HC Deb 29 January 1976 vol 904 cc283-5W
Mr. Woodall

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total of public debt in Northern Ireland for rent, rates, gas and electricity; and what steps are being taken to ensure that these debts are paid.

Mr. Merlyn Rees:

The total of these debts is approximately £13.5 million. Of this, £5 million is for rent and rates due to the Housing Executive; £3.5 million is for rates alone; £2.75 million is for electricity; and £2.7 million is for gas. It is impossible to assess with any accuracy the proportion of debtors who would claim political motives for not meeting their obligations; but of the 28,000 tenants of public housing who took part in the civil disobedience campaign in 1971, only 3,480 have not made an arrangement with the Housing Executive to pay off their arrears, and the amount they owe is £740,000. The average debt to the Housing Executive is about £140. However, this figure conceals the size of the larger debts as there is a large number of relatively small debts.

The original civil disobedience campaign accounts for only a small proportion of public debt. Many people, from both sides of the community, are now evading their responsibilities. This is unfair to the much greater number of law-abiding people who are meeting their obligations, such a situation cannot be allowed to continue. Debt must be paid and there is no question of remission.

I have accordingly decided to extend from 5th April 1976 the procedures set up under the Payments for Debts (Emergency Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971. That Act provided for the recovery of debts due to public authorities by deductions from payments made to the debtors from public funds. The procedures will now be extended so as to provide, in the first instance, for the allocation of social security benefits towards meeting debts for rent or rates in all cases in which the authority to which the debt is due is satisfied that normal methods of collection or enforcement are unlikely to work.

Experience has shown that this method of recovery is effective and humane. Over £4 million of public money has so far been recovered by it; and the review by the Department of Health and Social Services of cases of alleged hardship has thrown up only a few instances in which the rate of deduction from social security benefits has had to be reduced. This method of recovery is, however, administratively expensive, and I accordingly intend to impose, also from 5th April 1976, a collection charge where it has to be used for rent and rates debts; this charge will normally be 50p per week. The new collection charge will also apply to the 2,000 persons who are already having deductions made from their welfare benefits for payment of their debts to public authorities.

People will be able to avoid incurring the collection charge by resuming regular payment forthwith and making arrangements to clear their arrears. It will not usually be possible to release defaulters at short notice from this method of recovering debts because regular social welfare benefits are paid by order books covering periods of up to 52 weeks which would have to be recalled and re-issued. Accordingly, people who are in debt and who do not now take steps to resume normal payments and to clear arrears may have to continue to pay the collection charge for some time.

People who have not made arrangements to pay their rent and rates regularly and to pay off their debts will continue to be ineligible for any rebates to which they might otherwise be entitled.

A further statement will be made in due course about debts for gas and electricity.