AQW 50313/11-16 Written question to the Minister of the Environment
To ask the Minister of the Environment for his assessment of the legality of councils paying a Councillor's allowances directly to a third party.
Asked by Stewart Dickson MLA on 3 November 2015
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 3 November 2015
- Answer due by
- 18 November 2015
- Answered
- 20 November 201517 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of the Environment
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The legislation clearly states that councillor allowances are payable by councils directly to councillors. This is contained in Part 3 of the Local Government Finance Act (NI) 2011 and in the Local Government (Payments to Councillors) Regulations (NI) 2012.
In light of the recent court proceedings, my officials wrote to all district council chief executives to remind them of their duty under this legislation. However the legislation is silent on which bank accounts councillors' allowances must be paid into and councils do not have an investigative power to allow enquiries; such as that available to the Assembly. This is a subject that I will discuss with council Chief Executives to ascertain if such a legislative power is necessary and would be of benefit.