um the the rate for the incom in financial year it wouldn’t
Be appropriate for me to um to have those discussions in advance of having them with um executive colleagues n mallister thank you sure the minister would agree that integrated education can be truly transformative for society as a whole so at your meeting with the treasury tomorrow will you will you urge the
Treasury to reverse its decision to remove ring fenced funding and if they will refuse to do so will you work with the education minister to ensure that the capital funding for integrated schools can actually move ahead um so I am actually still awaiting Clarity from treasury as to what um
Funding has been reprofiled so that is something that I will be raising with the chief secretary to the treasury tomorrow I I share the the concerns that the education Minister has has set out these are important projects um as the member will know no executive parties had anything to do with the reprofiling
Of of the money um but obviously we’ll have to now deal with the outworkings of of whatever um comes next d m Kerney Minister there’s a widely shared view that one effect of Tori economic policy towards the north over the last 14 years has been to turn this region
Into an economic Backwater do you agree that the transfer of Maximum fiscal Powers is essential to economic growth and stability here and will you press that case at your meeting in London tomorrow and going forward Mr I think that we would all share the view that a decade of Tory austerity has
Hun done hug damage to our public services and I I certainly agree that it is vital that we have all the fiscal levers that we can at our disposal that’s why um we included additional fiscal parts in The Joint executive letter that was sent to the British
Government on the 4th of February um in terms of fiscal Powers the member will know that my predecessor Connor Murphy had set up the fiscal commission to to look at the Devolution of um additional powers and that that subsequently the report of the fiscal commission went out
For consultation so I will consider the f fcal commission’s recommendations across a full range of taxes and we’ll then bring proposals to the executive um on additional fiscal poers that we might um seek and that will be something in terms of the fiscal framew workk that I
Will be raising with treasury call Har Harvick question two speaker um I I am deeply concerned about the impact of bank branch closures on local communities particularly in our rural towns and Villages I have written to the main um local banks operating here calling for a meeting to discuss
How access to vital banking services can be maintained increasing the roll out of banking hubs at peace is a matter that I will be raising when I meet with the banks and their industry representatives and I will also separately be meeting with the financial services Union to
Discuss the direction of travel of the banking industry Mr Harvey thank you Mr Speaker and first of all can of wish you well in your recent position Minister Minister the current criteria is quite rigid for assessing the need for banking hubs I wonder does the minister have any
Plans to review review the current criteria for tackling banking Hub eligibility thank you minister so as I understand it banking hubs are owned by cash access UK which is a company set up by Banks and others and operated by by the post office the location um of banking hubs is established by link
Which runs the main cash machine Network people will be familiar with um following an assessment by them of need so how they assess need and the criteria used is an issue that I will be raising when I meet the banks in their industry representatives and it will be testing
With the industry the assessment process to qualify for a bank and hub and as to whether it’s suitable and I I know that um the consumer Council has worked in partnership with link to identify areas that could be considered for for bank and hubs and by using that criteria that
That link has the consumer Council submitted eight Community requests but only four areas qualified so I very much want to understand what that process is col Murphy Minister for her answers thus far Minister how can we increase the number of banking hubs here going forward Minister thank you um so I suppose
Similar to what I have just said out to to Mr Harvey um I very much want to understand what the processes um so that when other towns and Villages that are left um without a bank how can they benefit from these hubs and what can be done to drive this forward so that’s
Something that I will be very keen to explore with um the the bank and their their representatives when I have the opportunity to meet them Minister for her remarks so far I could the minister uh State whether she could have a conversation with the chief Executives of the bank in some way that
There should be some Public Service obligation for them to make sure that banking services are retained in our Rural and particularly our hard-to-reach community rather than what there seems to be their full- speed attempt to get rid of their banks for or their banking structures just for the sake of saving some
Money thank you so um the the member may be aware that um my predecessor Connor Murphy had um had convened a banking Round Table in February 2022 and um had raised some issues coming out of that around insuring access to cash and services and and stakeholder engagement
