224 council staff facing furlough

224 council staff facing furlough

27 May 2020

NEWRY, Mourne and Down Council is expected to furlough 224 staff.

The Recorder understands that 194 leisure services staff and 30 employees who work in the Enterprise, Regeneration and Tourism sector are to be placed on the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme.

The local authority’s income has plummeted over recent weeks and it is estimated that monthly losses are in the region of £800,000 as a direct result of the global pandemic.

It is believed that furloughing several hundred staff would save the organisation in the region of £200,000 a month which would slightly help off-set the organisation’s monthly losses.

Newry, Mourne and Down is the third largest of Northern Ireland’s 11 local authorities which are each experiencing severe financial pressure due to the closure of leisure centres and other facilities.

Collectively, the councils are expected to furlough almost 2,000 employees, with suggestions that additional staff could also be temporarily laid off.

And a warning has been issued by the Northern Ireland Local Government Association — the umbrella body for the 11 councils — that some councils face a cash crisis without financial support, with speculation mounting that they could lose £150m in the non-payment of rates during the current financial year in addition to monthly losses.

News that Newry, Mourne and Down Council is to furlough 224 staff comes after recent confirmation that the job retention scheme has been extended until October.

The local authority’s leisure centres, museums and arts, tourism and community facilities have been closed since March as a result of the lockdown. 

To date, a number of councils have made use of the job retention scheme with Antrim and Newtownabbey Council furloughing 375 of its 650-strong workforce, while Mid Ulster Council has furloughed 365 staff.

Derry City and Strabane and Fermanagh and Omagh District Councils will each furlough around 200 staff, with Mid and East Antrim Council temporarily laying off 252 employees. Causeway Coast and Glens Council is to furlough 61 staff,  with Belfast and Lisburn and Castlereagh councils yet to make a decision.

Elsewhere, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council has not yet finalised its number with estimates that it could be as many as 300, with suggestions that Ards and North Down Council will furlough around 350 staff.

While Newry, Mourne and Down Council is continuing to maintain essential frontline services, including refuse collection and street cleansing, the majority of others have been suspended.

There are also fears that these particular services are unlikely to resume until after final stage of the Stormont Executive’s recovery plan is implemented, with the difficulty that there is no time frame in place at this stage.

But there was some good news for the local council with confirmation that a £20m funding package has been made available by the Department for Communities.

The money — which is being shared by Northern Ireland’s 11 councils — is to help them deal with financial pressures as a result of the pandemic and ensure that they can continue to provide essential services and support those in need.

Local authorities are mainly funded through district rates, but the cash this raises is to fall dramatically in the short term due to rates holidays, while other council income from leisure centres and community facilities has been decimated by the lockdown.

Stormont communities minister Deirdre Hargey said the new funding will assist councils with their cash flow and support them in the delivery of vital services.