Caoimhe Archibald
East Londonderry · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Taken together, that points to a scheme that is operating effectively in its early stages, while, of course, remaining under review as further evidence becomes available. <BR /> <BR />I therefore commend to the Assembly the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026.”
“I seek the Assembly's approval for the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026. The statutory rule was made on 1 April and came into operation on 6 April. It is before the Assembly today under the confirmatory procedure.”
“The 2026 regulatory impact assessment estimates one-off employer familiarisation costs of up to £1·36 million, with wider HMRC implementation costs forecast at £1·5 million and annual systems maintenance costs of around £10,000. It may assist Members to note that early implementation has gone smoothly.”
“The amendment ensures the continued operation of those regulations and forms part of a wider package of legislative measures establishing statutory parental bereavement pay as an entitlement for bereaved parents.”
“The regulations before the Assembly today are a key part of that implementation and ensure the continued operation of the statutory parental bereavement pay framework. The policy objective is clear: to support bereaved working parents at a time of profound loss and provide a minimum standard of protection in law.”
“<BR /> <BR />The confirmatory procedure means that the regulations before the House today have come into operation before the Assembly debate has taken place and must then be approved by the Assembly within the relevant statutory period. In this case, the deadline for approval is 20 September 2026.”
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“In April 2023, the Audit Office published a report on its review of public procurement structures here. The report recognised the importance of public procurement as an enabling function for Departments to deliver essential public services and highlighted the need to ensure that procurement functions effectively in order to achieve value for money and align with broader Executive priorities. The report discussed the key role and responsibilities assigned to the Procurement Board under existing public procurement policy and concluded that a review of public procurement arrangements is necessary, including the role, responsibilities and position of the Procurement Board.”
“On 18 January 2024, the local Fujitsu account manager provided some clarifications to the Department of Finance regarding Fujitsu's involvement in procurement here, and that position is likely to remain unchanged until the inquiry has reported. The inquiry is scheduled to conclude in September 2024, with a report to follow later in the year.”
“A supplier may be excluded from tendering for government contracts only if it has committed an offence under the legislation listed in the Public Contracts Regulations. That legislation relates to offences committed mainly in regard to theft, bribery, fraud, organised crime, professional misconduct, labour market offences, tax offences or breaches of competition law. At this stage, Fujitsu has not been found guilty of any of those crimes in relation to fraud or other crimes related to Horizon, and therefore there are no grounds, as it stands, for its exclusion from tendering for public contracts. Due to its ongoing involvement in the inquiry, Fujitsu has agreed to pause bidding for public contracts for new clients.”
“We are all appalled by the Horizon scandal and the impact that it has had on those who have been directly affected and their families. As I said in my original answer, the awarding of public contracts is bound in legislation as it stands and there are no grounds under the Public Contracts Regulations. Obviously, a public inquiry is ongoing, and we await its outcome.”
“There are currently no grounds under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 that would exclude Fujitsu from tendering for public contracts.”
“As the Member will be aware from briefings at the Finance Committee, there are strict rules regarding the award of public contracts.”
“Since the option for births, marriages and deaths to be registered with a choice of Irish, bilingual or English certificate headings was introduced on 11 March 2022, there have been 4,934 bilingual and 92 Irish birth registrations; 1,164 bilingual and 25 Irish death registrations; and 1,382 bilingual and 17 Irish marriage or civil partnership registrations. Those figures include re-registrations. I expect that, as the changes to the system continue to bed in, they will increase over time.”
“The Department of Finance does not hold legislative authority for wills. I am engaging with my Executive colleagues to ensure that the New Decade, New Approach commitment is appropriately led and taken forward, and I have written to the Justice Minister to ask the Department of Justice, working with its agencies, such as the Courts and Tribunals Service, to take responsibility for progressing that issue, which relates to the repeal of the Administration of Justice Act and to the matter of wills and probate, which falls under its remit.”