About managing the change in in services uh they set those issues out in a report that was formally presented to Treasury and other regulatory authorities in London including the financial um conduct Authority for consideration and and the member may be aware that the financial conduct Authority has made some recommendations around access to
Cash and that’s something that I’ll be Keen to um engage with them on further FR um thanks very much Minister for your response um I just noticed that the Bank of Ireland profits this year are up 92% incredible absolutely incredible but can I ask the minister given that the UK
Treasury currently owns over a third of NatWest um will the minister appeal to the treasury to intervene to prevent olster Bank bank olster bank uh closures in various branches particularly in the rural areas as referred previously by Mr Aken thank you uh well the member will
Know that um both my department and and the assembly have very limited legislative um Authority in relation to to Banking and finance so there there’s a limited role in which my department can play indirectly influencing the decisions uh that are made by by local banks which are largely for the most
Part commercial um but certainly I’ll be pressing on on local banks for the change where it’s needed um and to highlight I suppose that we are a a society that is much more reliant on cash and that is something that has been shown in some of the the research that
Has been done and in particular to highlight the needs of the most vulnerable um and obviously the round table discussion highlighted some of these issues and we have shared that with Treasury and and certainly it’ll be something that I will be Keen to engage on further in the consitency I represent in
Banger Barkley Bank have recently ened I’ll be vacating the Main Street which follows several others and what will you be doing to ensure that my constituents who don’t feel confident using online banking can access these services in person so as I just said out to to Mr M
Lo obviously we have limited powers in terms of um trying to direct what the banks do and the decisions that they take are for largely for commercial reasons um the cash access to cash hubs and I and I believe there is one in Banger um that that those are a good uh
Model I suppose when there are a lack of banking services but it is really important and certainly when banks close it in my constituency I am very keen to ensure that the the banks that are are leaving um our high streets ensure that there are uh facilities that are um
Available to people so when I meet with the banks and and their representatives I’ll be Keen to understand how they um ensure that that happens and what are the criteria for the access to cash hubs thank you question three Mr Speaker the immediate priority regarding budget sustainability must be getting
The British government to put in place a fair and appropriately baselined uh needs based uh fiscal floor um this must recognize our underfunding for the start of the next spending review increased fiscal Devolution will allow an executive increased control to manage its finances and priorities locally and that’s not just about raving Revenue
It’s about um aligning economic and social policy with our tax and spend it would allow us to make different choices to change behaviors to Spur economic activity or to raise revenue for public services in a fairer and more Progressive Way as the independent fiscal commission stated in its final
Report fiscal Devolution could help local citizens through their politicians to make choices that suit at them best and it would support long-term budget sustainability can I ask the minister why are our Public Services unsustainable at present well as the member will know we we have been underfunded for a number of
Years and and the British government recognized that um when they recognized that we had a level of need and and with the financial package um that they they put in place we are the only devolved Administration that’s asked to deliver Public Services while being funded below the level of need
It’s clear the current Financial package proposed by the British government doesn’t address this um in a in a long-term way it doesn’t provide the basis for the executive to deliver sustainable Public Services um in the medium to long term and that’s not just my assessment or the assessment of of
The executive colleagues it’s supported by fiscal Council analysis so of course of course the additional funding is welcome but it will only provide a short-term solution to the to the press and issues that we face now effectively we have been asked to accept the lower quality of Public Services for our
People and that is absolutely untenable the British government must provide the foundation on which we can build and deliver sustainable public finances and deliver sustainable Public Services answers so far does the minister agree that stop go government isn’t conducive to the effective fiscal Devolution that many of us in this
Chamber would aspire to and would therefore agree with my party’s view that reform of the institutions is necessary to deliver the political stability necessary to underpin financial sustainability so the the member will know that we are very much up for being here we want to be here and to be doing
