FINANCIAL PROVISIONS (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 1976 (Hansard, 12 July 1976)

§ The MINISTER of STATE, DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION and SCIENCE (Lord Donaldson of Kingsbridge)

My Lords, I beg to move that the Draft Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) 11 Order 1976 be approved. This is one of a regular series of measures which have been enacted for Northern Ireland to deal with miscellaneous matters of a financial nature. The most recent was the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1974. These measures have been concerned mainly with increasing the limits which are provided in Northern Ireland legislation for particular categories of financial transactions. This draft order, too, is mainly concerned with increasing a number of these statutory limits to cover expenditure up to the end of the next financial year. In addition to providing for these increases the draft order deals with a number of other matters of a financial nature. I propose to deal briefly with the content of each article, but from what I have already said the House will realise that this order does not deal with the appropriation of funds required for public services.

Article 3 and Schedules 1 and 2 deal with four forms of expenditure which may be charged on the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund. The items concerned are expenditure in connection with roads where it is proposed to increase the present limit of £150 million to £200 million, expenditure for industrial development where the limit would increase from £425 million to £550 million, and loans for agricultural development where it is proposed that the limit of £13 million should be increased to £18 million. The fourth item is that of issues made from the Consolidated Fund to provide advances to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The present limit of £250 million applies to the aggregate of the amounts issued. A similar limit of £150 million exists in relation to issues made for the purpose of advances to the old Northern Ireland Housing Trust whose functions, liabilities et cetera were inherited by the Housing Executive. The proposal in the order consolidates these two limits, applies the consolidated limit to the amount of principal outstanding and sets a new limit of £550 million. As this applies to net, not gross, the change effectively increases by £245 million the borrowing powers of the Housing Executive.

Article 4 provides for an increase from £800,000 to £2 million in the amount of principal which may be outstanding from 12 the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund to the Northern Ireland Redundancy Fund. The higher rate of unemployment coupled with higher average earnings suggests the need for this increase. It will be recalled that a similar increase was granted to the Great Britain Redundancy Fund by way of the Protection of Employment Act 1975. Article 5 would increase the amount which may be outstanding from the Northern Ireland Government Loans Fund. The Fund lends to local authorities and other public bodies in Northern Ireland. It is proposed to increase the present limit of £600 million, which it is anticipated will be reached early in 1977, to £700 million. The National Loans Fund is currently the the main source for borrowing by the Northern Ireland Government, and onward lending in Northern Ireland is at the same rates of interest as those charged by the Public Works Loans Board.

Article 6 empowers the Department of Finance to borrow from the Government Loans Fund for the purpose of operating loans pools transferred from former local authorities to the Department as part of local government re-organisation. The local authorities had access to the Government Loans Fund for this purpose, but this source of borrowing is not available to the Department which has to resort to the outside market. Article 7 applies a new limit to the borrowing powers of the Northern Ireland Electricity Service. The statutory limit is composed of two tiers, primary legislation setting the first and providing for the second to become operative by means of subordinate legislation. The proposal is to increase the limit from £350 million and £500 million to £650 million and £750 million respectively to enable the electricity service to meet capital expenditure necessary to accommodate the demand for electricity into the 1980s, notably the completion of the new power station at Kilroot, County Antrim.

The remaining articles of the Order deal with a number of items of financial management. Article 8 increases from £1,000 to £2,000 the financial limit on certain district council contracts not required to be made under seal. This increase is designed to take account of higher levels of cost. The proposed provision also seeks to make future I increases by means of subordinate legislation. 13 Articles 9 to 12 are similar in content. They seek to impose interest on overdue instalments of loan repayments where an instalment is more than 31 days in arrear. The loans in question are those made to catering establishments, industrial undertakings, businesses qualifying under the Industrial Investment (General Assistance) (Northern Ireland) Act 1966 and harbour authorities. In each case the additional interest rate is to be determined by an order made by the Department of Finance. There is also provision for the waiving of additional interest.

Article 13 is a general provision to clarify an anomaly encountered since the imposition of value added tax in relation to certain Northern Ireland legislation The proposed provision makes it clear that any part of sums received that represents value added tax is not required to be appropriated in aid of expenditure on the service. Article 14 seeks to increase the fee payable by catering establishments to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board for the purpose of a certificate of registration. The fee, which is based on the net annual value of the premises concerned, is to be increased from one-third of 1 per cent. to 1 per cent. The proposed increase is designed to reflect more closely in the charges in the cost of the service. The increased fees would be applied from 1st April 1977. Article 15 proposes an amendment to the Saving Bank Act 1887 to permit variation of the fee payable for a certificate of birth, marriage or death, for the purposes of the Act, to be by means of subordinate legislation. The lee of 5p prescribed by the Act still applies in Northern Ireland, and is clearly in need of revision. In Great Britain power to vary the fee by means of subordinate legislation was taken in the Public Expenditure and Receipts Act 1968.

Article 16 would remove the requirement placed on district councils to seek the approval of the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, as successors to the old local government boards, to the fees fixed for internments in district council burial grounds. In general, district councils have the right to fix fees and charges for services provided by them. This proposal, therefore, removes what is now considered to be an unnecessary restriction on district councils. Article 17 proposes the removal from the Rights of Light Act (Northern Ireland) 14 1961 the requirement that a fee payable under that Act should be exclusively by means of Land Registry adhesive stamps. The use of such stamps is to be abolished in Northern Ireland from 1st April 1977 in favour of collection by direct means such as cash or remittance. Article 18 deals with the usual provision for repeals. My Lords, I commend this order to the House.