Rates hike for Belfast households

Belfast households are set to face a 5% hike in rates from April 1 to counter projected waste disposal cost rises of £20 million over the next 10 years, it has been revealed.

Following the decision of the Policy and Resources Committee yesterday, the rate increase is expected to be put before the full council meeting in February.

The committee's chairman, Councillor Chris McGimpsey, said that rises of 6.46% had originally been tabled before the committee directed each council department to re-examine their proposals and produce cost reductions.

At yesterday’s meeting, members agreed the new 5.37% increase – 2.7% of which is attributable to new spending on waste disposal. This, reported the committee, was down to tighter standards being introduced as a result of national and European legislation. The cost of meeting waste disposal standards is projected at £20 million over the next 10 years.

Mr McGimpsey said: "Had it not been for these extra costs, the proposed increase would have been below the rate of inflation, reflecting the prudent efforts of Belfast City Council over the past number of years.

"Mindful of the projected costs of waste disposal over the next decade, the Policy and Resources Committee agreed to establish an all-party working group to critically examine the various areas of Council spending in an effort to keep future rate increases to an absolute minimum."

The rates increase follows in the wake of an embarrassing leak of information from inside the council last week. The leaked report found that absences by council staff had rocketed - equating to over 32,000 working days lost last year.

The figures also revealed that, on average, refuse collectors and street sweepers took around three weeks off a year.

(GMcG)