The jobs that we are all um elected to do and to collectively represent um the people that we are elected to represent um we have been very clear that we are very much up for that conf conversation around reform we have the assembly and executive Review Committee and that’s a
A forum that we would like to see used to discuss the issues around um the reform of the institutions Minister won’t exercise the revenue raising par she has at present but she demands more fiscal powers in that rush to spend other people’s money should she not be
Reflecting today on the audit report and it’s down com in indictment of the local incapacity to control expenditure particularly including that incapacity of her predecessor well I think the the audit office report highlighted a number of things including that the increased costs are not unique to hear that uh the
Inflationary price Rises the global issues that have impacted Supply chains and and Logistics have have been um a Global Effect there are clearly issues that that need to be addressed in terms of the delivery of major capital projects I understand the head of the civil service has set up a cross
Departmental working group to look at the the issues that have have have been been raised and to how we can um better deliver capital projects going forward thank you Mr Speaker and thank you uh Minister Minister uh the sdlp would absolutely welcome more fiscal Powers within this assembly and surely
It would alleviate some of the pressure that we face but does the minister agree with me that a key plank to ensure stability to attract further Parts is to ask the first and Deputy first ministers to not resign their positions to ensure the stability of this assembly I think I have already
Addressed this in response to to um to Mr Tannis and uh we very much up for the conversation around uh reform of the institutions and as Michelle O’Neal has made very clear when she has responded to this we are here in the executive and we we are here to deliver for people and
That is Our intention for the rest of this mandate well there um the fiscal commission made a number of recommendations around um potential powers to to devolve um and the subsequent consultation um officials are currently analyzing and I will be looking at the full range of pars considering the recommendations that
Have come back through the consultation and presenting that to the executive for their consideration speaker the Der and Stan District Council City Deale is nearing the end of its business case process and is working towards signing the deal in um spring or summer of this year the deal signing
Obviously will Mark the stage that the funding can actually be released Mr Speaker can I thank the minister for her response uh minister one of the frustrations that the council have highlighted with me is the speed in which these uh business cases have been approved and the frustration that heads
Of terms uh can’t be signed at an earlier opportunity to draw down funding uh to allow them to make the necessary progress will the minister commit to working with the economy Minister uh to bring these City deal projects uh further ahead um city and go deals as as the
Member will know our our long-term capital investment programs and and the process requires a detailed uh business case development and and approval for each constituent project to ensure the proper use of funds um my officials and other departments have been um regularly engaging with deal partners and they
Continue to work through the relevant approvals process for the numerous business cases involved in the deal I I I know um that the views that the member is expressing they have been expressed to me as well those those concerns around the the um the bureaucracy of the
Process I have discussed that with with my officials and they’ve assured me that they are working at peace um to progress business cases but I will certainly be up for the conversations with the economy minister to ensure that the the city and growth deal for der and stban
But for the other Council areas can all proceed as quickly as possible thank the minister for her answer so far can she provide an update on the medical school and on personalized medicine um I understand that work is currently underway by the Departments for economy and the Department of Health
Health in conjunction with oler University to develop the business case for Phase 2 um which will see the expansion of of the medical school and I know the member is very supportive of that and has been working on it and I’m sure he will also be engaging with those
Ministers in relation to the expansion of the medical school um can I ask the minister for an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the Northern Ireland audit office report into public procurement in Northern Ireland with particular particular reference to the reforms that were made to the procurement board in
2020 Minister commit that she will allocate all the required funding to ensure that the city Dale project can be pursued in full and not scaled down because of the inflationary pressures and indeed the delay in bringing the cases forward well the member will be aware that um I I believe 210 million pounds
Have been allocated um from from government 100 million of City Deals funded and 110 million from the inclusive future fund which will be equally funded by the executive and and the the British government and dar Dari instra ban District Council and and project delivery partners are expected to contribute an additional 52 million
