If you have any problem or query
relating to your work as a
councillor, if there is anything you
think would make the job easier,
if there is any help or support we
could give you, don’t hesitate to
get in touch with us.
National Association of Councillors
Northern Ireland Region
Sketrick House
Jubilee Road
Newtownards
BT23 4YH
Code of Conduct Insurance
Following lobbying by the National
Association of Councillors, all eleven
councils have now arranged Code of
Conduct insurance for councillors. This
means the councils will pay any legal
costs incurred in contesting Code of
Conduct complaints, provided the
councillor is subsequently found not to
have breached the Code. If a breach is
confirmed however, the councillor will
have to reimburse the council.
Tax exemption on travel
expenses
Tax exemption for councillors’ travel
expenses came into effect from April
2016. The exemption applies to both
income tax and national insurance
contributions. Please check with your
Finance Department if you think the
exemption is not being applied.
DCA carers – widened eligibility
The Department for Communities has
agreed on a broader definition of
eligibility for paid carers under the
Dependants’ Carers’ Allowance. Previous
guidelines stated that no family
member is eligible to be a paid carer.
New guidelines permit as paid carer any
family member who does not normally
live in the household and is not a
parent/guardian of the dependent child.
This means siblings, grandparents, non-
resident children and other family
members are now eligible. This change
follows lobbying by the National
Association of Councillors.
WHAT WE DO
Reimbursement of GDPR Fees
Prior to elected members becoming
exempt from payment of Data
Collection fees from the 1st April
2019, the NAC attempted to get all
councils to reimburse GDPR fees that
had been paid by their councillors.
This campaign started in 2018 when
we surveyed all councillors, at that
time there were nine councils not
reimbursing fees. Following letters
sent by the NAC, the number of
councils not reimbursing fees was
reduced to five. Work on this
campaign ceased when the new
legislation came into force.
The NAC is the only organisation whose
agenda is to represent councillors.
It is the only all-party voice for elected
members which makes it unique in the
political world. We provide advice and
signposting to councillors with
individual problems relating to ethics,
elections, role responsibilities,
remuneration, tax, expenses, pension,
welfare benefits and any other concerns
that are raised. We work to resolve
problems that councillors experience
within their role, by bringing the details
to the attention of the relevant bodies
whilst ensuring confidentiality.
We provide information on changes in
legislation, revised allowances,
government consultations and other
matters affecting councillors.
We offer a forum for councillors to voice
opinions and concerns, and exchange
information and experience through
our bi-monthly members’ meetings.
We communicate regularly with our
members by sending out information
emails, newsletters and keeping our
website updated.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
2022 UPDATE
ACHIEVEMENTS
As a result of Councillors acting
collectively for their common interests,
we have managed to achieve major
improvements to councillors’ pay and
conditions, such as:
•
Increases in Councillors’ allowances
and faster payments
•
Implementation of a pension
scheme for Councillors
•
Arranged for Councillors’ travel
expenses to be exempt from Tax
and National Insurance
•
Represented Councillors’ interests
during the local government
reorganisation by the formation of
an Independent Remuneration Panel
with increased councillors’
allowances for the new councils
•
Achieved severance payments for
Councillors
•
To make representation on behalf of
our members with the aim of
achieving equality for all councillors
across the Northern Ireland region
•
To address matters that affect
councillors’ well-being and provide
appropriate information and advice
accordingly
•
To strive for adequate and
appropriate training to be available
for councillors to assist them with
carrying out the role
Councillor Equality
In December 2021 the Department for
Communities (DfC) Minister, Deirdre
Hargey MLA agreed that it is now timely
for an independently led review of the
councillor role, and the DfC
departmental officials are currently
putting a process in place to progress
this. This is a positive step forward to
addressing the problems and concerns
raised by NAC members in relation to
conducting the councillor role and
follows requests made by the NAC
Executive Committee (EC) over the past
years to political parties and various
government officials/departments.
During 2020 and 2021, the NAC EC were
given the opportunity to meet with
Minister Hargey and her officials to
present information on how councillors
are affected by the inequality across
council areas and government levels,
the points put forward by the NAC
included:
•
The councillor role has not been re-
evaluated for over seven years, and
there have been many changes
within council structures that have
resulted in an increase to the
responsibilities for councillors since
the reform of local government in
2014, when the twenty-six councils
were reduced to the eleven-council
model.
•
The councillor allowances and
benefits scheme does not include
any provision for long-term sickness,
maternity/paternity leave, or
severance pay whereas higher level
government representatives and
council staff remuneration packages
do.
•
The support services, resources,
allowances, and mileage
reimbursement provided by councils
across Northern Ireland varies and
therefore councillors do not avail of
equal opportunities for conducting
the role.
For a detailed update on the work that
the NAC Executive Committee (EC) has
been carrying out to address the
problems and concerns raised by our
members please click here.
Councillor Well-being
The NAC are aware of various difficulties
that our members encounter whilst
carrying out the councillor role and
problems were elevated at the onset of
the COVID-19 pandemic. Councillors,
being the first of our 3-tier elected
representation that the public turn to for
assistance, were dealing with
constituents on the everyday issues as
well as those on the brink of poverty,
employment concerns, mental health
issues and families under extreme
pressure. The public know their
councillors and, in many, if not all cases
our members continued to represent
their constituents whilst dealing with
their own personal circumstances.
Unfortunately, we had cases during this
pressure period whereby some of our
elected colleagues were challenged with
a noticeable increase of social media
abuse. The abuse largely centred around
many aspects of councils being unable to
deliver normal services, either because of
central government guidelines or, in
some cases, for various reasons that
some councils were operating with
significantly less quota of staff. Even
though the reasons were well
documented and explained to the public,
some, at times, simply didn’t want to
accept this as being the case within the
then current operations procedures in
our councils. Throughout the pandemic
the NAC circulated Newsletters with
useful information and links in relation to
the Coronavirus and thankfully we have
managed to get through those difficult
times. The NAC ask all members to
continue to keep the officers informed of
problems they are encountering so that
experiences can be shared, and advice
sought and circulated to help resolve
issues and benefit all members.
Councillor Training
It is important for the NAC members to
avail of on-going training for updating
their knowledge and skills; and to be
given regular access to courses and
workshops relevant to the work they
are carrying out. The NAC organise
regular national conferences with
workshops on topics relevant to
councillors, during the pandemic these
were suspended but resumed in
October 2021, dates, locations and
details are circulated to all NI region
members and published on our
website. The Local Government
Training Group (LGTG) is currently
responsible for the oversight and co-
ordination of learning and development
activities for which there is an identified
common need throughout the local
government service in NI. Over the past
three years NAC representatives have
participated in meetings in relation to a
review process which is being carried
out for the evolvement of the LGTG.
In 2021 the NAC had input to a
consultation process which was carried
out by the independent consultancy
iESE and the recommendations that
they have put forward for a new
training scheme are currently under
consideration. The NAC will keep
members updated on progress.
Commons Photo Credit: Source