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UUP Spokesperson for Disabilities Billy Bell MLA has offered his support to competitors at the 2006 Special Olympics Ireland Games in Belfast.

The Lagan Valley MLA said:

“We wish the competitors the best of luck and assure them that everyone in Northern Ireland is supporting them. This is the first time this major event has been held in Belfast and I hope that all the competitors have a wonderful experience.

“We should acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the athletes who are taking part and the work they have done to get here. Preparing for the Games is a real team effort and recognition must also go to the network of volunteers and supporters who are also involved.

“Northern Ireland has a proud sporting tradition and I delighted that we can now boast being the host for the Special Olympics Ireland, which serves as another excellent addition to Northern Ireland’s sporting portfolio”.

Billy Bell MLA, Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for Lagan Valley, said today that with house prices in Lisburn rising by 44% in the last year and with an average home in Lisburn costing £188,000, Lisburn’s ratepayers could expect to be paying significantly higher rates bills than before under the new market value valuation system.

“If we are going to be paying so much more in rates, there are some things we have a right to expect in return. It is all very well for the Government to be making a massive 19% hike in the regional rate. What the taxpayer has a right to expect in return is a contract from the Government – not some generalised waffle about improved services - but a specific contract with real measures of performance contained in it.”

“I think we should also be exploring the local return of most of our ratepayers money. If the City of Lisburn is putting in so much because of the new system of market value rates valuation, then the people of Lisburn have a right to expect to be getting out something approaching what they put in. I suspect that is far from the case if roads spending is anything to go by.”

“In March this year I revealed that between 2000 and 2005 £39.2 million was spent on Lisburn’s roads compared to £50.12 million spent on Londonderry’s. In the last year alone Lisburn’s road spend was only 69% of that of Londonderry.”

“This problem is going to be compounded because, with average house prices at £188,000 in Lisburn compared to £144,000 in Londonderry, you can see where this is going. Lisburn will be putting in more – much more – under the new market valuation and getting even less out. This can’t go on.”

“This is no criticism of Londonderry, it is harsh economic reality. The City of Lisburn should expect to have a reasonable proportion of what is raised in rates in the city spent locally. I believe this is an actuarial exercise well within the competence of Government. Lisburn must not become a cash-cow for the Taxman, getting very little back for what its people are being forced to put in.”

Ulster Unionist Spokesperson on Older People’s Issues, Billy Bell, has said that recent findings of a survey into carers for the elderly underlines the importance of dealing quickly with issues like respite and personal care in any future devolved assembly.

According to a health department survey of carers for older people:

• two-thirds of the people cared for lived in the same household as the carer
• over two-fifths (43%) of respondents said that, in a typical week, they provided care all the time, and a further 28% provided care for over 50 hours
• about a quarter (26%) said that they never had breaks from caring, and over three-fifths had breaks only occasionally
• 18% said that they always felt under stress because of caring responsibilities, 21% were under stress very often and 30% were under stress quite often.

In a statement, the Lagan Valley MLA said: “I welcome the department’s efforts in putting this study together as it plays an important role in drawing attention to the needs of carers in the community.

“Carers play a vital role in the wellbeing of society. The important contribution they make to the community at large must be recognized and their needs addressed.

“Respondents to health department survey rated personal care and respite care as the two most important services they receive.

“Ulster Unionists have already identified personal care as a major policy priority. That’s why the first in our ‘Let’s Get Real’ policy launches last year dealt with free personal care for the elderly.

“We stated then that for older people and their families to scrimp and save is unacceptable, grossly unfair and needs to be tackled as a priority.

“That remains our view. Consideration must also be given to expanding respite care services to ensure that the nearly two-thirds of carers who regularly felt under stress can also have their needs addressed as well.”

He added: “In the interim, carers must receive the full range of services that currently exist. According to the departmental study, only 43% of respondents knew that they could have a separate assessment of their needs as a carer, and only 39% had been offered an assessment.

“And nearly four fifths of respondents said their opinion had not been sought by their Trust in relation to services for carers in the community.

“I recognize that trusts work hard to deliver services. Central government must redouble efforts toward ensuring the proper support is targeted to priority areas.”

