Debate contribution: Waste (Fees and Charges) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew Muir
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 10 February 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Waste (Fees and Charges) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4790294
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I beg to move
I am grateful for the opportunity to propose the motion. The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) operates an annual charging policy for its regulatory activities. The charging policy covers eight separate charging schemes, of which the waste management charging scheme is one. The waste management charging scheme requires legislation to be laid to make it operational. The NIEA charging policy is governed by the principles of 'Managing Public Money Northern Ireland' and operates under a full cost recovery model. That means that NIEA charges operators of regulated activities the full costs of those regulatory activities and that they are not subsidised by the taxpayer. The fees and charges covered by the charging policy are uplifted annually. They are normally uplifted by the GDP deflator figure, which is issued by His Majesty's Treasury in December in each year. However, the charging policy allows for the Department to apply any other mechanism deemed appropriate to ensure full cost recovery. That prevents the costs of NIEA chargeable activities from having to be paid out of the public purse. After analysis by NIEA finance, it was agreed that fees and charges for 2024-25 should be uplifted by 9·5%. That covers two separate and distinct payroll years, with different rates applied, and it includes associated employers' pay costs. The uplift applies to schemes in the NIEA charging policy 2024-25. Had NIEA used the 2024-25 GDP deflator figure of 0·8% that was issued by Treasury, the agency would have lost an estimated £1 million in fees and charges across all charging schemes, and that would have had to be paid from the public purse. Normally, the statutory rule (SR) required to bring the waste management charging scheme into operation each year is laid by negative resolution. However, these regulations are made under schedule 4 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, which stipulates that they will be subject to draft affirmative resolution procedure, unless they only alter a fee or charge to reflect changes in the value of money. Therefore, because the fees and charges are being uplifted by using a figure that is not a stand-free inflationary measure, the Waste (Fees and Charges) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 are required to be laid by draft affirmative resolution. As an executive agency of the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs, NIEA is a key contributor to the Department's vision of sustainability at the heart of a living, working and active landscape that is valued by everyone. Its aim is to protect and enhance Northern Ireland's environment and, in doing so, to deliver health and well-being benefits to support economic growth. The uplift to the agency's fees and charges is essential if that work is to continue. Accordingly, I commend the statutory rule to the House.
I thank the Members who have contributed to the debate. In summary, the Waste (Fees and Charges) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 will bring into operation the waste management charging scheme for 2024-25. That is required for the NIEA to charge for its waste management regulatory activities and includes an annual uplift to fees and charges, allowing the NIEA to operate under full cost recovery, as is required by the principles of 'Managing Public Money Northern Ireland'. I accordingly commend the statutory rule to the House.
550 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: 0.02 (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 (0.66).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.66 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | 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 | 0.85 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.15 |
| 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 11:55 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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