Councillors defer decision on their pay rise

COUNCILLORS in Derry City and Strabane have deferred a decision on whether or not to award themselves a pay rise.

They will now write to the Department for Communities (DfC) asking that an independent review panel be established as soon as practically possible to determine if it is appropriate for councillors to vote on their own level of pay.

Members agreed that it was inappropriate for councillors to be voting to award themselves a pay increase, particularly during the ‘cost-of-living’ crisis.

This comes after DfC issued the Consolidated Councillor Allowances Circular, which would increase the annual basic allowance for a councillor from £15,071 to £16,394.

Councillors had rejected the increase in the previous two years with the savings achieved by the decision in 2022 subsequently used in making hardship payments to local citizens.

Proposing that DfC establish an independent review panel, SDLP Cllr Brian Tierney said, “I think it’s completely inappropriate for councillors to be sitting here and making a decision based on their own pay salary. I don’t think it’s fair, I don’t think it’s right at all.”

Alderman Derek Hussey stated that he agreed with Cllr Tierney that such a decision shouldn’t be coming to the chamber, and that an independent pay review body should determine ‘appropriate remuneration’.

However, People Before Profit’s Shaun Harkin stated this was not a decision that should be ‘kicked down the road or deferred’.

He said, “There are health and social care workers going on strike again and they have lost money already because they’ve been forced out on strike. We just have the conclusion of a seven month strike by Housing Executive workers who are low paid and who didn’t get all that they wanted. We have the prospect of road service workers going on strike, we have civil service workers going on strike and we’re not going to sit here and vote ourselves a pay increase while others have to stand on picket lines.

The motion to defer the current pay uplift awarded to councillors passed with 28 votes in favour and seven abstentions. Council will now write to the Department for Communities (DfC) asking that an independent pay review panel be established.