Debate contribution: Rates (Temporary Rebate) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024

Debate contribution by Dr Caoimhe Archibald on 14 May 2024.

MLA

Dr Caoimhe Archibald

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

14 May 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Rates (Temporary Rebate) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4490181

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Before I deal with the statutory rule (SR), I will set out some background to the measure. The scheme was designed by my Department as an amendment to the Rates (Amendment) Act 2012, following a proposal by Belfast Chamber of Commerce. At that time, the economy was coming out of the global downturn, and the Executive introduced a package of measures to help town and city centres. Sadly, many of the issues facing the high street then have become prevalent again, with many households and businesses facing increased costs as a result of geopolitical events and their impact on energy costs and inflation. The "Back in Business" scheme, as it was later branded, aims to provide key support through a 50% reduction for businesses that move into properties that have been vacant for one year or more. The scheme's introduction here inspired similar schemes in England, Scotland and Wales before my predecessor, Minister Murphy, extended the measure in 2022 to provide a 24-month rates reduction at 50%, helping new businesses to adjust to rates liability in those difficult opening years of trading. The purpose of today's legislation is to reinstate the Back in Business scheme, which lapsed in March 2023 as a result of the absence of a functioning Assembly. The statutory rule makes no change to the policy in place previously. It simply reintroduces the measure until the end of the rating year, after which I will consider aligning its operation with any multi-year Budget settlement that can be agreed at Executive level. Many of you will be familiar with the sad sight of vacant properties on our high streets. Empty properties undermine civic pride and confidence. They send out a negative perception of our towns and cities. I know that all of us in the Chamber are passionate about the need to reinvigorate our towns and cities. That is why, when we returned in February, I advised the Assembly that I would reintroduce the scheme to support our high streets. When I took up office, one of the first things that business representatives requested of me was the reintroduction of the scheme to help boost the creation of new businesses and drive footfall for existing businesses in towns and cities. I am, therefore, delighted to be in a position to bring the order before the Assembly so quickly after the immediate priority of setting the regional rate for 2024-25 has been legislated for. Today's order reimplements the scheme, which will become operative this week. The reintroduction of the Back in Business scheme will incentivise the occupation of retail units on the high street that have sat vacant for 12 months.

As has always been the case, the scheme will be subject to ongoing monitoring over the next year to assess its roll-out.

Today's extension will allow Land and Property Services (LPS) to receive new applications for the scheme until 31 March 2025, and LPS will also undertake publicity for the scheme to attempt to maximise uptake. It will help to provide new businesses with some certainty on overheads and help them to adjust to budgeting for their business. When they adjust to full rates liability in due course, the Executive and councils will then benefit from the growth in tax base. In my first few months as Minister, I have stressed the importance of growing our tax base by encouraging new businesses and business growth. Importantly, in the first two years of business, the Department still generates the same revenue as it would have raised had the property simply remained as a long-term vacant unit. The scheme is, therefore, one of those rare things in the rating system: a win-win, providing support to new businesses while growing revenue in the longer term. While the scheme has operated for a number of years in different guises, there have been no instances of it being misused, nor has there been any evidence of displacement. That was true of the most recent iteration of the scheme where the recipients were largely sole traders occupying lower-value units as they started or expanded their businesses. Members of the Finance Committee have already been advised of the detail of the statutory rule. Members indicated at SL1 stage that they were content for the scheme to be reintroduced and run to 31 March 2025. That was confirmed following the making of the rule and the Committee's associated clearance on 17 April. On the substantive details of the order, article 1 sets out the citation and commencement, and article 2 provides for the amendment of article 31D of the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977, substituting the old date with the new end date of 31 March 2025. The prior legislation — the Rates (Temporary Rebate) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2022 — is then revoked by virtue of article 3. In conclusion, I look forward to hearing what Members have to say about the measure. I commend the Rates (Temporary Rebate) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024 to the House.

836 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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