Commentary on provisions of Act
Section 1: Regional Rates
- This section sets the levels of the regional domestic and regional non-domestic rates that are to be used in the assessment of rates and the billing of ratepayers in Northern Ireland for the year ending 31 March 2020. Section 1(2) sets the domestic regional rates, expressed in terms of ‘pence per pound of rateable value’, at 0.4574 pence and Section 1(3) sets the non-domestic regional rate at 34.01 pence.
- Section 1(4) and (5) clarify that the Department of Finance may, once Ministerial offices have been filled, vary the rates set by this Act, using the established procedure of an order under the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 and that it may set the rates for the whole of the year in which an order is made.
Sections 2 to 5 and Schedule: Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme
- Section 2 provides for the implementation of a long-term tariff structure for the Northern Ireland Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme to replace the current interim arrangements for small and medium biomass installations introduced on 1 April 2018.
- Subsections (1)-(10) of Section 3 amend Regulation 36 of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 ("the Principal Regulations") to introduce a long-term tariff structure for all small and medium biomass installations accredited under the RHI Scheme in Northern Ireland. The new long-term tariffs will apply from 1 April 2019 and will be linked to the Consumer Prices Index.
- Subsection (11) amends Schedules 3 and 4 of the Principle Regulations to clarify that the small and medium biomass tariffs referenced in those Schedules no longer apply from 1 April 2019.
- Subsection (12) inserts a new Schedule 5 to the Principal Regulations. The new Schedule sets out the tiered tariffs for all small and medium biomass installations from 1 April 2019.
- Section 4 makes provision for the Department to prepare and publish voluntary buy-out arrangements in respect of the financial year beginning on 1 April 2019 and each of the two financial years immediately following, under which participants can apply to receive a payment in respect of an accredited RHI installation, and to be withdrawn from the Scheme.
- Subsection (1) makes clear that the power provided for the Department to introduce voluntary buy-out arrangements can only be exercised during the period while there is no Northern Ireland Executive.
- Subsection (2) sets out that the Department must publish the arrangements which allow participants to apply, and demonstrate the method by which the Department will determine whether they qualify for a payment and the amount of that payment. The Department is required to provide notice to applicants that do not qualify for payment, setting out how the Department came to that determination. For participants that do qualify for payment, the Department is required to inform them of the proposed amount and how it has been calculated. The qualifying participant then has the option to accept or reject the offer. Should the offer be accepted, the Department is required to make the payment.
- Subsection (3) makes clear that in calculating the proposed payment amount the Department must take account the amount of previous RHI support payments received; after taking this into account, participants may not qualify for a payment as the amount of previous support payments is such that the installation may already have generated the target rate of return.
- Subsection (4) sets out some elements which the Department may include in the buy-out arrangements including administrative elements and that for instance, where a participant has payments withheld or reduced under Part 7 of the Principle Regulations, they may not be eligible to receive a buy-out payment.
- Subsection (5) provides that where a participant has accepted and been paid the buy-out amount, the relevant installation ceases to be an accredited installation.
- Subsection (6) sets out the definition of "the period while there is no Executive" as meaning the period beginning on the date of commencement of Section 4 of this Act, and ending on the next occasion when the offices of all of the Northern Ireland Ministers are filled.
- Section 5 introduces a duty on the Department, on completion of each financial year’s voluntary buy-out arrangements, to report on the number of participants who have withdrawn from the Scheme under those arrangements, and the total cost of the payments made to those participants.
- Subsections (3) and (4) make clear that, in the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive, this report must be provided to the Secretary of State for laying before Parliament and, at all other times, such reports must be laid before the NI Assembly.
