Debate contribution: Rates (Regional Rates) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026
Debate contribution by Mr Brian Kingston on .
- MLA
- Mr Brian Kingston
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 10 March 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Rates (Regional Rates) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5436705
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise to speak on this matter as a DUP member of the Finance Committee. As others have said, we have an important and fundamental legislative role in setting the regional rate. Those of us who previously sat on councils were responsible for setting the district rate and, likewise, legislating to set a tax on residential and non-residential property holders is a solemn responsibility. We take that responsibility solemnly and seriously, and we treat every pound raised in taxation with great responsibility, because we are taxing hard-working families — people who are struggling to make ends meet. We have had a spike in fuel costs this week. We hope that that will come down as quickly, or nearly as quickly, as it has gone up as the situation moves forward. Our role on rates is the only taxation role that we have, and we treat every pound with great seriousness. We in the DUP welcome the open-book exercise that is being supported by the Home Civil Service as it looks at where it can find efficiencies and considers whether we can justify the expenses in our public services. The Committee is carrying out a review to examine where efficiencies and savings can be made in the Civil Service and all the policies that are pursued. We should constantly seek other ways to bring more funding for public services. We continue to highlight the need for a sufficient block grant that is based on our true level of need. We currently receive 124% of the funding average across the UK, and that should be at a higher rate, as other studies have found. We continue to make that case, and we assure ratepayers in Northern Ireland that we will treat with great seriousness the funds that we raise from them for the public purse. We highlight again that there are other opportunities to bring in extra funding. We champion the city deals that are now delivering across Northern Ireland. We also have the opportunity to seriously tackle benefit fraud and error and to return an element of those savings to the public purse for public services in Northern Ireland. I would appreciate it if the Minister could touch again on how that is moving forward. That is a serious opportunity to increase our funds so that we are not always, as a first resort, looking to local families, our property owners and our taxpayers. We will support the motion. Setting the regional rate is an important function of the Assembly, and I assure the public that we will continue to exhaust every opportunity to bring in other funds and to make efficiency savings in our public services.
446 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 (0.88).
- 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 | 0.05 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.88 | 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 | 0.81 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.13 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.03 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.01 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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