Billy Bell MLA, Ulster Unionist Assemblyman for Lagan Valley, who was Public Accounts Committee Chairman in the last Assembly, said today that the restoration of the Public Accounts scrutiny function should be one of the first things restored to the interim Assembly, ahead of full devolution.

“Government Departments and Agencies need local scrutiny right away. This should not have to wait for, or be dependent on, the restoration of full devolution. It is something that all MLA’s should want to happen straight away so that in this, at least, they can begin to have an impact on the workings of what has become one of the most arbitary direct rule regimes in living memory.”

“The scrutiny of Government Departments by our local Public Accounts Committee in the Assembly is one of the greatest democratic safeguards the people of Northern Ireland have against an over-mighty Government which has little or no regard for the democratic wishes of the Northern Ireland people.”

“That is why the Public Accounts Committee should be re-constituted at the earliest possible opportunity.  It is a way to hold Government Departments to account. The Public Accounts Committee was, after all, one of the great success stories of the last Assembly exposing incompetence in Government Departments and Agencies and the often flagrant waste of public money by some officials.”

“As the Chairman of that Public Accounts Committee I would robustly defend the excellent record of the Committee in its searching analysis and scrutiny, on behalf of the people, of what was going on inside Government here. It may suit some people in the some of the darker corners of this direct rule dictatorship that the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee is not functioning.”

“The Westminster Public Accounts Committee, while it has done an excellent job in continuing to expose incompetence and bad government in Northern Ireland has said itself that the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee needs to be restored as soon as possible because the Westminster Committee with so many other calls on its time cannot give the time for the level of scrutiny which Government here needs.”

“No democrat could rest easy knowing that the level of scrutiny which the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee offers is not being applied to Government departments here at present. The public has a right to its Assembly Public Accounts Committee to watch over its money and its levels and standards of public service and it has a right to it from as soon after 15 May as it is possible to reconstitute it.”

Billy Bell MLA, Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for Lagan Valley, commenting on the High Court’s decision to overturn former Environment minister Lord Rooker’s decision to give the John Lewis development at Sprucefield planning permission said today :

“This decision was probably inevitable after the failure of Lord Rooker to consult widely enough on the impact not just of the John Lewis store itself but of the additional commercial units planned in association with it.”

“It is vital that the Government convene a round-table conference now on this matter because we cannot afford to see 900 jobs lost to the City of Lisburn and the surrounding towns. We must try to negotiate a way forward which will accommodate both John Lewis and the City centre traders. That is not necessarily as difficult as it may, at first, seem. ”

“I believe the Government should put a new element into the negotiation and I believe that element should be the relocation of a major Government Department Headquarters to the City Centre of Lisburn to help offset some of the impact of a new John Lewis store. We need to get those 900 jobs to Lisburn but we also need to keep the city centre alive and this just might be a way to do it.”

“If a major Government Department were located in Lisburn City Centre then that would create a lot of foot-fall trade for the city centre shops. This needs to become a win-win situation. People have to start and use a bit of imagination and common sense instead of getting stuck in their respective trenches.”

Lagan Valley MLA and UUP Older Persons Spokesperson Billy Bell has described the robbery of a 96-year-old man in his Hillsborough home as ‘despicable’.

Mr Bell said: “This robbery is a despicable act, the perpetrator of which is beneath contempt.

“The person who carried this out has exploited a vulnerable man for the sake of few pounds. I utterly condemn those involved and would appeal for anyone with information to come forward.”

Mr Bell continued:

“I hope that the local community will rally round to help support elderly people in the area to make sure they are safe and do not feel isolated.

“Local residents should be wary of suspicious activity and, if they have any doubts, contact the police immediately.”

Disabilities and Older Person’s spokesperson Billy Bell MLA has backed a report which says that elderly care should be a universal entitlement. The report, commissioned by health think tank the King’s Fund, concluded that elderly people must be guaranteed a minimum level of state-funded social care.

The Lagan Valley MLA said:

“Today’s King’s Fund Report is a damning indictment of this Government’s use of means-testing to pay for basic services for older citizens. As the Report notes, means-testing has practically no impact on the very wealthy, but leaves those of modest means ’struggling to pay for their own care’.

