Sinn Féin and DUP push proposal for 6.41% rate in Newry Mourne and Down District Council
As the new district rate is set for Newry Mourne and Down District Council, local political parties responded to the increase to 6.41% in different ways at a full council meeting on Monday night (5th February 2024) following the presentation and announcement of the increase by Chief Executive Marie Ward.
The rates increase was proposed by Sinn Féin, and seconded by the DUP. The SDLP voted against the move, while Alliance abstained from the vote and the UUP voted in favour.
The motion was carried by 26 votes for, with 8 abstentions and 5 voting against.
Sinn Féin Councillor Oonagh Hanlon Proposes Adoption Of New Rate
Councillor Oonagh Hanlon, Sinn Féin, on Newry Mourne & Down Council, has commented on the striking of the District Rate at Monday evening’s Full Council.
After proposing the adoption of the rates’ proposal, she said: “Our Council team have been working closely with finance officers over the past year.
“This has concluded with agreement to a District Rate which reflects this balance and the reality of the challenging times many are facing.
“This equates to approximately .78p per week for the average rate payer.
“It is one of our roles as elected representatives to oversee and scrutinise the financial management of the Council.
“Sinn Féin take this responsibility very seriously. We want to secure a stable financial budget for this district. One which will secure funding for capital projects, and continue to deliver for our communities.
“It is imperative that Council continues to move forward with plans to regenerate our towns and city and improve our tourism offerings.
“If we look across the district there are exciting plans for development and we are leading this progress. Fiscal stability is critical to these plans.
It would be impossible to go down any further without cutting services, service level agreements and supporting community events and ensuring jobs are safe for our staff.
“This has been another challenging year and created challenges for local government in terms of funding for Animal Welfare being levied to Council and no assurances for the Rate Support Grant.
“Thankfully we are now looking at much brighter days ahead and will have the stability of a central budget going forward and Ministers in place to make decisions.”
Councillor Hanlon added: “Sinn Féin believe it is incumbent on all parties to work together for the benefit of the ratepayers and local businesses particularly in these continued challenging times.”
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DUP Second Sinn Féin Proposal On Rates
The DUP’s Jonathan Jackson seconded the Sinn Féin proposal to accept the new rate at 6.41%.
Speaking to the motion, he said that in the context of the current state of the economy, it was a responsibility of all parties to scrutinise and consider decisions affecting the lives of residents in the district.
He said: “Our group is confident that we have provided that scrutiny.
“We have engaged with management to try and keep the rate low and we could not condone cutting support to organisations in our community.
“We are all aware that many events provide direct economic value.
“The Festival of Flight was seen as a flagship event and we call on our officers to restore this festival and set up a working group to this effect.”
He added that he believed “we have done our best in setting this rate as it protects our community… while delivering a fair and realistic rate.
“We did not want to dip into the Council’s reserves and kick the can down the road… as a gamble. Difficult decisions needed to be made, one’s which reflected the current climate.
“This rate will ensure community investment, provide funding for civic events and contribute to projects while delivering a fair and realistic rate.”
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UUP Recognises The Dilemma In Setting The Rate
The UUP Council leader David Taylor said that ‘none of us are content with where we are… we face finding a balance between the delivery of services and what the district needs as well.
“It is a difficult decision for all of us to have to make.
“When local government was reformed 11 years ago, we thought that it would bring more efficiencies. These benefits have not really been realised.
“The reduction in the Rates Support Grant too has added to the pressures.
“This setting of the rate has involved a lot of work for months by parties and council officials.”
The UUP backed the proposal to accept the 6.41% rate.
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Alliance Says Questions Still Remain Over Capital Projects
Alliance Newry Mourne and Down Councillors have said questions remain over the viability of local capital budgets and associated project costs, after abstaining during the Council’s rate-setting process.
The Councillors have also pledged their full support for workers receiving the pay deal they deserve, while expressing support for an animal welfare grant being funded by the Council.
Councillor Jill Truesdale said the party was concerned on behalf of ratepayers.
She added: “Alliance’s decision to abstain from the rate-setting process was due to our concerns regarding the viability of capital budgets such as the Newry Civic Centre and the Mourne Gateway Project.
“Council management has also not disclosed updated project costs which the Department for Economy informed Council management of in November.
“This comes as the Council plans to spend £2 million next year on a consultancy team for the project.
“As a party grouping, we are not comfortable with embarking on such huge capital projects with speculative costs that may hit ratepayers in the pocket for years to come.
“Despite our concerns, we fully support workers receiving the pay deal they deserve after extensive negotiations.
“We are also pleased to see the council fund the animal welfare grant, which was cut last year.”
Councillor Cadogan Enright said other concerns remained. “Questions remain over the construction of significant office space in Newry without a guaranteed anchor tenant after the Civil Service’s withdrawal,” he said.
“There is also no need for a second Council Chamber in Newry post-Covid, considering the existing facility in Downpatrick with extensive video-conferencing capabilities.
“However, sustainability considerations in the rates-setting process do mark a significant step towards combatting the climate emergency within our Council and presents an opportunity to generate revenue in the future.
“Alliance has long advocated for this, and I am pleased to see our recommendations considered.”
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SDLP Councillor Pete Byrne Says Increase Will Punishing The Poor
Byrne: Rates increase will punish those who can least afford it
SDLP councillor Pete Byrne has said that a local rates increase will hurt families who are already struggling financially.
However, Councillor Byrne said: “We the SDLP could not in good conscience support the rates increase brought before council on Monday evening.
“The SDLP council team worked pain-stakingly to lower this rate, while ensuring that services would be protected and staff would have their well-deserved pay rise, however, our efforts fell on deaf ears and this increase was voted through regardless.
“SDLP councillors called for a thorough audit of the recommendations of council officers to identify ways we could avoid passing on a significant increase to ratepayers.
“Council had previously indicated they would be willing to use their capital reserves to keep the rate low, but this was also not forthcoming.
“I don’t believe that the proper scrutiny was carried out when it came to setting the rate, with some parties seemingly happy to wave through this increase without a thought for those impacted.
“The SDLP tried everything to be constructive when it came to this process, but were thwarted at every turn.
“Given the huge financial pressure that families are under when it comes to paying their bills, councils should be doing everything they can to keep the rate as low as possible.
“The SDLP cannot stand by while those who are struggling face further misery, and it’s disappointing that other parties did not show the same commitment when setting the rate.”
Chief Executive makes comments before the final vote
Council Chief Executive Marie Ward in response to several matters that arose in the party comments, said that in relation to animal welfare: “The Department [DAERA] had withdrawn animal welfare support and we are making allowances for this.
“In relation to the rates support grant, it will probably reduce again this year. We have considered this and it s a measured risk we are taking on that.
“We have avoided drawing on capital funds at this stage. When you use reserves you have to pay them back within a period and if we had pulled reserves in this year, our rate could have been lower.”
The dilemma remains. With central government cutting strands of support, local government is trying to maintain standards and services across the district for its residents… with increasing difficulty in balancing the books year on year.
