§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made towards introducing a rural rates relief scheme to assist access to rural retail and Post Office services in Northern Ireland. [82683]
§ Mr. PearsonOn 28 March 2002 the Northern Ireland Executive agreed that the proposed Northern Ireland scheme, which was due to come into effect in October 2002, should be suspended following an assessment that to proceed with the scheme as outlined in the original legislation would not have the desired effect.
Since then options for a more workable scheme have been considered by my officials along with colleagues in Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies.
As the outcomes of the wider Review of Rating Policy and the Non-Domestic Revaluation were likely to impact on any new Rural Rate Relief Scheme, my predecessor as Minister of Finance and Personnel, Dr. Sean Farren, decided to defer putting forward alternatives until both these exercises were completed. Both the Review and the Revaluation are nearing completion and I will shortly be considering the implications for the Rural Relief Scheme— taking account of alternative business reliefs that may emerge from the Review and the impact analysis emerging from the Revaluation exercise.