Investment and it speaks to the point that we’ve already discussed with with Mr Middleton that these um the business case process has to proceed as as quickly as possible and that’s something that I will be very keen to work with um executive colleagues around five um I very much appreciate the
Important role hospices uh play in delivering Specialist Care to people with postive and end of Life Care needs I I welcome the me Health Minister’s reinstatement of the £85,000 in funding to the children’s hospice for this year which had been with with drawn I know this is an issue that the member has
Been raising and I can assure him that I am committed to working with the health minister to consider any proposals from the Department of Health to support the children’s hospice I’m sorry Philip BR sorry apologies thank you Mr Speaker uh the minister will be aware of the huge
Public concern of the reduction and services by the children’s hospice and can I play uh tribute to local campaigners including the 1200 who have signed my parliamentary petition on this issue can the minister put on the record that she would welcome a bid from the health minister to fully reinstate the
Services of the Northern Ireland children’s hospital so I have recently begun the process of setting the budget for the executive for the incoming Financial year as part of this departments have been invited to make bids for the available funding based on their own priorities and needs it will
Obviously then be matter for the executive to decide how the funding is shared out between departments and for individual ministers to decide how to allocate funding within their own departments I’ve written to the health minister to say that if services are not considered affordable within um the Department of Health Baseline then I
Would encourage him to make a bid for the additional funding as part of the 2024 25 budget um exercise want to thank the member my colleague from North BOS for raising us um I’m glad the minister has mentioned that she would welcome a bid from the minister for health on a more secure
Fund model for hospit will CH rais with him that there is a need for a business case on more sustainable funding not just for the children’s hes but for the adult hospices as well rather than ending on or alely on end ofe bids to to get them some sustainability thank
You um I I have received a letter from the minister of Health asking for assistance and important hospices in any way possible there was no specific bid for additional funding to the department with respect to hospices and obviously the executive has not agreed the um final allocations for the 2023 24 budget
But I have written to the health minister to say that if the services aren’t considered affordable uh within the Department’s um Baseline that I would encourage him to bid for additional funding um and that is a position that I that I would be Keen to discuss with the health Minister um when
I’m having one to ones with each of my executive colleagues in the uh 2024 25 budget set in process question yes please on the 20th of September the Secretary of State wrote to permanent secretaries directing them to launch public consultations on measures to support budget sustainability by raising additional Revenue these consultations
Were at various stages when the executive returned um and it will now be for individual ministers to consider the outcome of consultations carried out by their individual departments should they wish to do so uh thank you very much indeed Minister uh you’ve already talked several times today and thank you very
Much indeed for the remarks you gained about the ongoing consultation about Revenue raising but other ministers seem to have taken those off the table if that is the case can you give us a status update on which consultations are running and which ones aren’t so the consultations um are at um
Various stages they were launched on um different dates between October and um early January this year so the consultation periods also uh varies so there was a range of closing dates um those that have closed are relating to the overarching financial context um rates relief and um hospital car parking
Charges and as the member has rightly reflected um I am Keen to consider the the outcome and the responses over, 1400 responses were submitted to the consultation on rates and I’m very keen to understand what people had to say about the um the rates in that consultation
Sir can you provide an update on the Department’s rate Revenue uh raising consultation that um so the department of finances rate Revenue raising consultation opened on the 7th of November it concluded on the 13th of February and as I’ve just said to Mr a and, 1400 responses were received my officials are currently
Analyzing the responses with a view to providing me the initial findings report in March and I’m very keen to understand what those who’ve responded to the consultation have to say about the rates system and I will consider the analysis uh from officials in due course Mr Speaker uh Minister uh you
Await the findings of of the rates relief review in your opinion should such findings include an assessment of the impact of getting rid of each relief on household budgets rent costs and small businesses so the rates Revenue uh raising consultation was quite Limited in terms of the the questions that were
