British army personnel could be set for rates relief in Lisburn and Castlereagh despite Sinn Fein concerns it could cost ratepayers up to £1m
British army personnel could be set for rates relief despite concerns it could cost ratepayers up to £1m during a cost of living crisis.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s corporate committee has approved a motion to lobby Minister of Finance John O’Dowd to review the rates system.
However, the chamber heard Sinn Fein express concerns about “special treatment” for serving personnel over “nurses and vulnerable people”.
Bringing forward the motion, Councillor Gary Hynds said: “I brought this motion forward after being contacted directly by serving personnel, including a young serviceman who raised concerns with me about the financial pressures they can face while spending long periods away from home due to deployment and military duties.
“Lisburn is home to many serving personnel, veterans and military families. Across our communities there are families with generations of military service behind them.
“Many people here have had sons, daughters, parents, grandparents, neighbours and close friends serve with distinction over the years.
"Many serving personnel are not highly paid considering the responsibilities, pressures and sacrifices that come with the role they perform.
“These are individuals expected to operate under immense pressure, in difficult circumstances, often away from their families for long periods of time.
“This motion is not about demanding special treatment. It is not about creating blanket exemptions.
“It is not about unfair advantage or preferential treatment. Those who serve our country deserve fairness.”
The local authority is also being asked to explore additional support it can offer on rates to assist those in the military.
Sinn Fein Councillor Ryan Carlin said: “Public services and financial supports must always be delivered on the basis of objective need, not by creating special categories of employment within our rates system.
“While this motion speaks about a review, the clear intention is to move towards special rates treatment for serving military personnel.
“The proposer of this motion will know that the majority of serving British Military personnel in the North are actually based here, within the Lisburn and Castlereagh council boundary.
“Approximately 850 personnel by the MOD’s own estimates. This means that a significant rates relief scheme would require significant financial cost to this council and its ratepayers.
“Based on average domestic rates in this council area, we could be looking at a figure up to £1million per year depending on deployment.
“This motion is deeply flawed. It asks ordinary working people, many of whom are already struggling financially themselves, to subsidise employment-based discounts for one particular profession over all others including carers, vulnerable people and our nurses working through the night in our hospitals.
“A struggling working-class family in Lisburn or Castlereagh faces those pressures regardless of identity or occupation.
“Those are the people this chamber should be focused on supporting.”
Committee chairperson Brian Higginson said: “As someone with a personal connection to the Armed Forces community, this motion resonates deeply with me not only politically, but also personally.
“The motion is rooted in a genuine desire to ensure that those who make sacrifices on behalf of all of us are not overlooked.”
A majority vote (11-2) carried the rates proposal.