Alan Lowry, FSB`s NI Policy Chair has written an Open Letter calling for urgent delivery of financial support.
Dear Editor,
Almost eight months ago, flood waters started to inundate the Newry Mourne and Down area, bringing destruction and misery to around 200 business owners. Such a catastrophic event should have seen a magnificent and urgent response from government, yet the inertia and failings amongst those charged with delivering support is as incomprehensible as it is scandalous.
Within hours of the flooding, FSB started to receive calls from affected members seeking advice and support. As part of our immediate response we issued a press release calling for each of the three layers of government to step up and respond as a matter of the highest priority – councils, Stormont Departments and the UK Government, and noting that the damage had been so intense it threatened the viability of entire business ecosystems. We called for leadership, support and finance so businesses could start to put things back together in time for Christmas.
We met with the Secretary of State and called on him to respond as generously to Northern Ireland businesses as the UK Government had done for those in England who were so badly impacted by Storm Babet; and he made £15 million available to Stormont within days. Stormont acted by giving immediate 100% rates relief until the end of the financial year; whilst Newry Mourne and Down Council stated that they would lobby central and UK government for the maximum possible financial assistance for businesses. It looked like the three layers of government were, indeed, doing what their constituents would want and expect.
Against that backdrop, it is hard to conceive of a greater litany of delay and inertia than that which has since unfolded. It began in Stormont, as Minister-less Departments struggled to work out just how to intervene, and then failed to meet their own deadlines. Despite a successful recent history of delivering Covid grant supports, which had seen knowledge and expertise built up within the Departments, they devolved responsibility instead to the local Council. The Council then appointed loss adjusters to survey each affected business and put a figure on the damage they had sustained, whilst announcing that grants would be made available up to a ceiling of £100,000.
All these steps created months of delay, a loss of focus, and an apparent lack of accountability, whilst many businesses were forced to cease or significantly restrict their trading for eight months, including missing the valuable Christmas season. Now, many months on, the Council has devised a “pay and reclaim” scheme, whereby businesses whose losses have been independently assessed as being of a high order, are forced to spend their own money on repairs and refurbishment, then submit receipts for a maximum of £10,000 at a time, and await payment before they can undertake the next ‘pay and reclaim’ transaction.
Aside from the fact that this unnecessary and unreasonable bureaucracy is requiring businesses to commission works and pay for them up front, despite having had severely reduced income for the past eight months, the Council added further insult to injury last week. One business contacted FSB to advise that, when they submitted their paperwork they were told that “the person who processes payments is on holiday at the moment”. From a council that already has a poor record when it comes to prompt payment of its own bills, this failure to understand the pressures arising from weak cashflow is a shocking indictment.
If further evidence were needed, information on ‘Flooding Support for Businesses’ on Newry Mourne and Down Council’s own website hasn’t been updated for well over three months.
Blame cannot simply lie with the Council alone, who have proved themselves unfit for the task that was handed to them. Those in Stormont who chose to devolve delivery of the support rather than embrace it should also shoulder some of the responsibility.
There are many calls for more funding for public services, yet here is a shocking and unacceptable example of utter failure to provide a proper service, despite adequate funds having been made available early in the crisis. As we face into yet another election, our politicians – at all three levels of government - really must step forward both to demand better and to deliver better.
Yours faithfully
Alan Lowry
FSB NI Policy Chair