Member's statement: Reval2026
Member's statement by Ms Diana Armstrong on .
- MLA
- Ms Diana Armstrong
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 26 January 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Reval2026
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5340191
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I, too, want to raise serious concerns about the impact of Reval2026 on our local economy, particularly on the hospitality, tourism and food-to-go sectors. We are seeing projected rates increases across Northern Ireland that are nothing short of staggering. As has been said, hotels are facing rises of up to 83%, with pubs facing rises of as much as 57%. Cafes, visitor attractions and the wider tourism economy are all being dragged into the same crisis. One hotel in my constituency has seen its rates bill rise to £338,000 a year, which is an increase of 83%. That is not sustainable, nor is it reform: it is a direct threat to jobs, investment and the future of that business. The new valuations are based on a snapshot of trading conditions in 2022, which makes the situation even more alarming.
That data bears no resemblance to the reality that businesses face today. Since then, profits have collapsed due to soaring wage costs and staff shortages, the national living wage, increased employers' National Insurance and the relentless rise in energy, food, insurance and supplier costs. Yet Land and Property Services continues to value businesses as if rising prices mean rising prosperity. In reality, margins are being wiped out. The system now effectively taxes turnover instead of profit and is doing so at the worst possible time. It is not just businesses. Halls and community facilities are seeing sharp increases, threatening the very organisations that hold many of our towns and villages together.
The Finance Minister promised a rates review. What we have instead is a revaluation that is driving fear, uncertainty and anger across the private sector and voluntary sector alike. It is a tax on jobs, a tax on success and a tax on opportunity. Is that Sinn Féin policy? Northern Ireland is already a high-cost place to do business, and the revaluation risks making us completely uncompetitive compared with both Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. I call on the Minister to urgently introduce a freeze on rates for 2026 and to finally deliver meaningful reform of a system that is clearly no longer fit for purpose. If the revaluation proceeds as planned, it will not stimulate the economy but actively damage it. The Ulster Unionist Party will always be a friend to business, to workers and to ratepayers. We will always champion their cause.
396 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: 0.04 (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 (0.96).
- 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 | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.96 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | 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 | 0.97 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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