“The Department continues to work on the roll-out of registrations in Irish. I recently met Conradh na Gaeilge to discuss our commitments in respect of the Irish language. Work is ongoing on how we can meet the commitments that we have made and on looking at some of the other issues.”
“Work on the commitment in the 'New Decade, New Approach' document focused on how future registrations might be made in Irish. Providing retrospective certificates in Irish would require careful legal and technical consideration and appropriate resources. The Department will consider how best to address those questions alongside its other ambitions to progress the use of Irish in the registration services that it provides.”
“We made that case at the time. The Member will be aware that we did better in the drawdown of EU funds compared with, for example, the Barnett consequential that we get. I am not entirely sure what percentage we get, but I will ask officials to write to the Member about that.”
“The Member will be aware that the Shared Prosperity Fund, as a replacement for EU funding, fell far short of what was delivered by EU funding through ESF and ERDF. The Shared Prosperity Fund in totality was £127 million over three years. The equivalent EU structural funds averaged £65 million per annum, so there is, obviously, a considerable shortfall. We also lost some funding that was repurposed as part of the financial package. It is important that we make the case for the EU structural funds to be fully restored relative to that amount and beyond it, because there is a seven-year commitment for EU funding, and we have only three years of the Shared Prosperity Fund. We need to continue to collectively make the case to the Treasury that the funding needs to be properly restored.”
“Yes is the short answer. The previous Finance Minister and the Executive argued that the replacement for EU funds should be delivered by local Departments and not from Whitehall. That would have enabled us to ensure that the funding was aligned with our priorities. Unfortunately, the British Government did not agree with that approach. However, my Department has worked closely with the Department for the Economy to secure funding from the Shared Prosperity Fund through commissions from DLUHC to DFE and its arm's-length bodies. Funding worth £17 million has been secured via that route. The commissioning approach has allowed funding to flow through established structures for the delivery of local interventions. Whilst not perfect, it is a welcome development and one that I hope can be built on for future funding.”
“A number of lessons need to be learned from the roll-out of the Shared Prosperity Fund. The Member will be aware that we have also made the case in relation to the British Government delivering the fund centrally, rather than it coming through the Executive, and we are not able to align the funding that is delivered to our priorities in the Programme for Government and the things that the Executive want to achieve more broadly. All those lessons need to be learned, and we will make the case to the Treasury on how we move forward beyond March 2025.”
“Unfortunately, the British Government’s position on whether they will continue funding the Shared Prosperity Fund beyond March 2025 is not yet clear. I fully understand the anxiety of those in the voluntary and community sector who rely on this funding to support the vital work that they do. My officials have been pressing their counterparts in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Treasury for clarity on this. I intend to raise this matter at ministerial level in the time ahead. I will also be stressing that DLUHC needs to learn the lessons from the delayed implementation of the Shared Prosperity Fund here when it was first established.”
“It is important that, when looking at the rating system, we are also looking at the economic vision that the Economy Minister has outlined around supporting businesses to grow and to create jobs and get new businesses into premises and have them contribute to our rating system. That is what we want to be able to do by aligning our social and economic priorities with the limited powers that we have for raising revenue, which are mostly with the rating system.”
“The system of business rates has, as I have said on a number of occasions, already been subject to public consultation, review and reform over the past couple of decades. I have advised my officials that I want to explore ideas about how we can best align rates support with the strategic priorities of the Executive and to grow the tax base, which is essential, as I have said, to moderating our overall tax burden.”
“As I said, I plan to use the consultation responses that were recently submitted to the revenue-raising consultation to inform my analysis and to consider potential reform of the rating system. I welcome views from any quarter on that piece of work, which will inform how we move forward. It is important that we look at how we can best align what we are trying to achieve in our social and economic priorities with our rating system. That is something that I am keen to do.”