Asked but I understand from officials that the responses received were considerable and uh some were very uh um lengthy and provided a lot of detail in terms of the information in relation to particular sectors there are a whole range of um rates relief measures both for domestic and for non-domestic
Properties um some of them are are very much um are really important rate release for example in relation to uh people on Lower incomes or or people who have disabilities and there’s adaptations to their houses and that there are others that maybe are a little bit outdated and and we will be looking
At the the rate system as a whole and that’s something that I will be Keen to to analyze the um the responses to the uh the r re Revenue raisin consultation uh question eight has been withdrawn question nine the member isn’t in our place question 10 Mr
Bookl so the consultation opened on the 7th of November and concluded on the 13th of February 1,400 responses were received on both the domestic and non-domestic rating measures and my officials are currently analyzing the responses with a view to providing me with the initial findings report in March
Thank you speaker and thank you Minister for your answer you’ll be aware of the huge concern that there is among manufacturing regarding the non-domestic uh rates measures particularly that of industrial deting many of our in our manufacturing sector have suffered greatly due to Rising energy Rising staff costs and indeed Post brexit
Trading conditions are the minister is the minister aware of these concerns and what can she do to mitigate against them so uh as I mentioned we had over 1,400 um consultation responses uh from various sectors and obviously uh the manufacturing sector will be represented in that I am aware of the concerns that
Have been raised I’m also aware of the importance of that particular rat relief to the manufacturing sector which is very successful here we have a a really thriving um manufacturing sector and I will be carefully considering uh the responses to the consultation before taken any further um or taken any further
Steps thank speaker would the minister agree that uh any change uh particularly any reduction in our industrial D rating regime would damage the ability to attract investment uh based on our dual Market access and Manufacturing export so I I’m very clear that our rting system should be fair it should be
Equitable it should be Progressive but it should be very much align to our economic Vision it should be about creating um jobs it should be about supporting businesses and it’s important that what we are trying to achieve with our r system is about growing the tax base so that there are are more
Businesses actually contributing to the rates um Revenue rather than um you know putting more burden on individual businesses at the minute so I I am very much aware of the concerns that have been raised I’m also very aware of the importance of the manufacturing sector
As I’ve already said um and I will be carefully considering the the consultation responses question number 11 so the consultation process on measures to support budget sustainability and raise additional Revenue uh which my department was directed to undertake by the Secretary of State cost 2,96 80P and this included cost for
Newspaper advertising and for a stakeholder engagement event on the 9th of November thank you Mr Speaker uh Minister thank you for your response has a minister had to issue any minister serial directions to the permanent Secretary of the Department of Finance as there does not appear to be any
Resolution to the issue of Revenue reing I have um not in uh made any um ministerial direction to the permanent secretary if the member would like to to write to me to ask for more detail I’d be happy to provide him with any information that he wishes Mr question question number 12
Speak um my department has extended small business R relief H scheme in legislation for the forthcoming uh Financial year this will provide in the region of 20 million pounds worth of assistance automatically to 29,000 small businesses who benefit from a reduction of between 20 and 50% on their
Rates thank the minister for her answer does the minister have any intention to change the the scheme once we reach the year end now moving forward given the challenges small businesses in particular have faced over the past few years uh I very much recognize the challenges that have faced all
Businesses but particularly small businesses and and as I have said previously I will be considering the um the responses to the revenue raising consultation and assessing the the findings of that exercise and we’ll be uh looking at a number of strategic areas of policy within the W system within um the weeks
Ahead um Minister I I found out that 150 million pound ring fence for shared and integrated education uh had been hacked away whenever I got an email from the principal of my son’s Primary School telling us that they wouldn’t be able to proceed with the long planned uh
Construction of a new school when did you and other executive ministers find out I I think I have already reflected um in respon is that I am actually still waiting Clarity from treasury as to what money has been repackaged within that 78 million points that has been Loosely
Earmarked for for transformation um and like I share the concerns that is as I’ve already said that the ex um education Minister has outlined in relation to those projects this isn’t something that the executive uh signed up to um we were very clear in the talks in Hillsboro that we understood that
