Councillors at Belfast City Hall have been asked to raise their own wages by almost £1,000.
At a recent Belfast City Council committee meeting, elected representatives were asked by council officers to consider increasing the basic allowance paid to each councillor from £15,486 per annum to £16,394 with effect from April 1, 2022.
Councillors were asked to consider increasing the total maximum special responsibility allowance, a funding pool that covers all extra responsibility for all elected representatives, from the current £117,774 per annum to £124,676. They were also asked to consider approving the increase to the rate of dependents’ carers’ allowance in line with the National Living Wage for 2023-2024.
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With “special responsibility” comes further allowances for elected representatives - currently committee chairpersons receive an extra £5,460, deputy chairs receive £2,730, party group leaders receive £3,465, deputy group leaders £3,150, and each political party member receives £162.15. Many councillors have full time and part time jobs alongside their duties as elected representatives.
At the meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee however, after a Sinn Féin proposal, councillors agreed not to raise their basic allowance or special responsibility allowance, but increase the rate of dependents’ carers’ allowance.
The Department for Communities determines the maximum hourly rates of Dependant’s Carers’ Allowance for both standard care and specialised care. The rate for standard care is based on the hourly National Living Wage for age 23 plus, which will increase on 1st April, 2023 from the current rate of £9.50 per hour to £10.42 per hour. That means standard care allowance at £10.42 per hour limited to £542.00 per month, and specialist care at £20.84 per hour limited to £1,084.00 per month.
In April 2022 councillors asked officers to write to Stormont ’s Department for Communities to amend legislation to set up an independent process, similar to that for MP’s, for allowances to be set by an independent body, rather than elected members. Belfast Council still has not received a response from the Stormont department.
At the Strategic Policy and Resources committee meeting, People Before Profit Councillor Fiona Ferguson said: “Most people agreed the last time that it isn’t a great look for any politician to be setting their own pay. When it was raised at Westminster the last time there was outrage pretty much from everybody.
“When Stormont gives itself pay bungs during a cost of living crisis or when workers are on strike, the mind boggles. Do we know why we haven’t even got a response?”
Sinn Féin Councillor Ronan McLaughlin, who proposed that councillors turn down the raise in basic and special allowances, told the chamber: “It is scandalous we can decide on our own pay. If only workers could do the same, but unfortunately they do not get the opportunity to do so, and elected members should not have that either.”
He added: “Considering where we are with the cost of living, and the rates hike, it would be very inappropriate for councillors to have an uplift in pay.”
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