Debate contribution: Unpaid Rates

Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on 21 October 2025.

MLA

Mr Timothy Gaston

Party at the time

Traditional Unionist Voice

Date

21 October 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Unpaid Rates

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5197714

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Principal — or Deputy Speaker, should I say? I elevated you there. The motion is topical, as the Executive scramble to solve some of their money woes and we approach the point of struggling to keep the lights on and services functioning. For me, the motion touches on four groups of people who give context to the problems that the Department faces in trying to recover this money. I think of my constituent in Cullybackey who owns her home and who, through no fault of her own, had to retire early from her job. Sadly, that lady cannot gain employment and, due to having a small private pension, does not qualify for universal credit or get help from personal independence payment (PIP). Until she reaches state pension age, she will have to continue to stretch her money as far as she can to pay a little of her rates bill to keep the wolves from the door, while choosing every day between paying all her rates, heating her home and having food in the cupboard. If she had not worked all her life, she would be entitled to universal credit and would qualify to get her rates paid for her. The second group is of people who, through unforeseen circumstances, have been unable to pay their rates bills and whose debt has spiralled to the point at which the only option is bankruptcy. I presume that that is the group that is most responsible for the £82 million of debt that was written off. The third group is of people who have moved out of their homes due to the poor condition that they have got into and have stopped paying their rates as a result. Even though those houses are now empty, the rates remain payable until the houses are either toppled or become so badly dilapidated that they cannot be repaired and are condemned. That brings me to my fourth group of people: those who have the resources but, through poor financial management, have not paid their rates bills. The Department needs to use all the resources at its disposal to ensure that those rates are paid in full as a priority. The best example that I can give relates to an office in my constituency that was recently highlighted in the local press. Shockingly, over a 13-year period, that property was the subject of repeated arrangements, court summonses, bounced cheques and what were politely described as "oversights", none of which successfully settled the rates account. I will take the House through the facts of what the Department has faced. In 2012, Land and Property Services sent its first debt recovery letter. In 2013, when the bill remained unpaid, a court summons was issued. Only then did the office request a copy of the bill to arrange payment. In 2016, LPS was assured that there would be payment by mid-August, yet there was still nothing four months later. A second court summons was required before payment finally came. In 2017, another summons was issued. A post-dated cheque was offered, but it was rejected. In 2018, a six-month payment arrangement was agreed, yet the cheques — one for £3,000 and a second for £1,000 — bounced. In 2020, pre-court letters were issued before payments were made. In 2021, LPS again had to threaten court action. In May 2023, a final red-letter warning was issued. In March 2025, more than £5,000 was still outstanding. Shockingly, that property was the constituency office of the former MP and now united Irelander, Ian Paisley Junior. The property was held by the Ballymena Advice Centre, which is a corporate entity linked to the Paisley family, with the DUP a passive beneficiary.

I am happy to give way.

The case goes to the heart of the problem that the Department is facing. In that case, the money would have been covered by public money if somebody had managed their budget and their resources right. Mr Paisley was the tenant and was legally responsible for paying the rates. The DUP now calls for the stricter enforcement of unpaid rates, demanding higher collection targets and new proposals to tackle arrears. Unpaid rates are unfair, a burden to ordinary citizens and a threat to public services. However, if the DUP truly wants to lead by example, perhaps the first step is simple: ensure that your own offices are fully up to date on their bills before lecturing the public. Only then can the public take seriously the call for fiscal responsibility and take lectures and guidance from the Benches to my right. Until that happens and until the Church Street account is finally settled, there should be no lectures —

— from the DUP on the issue.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification