Debate contribution: Rates (Regional Rates) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024
Debate contribution by Miss Nicola Brogan on .
- MLA
- Miss Nicola Brogan
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 12 March 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Rates (Regional Rates) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4266657
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Minister for bringing the regional rates order for 2024-25 to the Assembly. I appreciate the very tight time frame in which to issue rates bills to households in early April, as scheduled. As Members will know, the regional rate is the only major tax that the Executive have control over. In the current financial year, Land and Property Services collected almost £1·5 billion in rates, which includes the district rate set by councils. The revenue generated by rates is used by the Executive and councils to deliver public services, including health, education, roads and waste management. Without the revenue generated by rates, the Executive would not be able to sustain our front-line public services, which people rely on every day.
The cost-of-living crisis has had a devastating impact across society. So many families out there really struggle to pay the bills and put food on the table. Rising costs have also contributed to a much more difficult environment for businesses, with many shutting their doors. It is important that, as we debate striking a rate for the year ahead, we are mindful of the families and businesses that are struggling to survive. The domestic and non-domestic poundage multiplier set out in the Rates Order for 2024-25 keeps the percentage increase in line with inflation, which sits at 4%. That level of increase strikes a good balance between ensuring the delivery of sustainable public services and protecting the most vulnerable in society. Prior to the restoration of the Assembly, the Secretary of State had threatened to impose a 15% rates hike as a means to raise £113 million. A rates increase of that magnitude would, undoubtedly, have plunged many businesses and many households into acute financial crisis. The Executive were right to resist calls from the Secretary of State to have unfair tax increases during a cost-of-living crisis. I thank the Finance Minister again for her steady leadership at this time.
323 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.87).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.87 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.99 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:43 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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