Sir Reg says immediate freeze on rates increases is necessary to protect Local Industry
Commenting on the closures at Farm fed chickens in Coleraine and Barbour Threads in Lisburn, UUP Leader Sir Reg Empey said government needed to shift their focus away from rates increases and the community should work towards achieving higher levels of efficiency and productivity for the economy.
In a statement Sir Reg said,
These were very worrying announcements. The common denominator was increased costs in a competitive market. Much of Northern Ireland’s manufacturing is living on the edge of competitiveness and as a community we need to be focusing on what we can do to move our economy to higher levels of efficiency and productivity.
Instead present government policy is to continue to push manufacturing costs up by persisting with massive rates increases. Whatever the circumstances in the past, it must now be obvious that trying to impose rates on manufacturing is threatening a large swathe of our industry and threatens many more jobs. An immediate freeze should be placed on increasing the percentage of rates that manufacturers pay until a full review is carried out.
One of the reasons given for taking away manufacturing’s rate-free status was that energy costs were being brought under control. This is no longer the case. Gas costs are out of control and electricity costs are on the rise again.
Government cannot sit idly by and see more damage being caused to our economy.”