Some money was being repackaged we have yet to receive details of that um and certainly we will be left picking up the tab and trying to deal with the outwork at that thank you Mr Speaker Minister I’m afraid uh people out there watching will find it absolutely astounding that
No Minister has any idea what um has actually been agreed to in relation to reallocating existing money can she or any other minister can she or any other minister um and I chuntering from the sidelines from from other parties should rather wait for questions about important issues could she or any other
Minister guarantee uh that other public sector bodies and other voluntary organizations worried about what the other 400 million of potentially reallocated money by the UK treasury is going to be uh I’ll do theuk Mr Minister I I thank the the member for that question and um well as I’ve
Already stated I’m waiting Clarity from the treasury as to what exactly um has been repackaged we understand from officials that there are a number of funding streams fresh started one there are things like leveling up in funds that the British government is responsible for like new deal but I will
Await Clarity from the treasury and I will be raising it with the chief secretary to the treasury tomorrow and and making it clear that we need to have an understanding of that and it will then be for the executive as part of the budget setting process for 2024 25 to um
To deal with bids um from the other ministers in the executive and to make decisions about how to allocate that thank you Mr Speaker and I’d like to ask the minister if she could provide a brief update on the office of State review consultation that was launched in
2022 so the department is responsible for the management and strategic planning of the um nics office estate which includes ensuring estate meets the changing needs of the Civil Service uh for 2023 um the Department of Finance has commenced a program of work to reduce the in scope of office the state
Footprint by about 40% over the next 5 years which will help reduce its carbon footprint and also uh support that Journey towards decarbonization um the Department of Finance has exited uh 12 owned and leased buildings during 2023 24 and we also plan to exit a number of lease buildings at the earliest opportunity
And the member is probably aware that a number of significant sites are currently uh for seale including netherly um Clarence court and Victoria Hall thank you Mr Speaker and thank Minister for the update I noted that in the consultation it said 70% of the estate cost was in the greater Belfast area so
Which means there’s only 30% in The Wider parts of Northern Ireland is there any indication that there will be a rebalance of that so that there’s more of those Estates based in the in the remainder of Northern irand so the um as the member has
Outlined there is um a as I have already sorry stated there is a plan to reduce our um footprint by 40% and and that is very much I suppose reflecting the changing um needs of of the civil service but also people’s changing work patterns um the member will be aware
That there was a number of connect two hubs that were established by the previous Finance Minister um there was kind there’s been quite poor uptake of the the use of those um so be very much I want to understand what the use of our office of state is right across the
North and to to look at how we can best use that footprint wish Minister well in our new position Minister we seen just recently an our security Alert in your own constituency um reflecting the pressure and threat the PSI and under will you commit to fund the justice department
Effectively to deliver the service required under the current threat and numbers of officers required well we are about to um embark on the the budget set in process for for 2024 25 and as part of that I will be meeting each of the individual ministers with responsibility so I will be
Engaging with the the Justice Minister around her her needs and that of her department and the the bodies within her department so iure I’m sure that she will be making the case um for for what she requires to deliver services so minister at this current time the Justice Minister has not
Communicated with you and reflecting those concerns of mine so the budget setting process is ongoing um the departments were asked to to come back to Department of Finance by the end of February with um their initial um their initial pressures for the incoming year and then I will be
Embarking on a a onetoone process of engaging with ministers around the the pressures facing their department and and their bids and their priorities for the incoming um Financial year and it will then be for the executive to decide the overall budget my question question was already asked and answered thank
You to her new position and can I ask her has she considered the future of the County Hall uh building in Coran uh in a future estate strategy and has a building survey been carried out recently so that that’s not one that has come up with me yet but I’d be happy to
Write with to the member to give him some further details on that particular issue I thank the minister for answer her her commitment to to reply the County Hall has a capacity of 700 it’s only a fraction of the occupied and I was wondering would it be feasible
