Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on measures to reduce the rate of increase in regional rates.
§ Mr. Ian StewartI would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 20 April, at columns 447–48 to the hon. Member for Londonderry, East (Mr. Ross). Two exceptional factors, the change in Exchequer support and the one-off credit balance in 1988–89 together accounted for 6.6 per cent. out of the 12.6 per cent. increase in the 1989–90 regional rate. The remaining 6 per cent. reflected substantial increases in public expenditure programmes in Northern Ireland in areas such as education and roads maintenance. The level of the Government support for rate relevant expenditure in Northern Ireland is at a very high level, 82 per cent. compared with 43 per cent. in England. The Government endeavour to strike a reasonable balance between the need for expenditure on central Government rate-borne services in Northern Ireland and the burden placed on ratepayers. However, the only practical way to reduce the impact upon ratepayers would be to reduce relevant public expenditure programmes in Northern Ireland.