“In the next few months, the UUEPC will undertake work on business rate poundage differentials across council areas. <BR /> <BR />I am open to ideas from any quarter about how to realign the existing generous suite of rate supports, including from Members of the Assembly and from the Fiscal Commission. I am not sure that an expensive external review would be the best use of the limited resources that are available to the Executive at this time. I want to use the findings of the most recent consultation to inform further work on how best to align the rates system with the Executive's strategic priorities. It is essential, as part of that process, to grow our tax base to moderate the overall tax burden.”
“The rates system and rate reliefs were subject to public consultation, review, reform and revision in 2007, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 and, most recently, this year. A number of changes have been implemented as a result of the reviews. More frequent revaluations have been introduced, the back in business and rural ATM schemes have been reintroduced, and new legislation has been made to enable councils to strike different levels for household and business rates. <BR /> <BR />In addition, the Department previously availed itself of impartial advice garnered from the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre (UUEPC), including advice on the targeting of COVID-19 rate support and a comparative study of domestic rates against council tax.”
“As I said to Mr Harvey, businesses are eligible if they move into premises that were previously used for retail purposes and have been unoccupied for 12 months or more. The previous Finance Minister amended the scheme in April 2021, extending the duration of support from 12 months to 24 months, thus helping give businesses additional certainty. That extension will be retained when the scheme is reintroduced.”
“I thank the Member for his support. It is an important scheme that provides for a 50% reduction in businesses' rates for up to two years if they move into premises that were previously used for retail purposes. The scheme has the ability to get some of the premises on our high streets back into use by businesses, giving those businesses space to get started up.”
“When the back in business scheme was last in place, during 2022-23, 101 businesses, the majority of which were small, independent retailers, benefited from support in the form of a 50% rate reduction. That helped businesses to get started, supported jobs and got long-term vacant units back into use. Given the positive impact that the back in business scheme had, I am glad to advise that legislation will be made later this month to restore the scheme, and that will allow for debate at the Assembly. The Committee has cleared the relevant policy stage associated with the measure. Reinstating that popular scheme is more important now than ever before, as it will allow new businesses to emerge and will grow our tax base.”
“I will conclude there, and I am happy to deal with any points of principle or detail that Members may wish to raise in relation to the Supply resolutions for the spring Supplementary Estimates 2023-24 and Vote on Account 2024-25.”
“I announced over £1 billion of in-year allocations on 15 February to allow pay offers to be made to our public-sector workers and to help offset the pressures facing Departments. I have brought the Budget Bill through the Assembly to secure the delivery of services for the remainder of the 2023-24 financial year and on into the new financial year. Once the Executive have agreed their 2024-25 Budget, I will ensure that the Assembly has ample opportunity to fully consider the Budget (No. 2) Bill together with the 2024-25 Main Estimates. <BR /> <BR />I ask for Members' support for the resolution for the spring Supplementary Estimates 2023-24, together with the resolution for the Vote on Account 2024-25.”
“Once agreed by the Assembly, it will be against these spring Supplementary Estimates that the accounting officers of the Departments, and the other bodies contained in them, will account and their 2023-24 accounts will be prepared. <BR /> <BR />As I emphasised during the debate on the Budget Bill, the Vote on Account does not constitute setting a 2024-25 Budget. I have been engaging with my Executive colleagues on setting a 2024-25 Budget, and once the Executive have agreed that, I look forward to bringing it to the Assembly. That is not, however, the issue for debate today. <BR /> <BR />Since the Executive were restored, just over nine weeks ago, we have acted quickly and decisively.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. I will come on to that later in my speech. The figures that are being voted on today are those against which Departments will set their accounts when they prepare those. <BR /> <BR />I would like to thank Members for their support in delivering the Budget Act 2024 and, by doing so, securing the authority for Departments to deliver services through to the end of the 2023-24 financial year and on into the early months of this new financial year. The spring Supplementary Estimates for 2023-24 and the Vote on Account for 2024-25 have now been prepared and laid in the Assembly. While that is not taking place at the normal time, it remains an important step in the financial process.”
“Once again, I would also like to reassure Members that this will not, in any way, be regarded as establishing a precedent.”