To move the small number of staff from County Hall to Jubilee building in Bal Kelly which is also uh under occupied and that the department could enter discussions with the Cosby coast and gland a to promote some sort of office uh establishment there or better still give the building over to the council
And let them maintain it and up keep it I I would be happy to engage with the the member further on this obviously I’m I’m familiar with the the buildings that he he’s talking about is it’s my own constituency um and the the I suppose the vision of the Department of Finance
Is that we we do have that ability to to move between different departments building so that that we do we are maximizing the potential of the office space that we actually have access to and are making best use of it and that we are um ensuring that the office space
That we do have is the most um the most I suppose carbon friendly that it can be that that we are um contributing to the targets that we have to meet in relation to to climate as well thank you U Mr Speaker uh it was reported in the media earlier this week
That 175 million pounds of rates went on ped last year what actions has the minister taken to collect this so um it’s important I suppos to say that over over 1.5 billion of rates were actually collected in um this financial year um that’s the largest amount collected by LPS within a rting
Year and more than 140 million pounds more than last year so rting debt has increased since 2020 there are a number of factors that the member won’t be surprised about in relation to both the co pandemic and also the cost of living and cost of doing business crisis LPS proactively addresses ritten debt
Through rates spilling collect and Recovery cycle as at the 4th of February 2024 almost 11,000 rate pairs have an an agreed payment plan with their rates being paid over a longer period of time and it’s important to reflect that those people are also reflected in that 174 um
Million pounds worth of debt so legal debt recovery actions are taken by LPS for persistent non-payment and when rate payers fail to engage with LPS on their rate debt approximately 40% of all rate debt prior prior to the 31st of March 2023 has been subject to legal proceedings and the member will also
Know there were there were difficulties with legal procedings during the pandemic um LPS has been robustly implementing its debt recovery strategy aimed to reduce rating debt year on year thank you uh speaker and thank you the minister for her response does she agree that over a punitive rates
Increase this year would actually set back efforts to recoup up money so there there’s obviously been a number of figures that have been quoted in in the media um and from from from my perspective some of those would be incredibly punitive on households and businesses obviously it will be for the
Executive to decide what the rate will actually be set at and that’s a discussion that I will be having with executive colleagues later this week we do have to get that balance between being able to deliver high quality public services but not putting the burden on um hardworking workers
Families and businesses that are already struggling with um the cost of living and the cost of doing business Minister uh can I welcome the meeting that you had with Minister mcra last week I know it was in the same day that the Irish government announced its
Fund package for the north can I ask uh the minister how that 800 million euro package will help the executive carry out its work well it was really positive um to have that engagement with the the Irish Finance Minister there is a significant invest M there by the Irish government
Of 800 million EUR and for me that very much demonstrates that power of joint working to deliver positive benefits for people right across the island it will make a significant contribution to the development of our economy and infrastructure particularly in the Northwest where we where the A5 project
Is and also in um border areas Support also the Redevelopment of casement Park um and will create jobs and connect communities and unlock economic benefit and I think some of the the um the funding that is contained within it in relation to tackling educational underachievement female entrepreneurship they’re very positive things that
Obviously we we um share um uh the the a view on North and South I am also meeting the minister for public expenditure and reform tomorrow Pascal Dono and I I’m very much welcome looking forward to having similar engagement with him yeah I thank the minister for answer
And just in terms of agreeing with her in terms of uh working across the island for the betterment of citizens here can I ask uh when the next north south ministerial council is due to meet so unless I’ve had notification while I’ve been in the chamber I haven’t
Actually we don’t actually have a date for the next meeting of the north south ministerial Council obviously it’s really important that that engagement in those meetings and regular meetings both in plenary and um in in other form actually begin to take place again so hopefully that will happen in the very near
Future next question is Mr Stewart he’s not in his place so that is the last question Minister you relieved with your duties thank you and uh just said the the chamber will have a delegation from the males and uh they’re in the they’re in the gallery so they’re very welcome
And uh there’s no plans for reciprocal visit for members don’t don’t get too excited if you take your