Letter: I thought that being a councillor was primarily about public service, not pay – maybe I was being naive
By Letters
Copyright newsletter
Local councillors in Northern Ireland are being balloted on strike action over pay. What a ridiculous situation. Or maybe I am naive, thinking that being a councillor was primarily about public service, not adulation and reward. As I understand it, the role of a local councillor is part-time, though of course, sometimes it exceeds that, certainly in the case of a Mayor. For their service, councillors are currently paid an allowance of £18,329. Although this allowance is not calculated on a fixed number of hours, I work it out to be just over £20 per hour when taken as half of a standard full-time working week. In addition to this basic allowance, councillors can receive additional payments such as around £20 per month towards their home internet costs, £4.50 towards monthly mobile phone costs, between 45p and 65p per mile for car travel (dependent on car engine size and which council you are in) and between £830 and £8,859 extra for chairing a committee. They are also entitled to other expenses, including carers and dependants’ allowances. And the Mayor of Ards and North Down (ANDBC), for example, receives an extra £14,880. I also understand, from what I can discover from public information, that, certainly within ANDBC, councillors’ mileage is paid from home to their office and return as well as between council locations. Who else gets paid for travelling to work from home? For some councillors, this can be a nice little earner. For example, on councillor in Ards and North Down claimed a whopping £5,805 just in mileage according to records for 2019/2020. In these times, local councillors need to remember that there are people who work just as many hours as they do, or more, in public service, such as health care workers in our community pharmacies, who don’t earn what they do. I feel it would be a sign of a sense of astounding over-entitlement and arrogance for local councillors to go on strike, especially as many ratepayers feel they may not be value for money at their current rate of pay. Martyn Boyd, Bangor