“In normal circumstances, the spring Supplementary Estimates and Vote on Account would be approved immediately prior to the Budget Bill being introduced. However, as I explained during the debate on the Budget Bill, that was not possible this year due to the timing of the Executive's restoration and the need to wait for confirmation from the British Government as to the level of funding available to the Executive. <BR /> <BR />Work could therefore not be completed on preparing the spring Supplementary Estimates until shortly before the Easter recess in March. It was essential for the Budget Bill to be passed urgently so that Departments would not reach the cash limits set in the previous Northern Ireland Budget (No. 2) Act 2023.”
“This debate covers the Supply resolutions for the Northern Ireland spring Supplementary Estimates (SSEs) 2023-24, which cover the financial year that has just ended, and the Vote on Account for 2024-25. The spring Supplementary Estimates and Vote on Account are associated with the Budget Bill, which was passed by the Assembly on 20 February 2024 and received Royal Assent on 14 March 2024. That is now known as the Budget Act (Northern Ireland) 2024. <BR /> <BR />I would like to remind the Assembly that, in normal circumstances, the Executive would have agreed a series of monitoring rounds over the course of the 2023-24 financial year, resulting in a final planned position being agreed in early January 2024 to which these spring Supplementary Estimates would be written.”
“He has clearly stated his intention to replace zero-hours contracts with contracts that provide flexibility and enhanced workers' rights. The Minister will also look at ways of strengthening the role of trade unions. A wide range of other issues needs to be addressed, such as support for working families, access to flexible working, creating better working conditions and enhancing the rights of workers in more insecure forms of employment. It is quite a task ahead and will be, no doubt, a real challenge. Only with the cooperation of all colleagues in the Assembly and working effectively with the Economy Committee will Minister Murphy turn that vision into reality.”
“He has also asked officials to prepare regulations to extend the right of parental bereavement leave and pay to parents who, sadly, experience miscarriage up to the end of the twenty-third week of pregnancy and to make both the parental bereavement leave rights and miscarriage leave rights available from the first day of employment. <BR /> <BR />Gender pay gap legislation was mentioned by Philip Brett and Sorcha Eastwood. That is a matter for the Minister for Communities, but, obviously, it needs to be progressed as well. <BR /> <BR />Towards the end of the debate, Mr Dickson commented on the right to strike. I am speaking on my own behalf, obviously, but I believe that it is a fundamental right of workers. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, the Minister supports the motion and has confirmed his plan to bring forward a good jobs Bill.”
“The Labour Relations Agency has an important role to play in encouraging and promoting best practice, and we support the work that it is doing in that area. <BR /> <BR />In the previous mandate, a couple of specific pieces of legislation were passed in which I, as Chair of the Economy Committee at the time, took particular interest. In relation to the Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Act 2022, the Minister plans to progress vital employment protections, including the positive legislative reforms that were passed in the previous mandate. Minister Murphy will consult on the detail of the introduction of paid safe leave for victims of domestic abuse.”
“<BR /> <BR />Stakeholder engagement is key to that process. That will take time. It is simply not possible that effective primary legislation will be drafted, consulted on and ready to be introduced to the Assembly in this calendar year. That is not to say that there are no improvements that the Minister can make more quickly through secondary legislation or non-legislative measures, and, once he has consulted, that is part of what he plans to do. <BR /> <BR />I want to pick up on a few points made by the Chair of the Economy Committee on supporting businesses. Good employment practices and employment charters can help to improve working lives and have been proven to be good for business.”
“<BR /> <BR />Minister Murphy clearly stated in his economic vision that he wants to tackle zero-hours contracts and to replace them with contracts that provide flexibility and protect workers' rights. We must challenge bad practice, but encouraging good practice is an equally important approach to achieving the good jobs objective. Workers who are better able to balance their working life around their personal, family and caring commitments are happier and more productive, and they are more likely to remain in or re-enter the workforce, which benefits their employer and the wider economy. Flexibility that enables a good work-life balance can be beneficial to businesses by helping them to recruit and retain good employees. It also enables businesses to draw on a more diverse workforce by making work more accessible to everyone.”