“While I have grave reservations about the Report’s partnership model of funding, I welcome the fact that it explicitly calls for an increase in our society’s investment in care for the elderly - up from the miserly 50% provided under means-testing.

“The Report calls for care for the elderly to be a ‘universal entitlement’ - a call I and my Party strongly endorse and will make a priority when the assembly returns. In our recent policy document on free personal care, we emphasised the need for an approach that guaranteed security, welfare and dignity for all - not just some - in old age. I trust that today’s Report will focus political and public opinion on ensuring that this becomes a reality for all our older citizens”.

Lagan Valley UUP MLA and Older Person’s Spokesman Billy Bell has welcomed the final report of the Turner Commission, which outlines Lord Turner’s views on the future of the state pension system.

Mr Bell said:

“I welcome this final report of the Turner Commission. While some of its recommendations will require careful examination, I trust that a new national consensus will emerge around the Commission’s fundamental principles – that the state pension should be ‘generous and non-means tested’; and that there must be a ‘flat-rate, poverty preventing pension’.

“Ulster Unionists have long been calling for a simpler universal citizen’s pension to lift future pensioners out of means-tested benefits. I believe that the most equitable settlement for pensioners would be an entitlement of around £110 a week. I trust that this report will now push the Government into showing genuine leadership over this issue.”

“The Report calls for care for the elderly to be a ‘universal entitlement’ - a call I and my Party strongly endorse and will make a priority when the assembly returns. In our recent policy document on free personal care, we emphasised the need for an approach that guaranteed security, welfare and dignity for all - not just some - in old age. I trust that today’s Report will focus political and public opinion on ensuring that this becomes a reality for all our older citizens”.

Lagan Valley MLA Billy Bell has urged applicable residents to take advantage of the Department of Social Development’s ‘Warm Home Scheme’, which provides a grant of up to £750 to install insulation measures in private sector housing.

Mr Bells comments follow a meeting with the DSD and Eaga Partnership, who outlined to Mr Bell the eligibility criteria for those wishing to embark on the scheme.

Mr Bell said:

“I fully support the warm homes scheme and would urge those who are applicable to take full advantage of what’s on offer. The scheme’s package of insulation measures ensure that homes will have significantly reduced energy costs. Cavity Wall insulation, reflective radiator panels, loft insulation and draught proofing are just some of the measures made available.

“Those who are entitled to the scheme include householders with a child under the age of 16 and who are in receipt of certain benefits, including disability, income support and housing benefit. Householders over 60 are also eligible for further measures included in the ‘Warm Homes Plus’ Scheme.

“As UUP Disabilities and Older Person’s Spokesperson, I can certainly see the benefits for the more vulnerable section of our society, especially older people and the elderly. Despite being launched in 2001, there are still those who have not taken advantage of the scheme and I would urge them to contact EAGA for more information”.

Billy Bell MLA, Ulster Unionist Assemblyman for Lagan Valley and Public Accounts Committee Chairman in the last Assembly, today questioned the amount spent on roads in the City of Lisburn in the past five years. The MLA says the figures show that Londonderry with a population just behind that of Lisburn had 22% more spent on its roads than Lisburn

“I am concerned that Lisburn, which is Northern Ireland’s second city in terms of population with 108,000 citizens has had significantly less spent on its roads in the past five years than Londonderry with a population of 105,000. In fact Lisburn had about one quarter less spent on its roads than Londonderry. Five years is a reasonably long period and you would expect to see some averaging out over such a time span but that has not happened.”

“Between 2000 and 2005 £39.2 million was spent on Lisburn’s roads compared to £50.12 million spent on Londonderry’s. That is a very significant gap. It is a gap which is consistent year after year as the attached table shows. Year on year Lisburn is disadvantaged when compared to Londonderry. This suggests that something is badly wrong with our road building priorities and certainly needs to be looked at.”

“Lisburn’s current roads are inadequate to say the least. There is, for instance, only a B class road between Lisburn, with a population of 108,000 and over 3,000 businesses, and the International Airport. If you were a stranger, and really wanted to, you could easily find Loanends but you would be hard put to find Lisburn. In fact there is still no sign at the airport gate directing people to Lisburn. It is as if Lisburn did not exist. Well, I know 108,000 people who would not agree with that and it’s time the Roads Service took more account of the fact.”