The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland wrote to the Permanent Secretaries of the NI Civil Service Departments directing that they launch public consultations on measures to support budget sustainability by raising additional revenue. This over-arching document on revenue raising is currently out for consultation with a deadline of 17th January 2024.
Each public consultation will be co-ordinated by the relevant Northern Ireland department. Not all the consultations are available yet but will be released over the coming weeks. The departmental consultations which are currently available for response are listed below.
Department of Finance (deadline 13th February 2024):
- The review of non-domestic rating support schemes, including non-domestic vacant property relief, industrial de-rating, freight transport relief, and the exemption for student halls of residence.
- The removal of domestic ratings allowances, including the early payment discount, the maximum capital value cap and the landlords’ allowance.
Department of Health (deadline 9th January 2024):
The re-introduction of hospital car parking charges
Siobhán will be making Consortium responses to these consultations. If you have anything you wish to contribute please contact Siobhán as soon as possible at policy@wsn.org.uk