“Exploitative practices that are inherently unfair to workers need to be stopped. The fact that certain practices may mutually suit some workers and businesses does not diminish our responsibility to improve the system for the many who do not benefit from it. Far too often, the flexibility that is on offer in those contracts leaves workers trapped in the types of precarious employment that have been described today. We want to address the unfairness associated with flexibility that is weighted too heavily in favour of the employer. Many workers, particularly women and younger workers, find themselves on those types of insecure contracts unwillingly.”
“Minister Murphy has instructed his officials to develop policy options for consideration as part of a wide-ranging good jobs Bill. New employment legislation will be brought forward in this mandate. <BR /> <BR />The motion provides a timely opportunity to hear from Members about the issues that are important to them and about those that they would like to see addressed in the good jobs Bill. Minister Murphy is keen to work with Members from across the Chamber on many of those issues as work on the Bill progresses. Addressing insecure work and precarious working arrangements is a priority for the Minister. It is clear from the debate that many in the Chamber also recognise the need to challenge many of the problematic practices that are referred to in the motion.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak today on behalf of my Executive and party colleague Conor Murphy during this important debate. I thank the Members who spoke about the importance of protecting workers' rights. I have noted comments from across the Chamber about valuing workers and ensuring that rights are enhanced and enshrined. <BR /> <BR />Members will be aware that Minister Murphy has already demonstrated the importance that he places on protecting workers' rights. When he outlined his economic vision to the Assembly in February, he articulated that increasing the proportion of working-age people in good jobs is one of his key objectives. New legislation to enhance workers' rights will be a key component of delivering that objective.”
“I believe that the inflationary increase in the regional rate will be understood by the public. It is clear that the Executive have acknowledged the need to raise revenue but that it is expected that we do that in a progressive and sustainable way. I commend the order to the Assembly and ask Members to affirm it.”
“<BR /> <BR />I will turn to some of the points made by Mr Allister and Mr Carroll. I need to point out that the issue today relates to the regional rate element only. That is what the Executive and Assembly have set, and I hope that Assembly Members will support that today. Local government finances itself, and the area in which the district rate falls is a matter for the Minister for Communities. I am prepared to work with the Minister and the Executive on any concerns about that. We have only a notional cost for the Back in Business scheme, because what we are doing with that is trying to get more businesses into properties and then have them paying additional rates. The rural ATM scheme costs less than £50,000. <BR /> <BR />I trust that Members will show the necessary support for the order today.”
“I acknowledge his points about rate poundages, and I have a couple of comments on them. First, the Member will be aware that rate poundage is only one part of the rates calculation and that it needs to be applied to local rental values, which track the local market. My officials have been in discussion with Ulster University — I think that I mentioned that at Question Time — about conducting research into the impact of poundage differentials across councils. <BR /> <BR />I will pick up on Eóin's point about potentially putting rates too high and the impact that that would have. I completely agree with him. If we had put rates up to a punitive level, we would have run the risk of businesses being under so much pressure to pay that it could have put people out of business, put jobs at risk and increased the risk of additional debt.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Chair mentioned the progressiveness of the rating system. The Executive's domestic rate applies discrete individual capital values to each property. That is more progressive than a council tax, which operates on a crude banded system. Likewise, non-domestic rates operate on the basis of rental values, which are revalued more frequently here than they are in England, Scotland or Wales. <BR /> <BR />I thank Mr Frew for his kind comments. He is not here at the minute. I agree with his points about the necessity of our being properly funded to the level of need and about how we need to look at the level of need and the 124% that the Treasury has referred to. Many of the parties in the Chamber have argued for a higher level, so we obviously want to look at that.”
