FERMANAGH councillors are to see a boost to their pay packets, with the Stormont Executive agreeing to a five percent increase in their basic allowance.
Currently the maximum basic allowance a councillor is entitled to is £17,030. While it had been up to each council to set the rate it pays to its members – they do not have to pay the full amount – here in the Fermanagh and Omagh area councillors were being paid the maximum.
Following the recommendations of a report from last year, the Review of the Role and Responsibilities of Councillors in Northern Ireland, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons announced last week that this basic rate would be increased by five percent to £18,329, effective from April 1.
Minister Lyons also announced a change to legislation to shift responsibility for setting the basic allowance from councils to his Department, to ensure all councillors across all areas would receive the same.
In February this year, when the Council was setting the local rates for the year ahead, it was revealed part of the increase of 3.76 percent for residents and businesses in Fermanagh and Omagh was to pay for this expected increase to councillors’ wages.
Speaking when announcing the increase last week, Minister Lyons said, “I have considered carefully the recommendations in the report and, in doing so, I needed to balance any increase in the basic allowance for councillors against the cost to ratepayers in what is an extremely challenging financial climate.
“I need to ensure that increases in rates bills are kept to the minimum.”
Minister Lyons added, “Against a backdrop of wider public sector settlements generally in and around this level, I am content that this 5 percent increase for councillors is justified given the volume and complexity of council duties, the hours required to carry them out, and the fact that the role and responsibilities of councillors was last reviewed in 2013.
“I also accept that responsibility for setting the amount of the allowance actually paid to councillors should be removed from councils and instead set by my department.
“It is reasonable that councillors, across all council areas, should be paid the same amount of basic allowance.”
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