“We made the case to Treasury that that time frame for the development of the plan was unrealistic, so it agreed to an extended timeline. We see the plan as important for setting out the Executive's priorities and budgeting to meet those priorities. <BR /> <BR />The Committee Chair also mentioned the average house price. The average house price in 2024 is not the same as the average capital value, which is what I referred to. The £123,000 that I referred to is not the current average market value of a house but its rateable value. <BR /> <BR />I acknowledge the point that the Chair made about poundages not being referred to in the ministerial statement, but I will flag the fact that the poundage was in the order that was laid in the Assembly Business Office at the same time as the ministerial statement was made.”
“I thank the Members who contributed to this important debate. As always, an interesting range of views were expressed. <BR /> <BR />As I stated, the 2024 order sets the regional rate for the forthcoming rating year. The Executive have aimed to strike a balance between meeting the needs of ratepayers and ensuring that public finances are sufficient to cover the priorities that we have set for ourselves. <BR /> <BR />I will pick up on some of the points that were made. The Chair of the Finance Committee made a number of points, including one about a recovery plan for the delivery of public services. The Executive have committed to developing a sustainability plan. I did not mention in my opening comments that the Treasury indicated that it would like to see that sustainability plan by the beginning of May.”
“Article 3 specifies 29·02p in the pound as the non-domestic regional poundage and 0·5042p in the pound as the domestic regional rate poundage. I look forward to hearing Members' comments, and I commend the order to the House.”
“They have been useful in providing us, an incoming Executive and Assembly, with a fresh evidence base to be supplemented through additional policy and options appraisal work and further engagement. That process will allow me to set an informed strategic direction for medium- and long-term changes in the system. <BR /> <BR />I now move to the more technical matters covered in the order. The main purpose of the order is to give effect to the Executive decision for the regional rates for 2024-25. Article 1 sets out the title of the order and gives the operational date as the day after it is affirmed by the Assembly. Article 2 provides that the order will apply for the 2024-25 rating year through to 31 March 2025.”
“That follows the completion of three non-domestic revaluations in eight years, which puts us ahead of England, Scotland and Wales in terms of revaluations for businesses and continues to guard against sudden and unexpected shifts in valuations. <BR /> <BR />Members will be aware that a consultation on domestic and non-domestic rating reliefs concluded last month. Although the NIO consultation was focused on maximising revenue, and therefore was too binary in nature to inform any nuanced change, there were still over 1,400 responses. I want to take time to consider those responses.”
“I am committed to continuing to develop the rating system to ensure that it is fair, equitable and progressive and is aligned with the Executive's economic vision. Expanding our tax base should be a priority, supporting businesses to grow and create jobs, building more houses to support communities and providing suitable homes for our citizens. <BR /> <BR />Land and Property Services is already moving ahead with preparations for Reval2026. It builds on previous cross-party commitments to frequent revaluation cycles and ensuring that rates valuations for business are kept as up to date and as responsive as possible to changes in the rental market.”
“We have support measures here that are not in place in England, Scotland and Wales. Likewise, they will have support measures that the Executive have not been able or have not chosen to introduce. With the constraints on finances at present, a key consideration for the Executive will be whether the cost of new rates support in future should be offset by reductions in the current suite of generous policies in the rating system. Some Members have suggested policy interventions in the rating system. It is important to make it clear that those could not have been implemented procedurally or legislatively for April 2024, given the timing of the Executive's return at the start of February.”
“It will help to reduce the number of vacant retail units in our high streets, support new enterprises and attract businesses on to the high street and into our town centres. I also intend to reinstate the exemption from rates for rural ATMs to encourage and sustain access to cash in rural areas. Those measures will inject some stability and continuity into the rates system and help to address some immediate concerns that business trade bodies have raised with me since taking office. <BR /> <BR />In recognition of the pressures on households and families, the £100 million of rates support, including reliefs and rebates tailored for those on low incomes or social security support, lone pensioners aged 70 or over and those who have adapted their homes to facilitate a disability will continue in the year ahead.”