Staff wages bill hits £48m

Staff wages bill hits £48m

5 February 2025

LOCAL politicians have agreed an above inflation rates rise.

Rates bills are to increase by almost 4% from the start of the new financial year, with the decision taken at Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s annual rates meeting on Monday night.

Sinn Fein, SDLP and Ulster Unionist councillors sanctioned the move, but the DUP voted against the increase, with Alliance councillors abstaining.

Just over 60% of the local authority’s near £77m budget will be spent on staff wages with councillors who supported the rates increase insisting a lot of hard work was done to keep the rate as low as possible, without impacting on frontline services and pressing ahead with plans for future growth.

Council chairman, Pete Byrne, said the district rate not only paid for services the organisation council is responsible for, but also supported the delivery of projects that will “transform communities to bring important benefits and opportunities within the district”.

He said the council had made significant progress towards realising its goals over the past two years.

The district’s first citizen said the £958,000 increase in National Insurance contributions had been absorbed into the council’s operating costs, while year-on-year cuts to the rates support grant provided by central government has had a further impact.

“Despite this, we have worked hard to keep the rate increase as low as possible, knowing the financial pressure many of our ratepayers are already under,” he said.

“The way in which we spend income from rates is designed to respond to local needs and improve our residents’ lives and livelihoods in the long term.”

In addition, Cllr Byrne said the council had reviewed its services across the district and agreed to invest additional resources in street cleansing and planning services and to support the implementation of its sustainability and climate change obligations.

The chairman said more investment in planning services will allow the recruitment of additional staff to improve processing applications and providing better support to applicants. 

Cllr Byrne said money generated from managing household package waste will be invested in services across the district, while to help tackle cleanliness levels, six new mechanical street sweeping vehicles have been purchased in tandem with 12 additional cleansing staff who will cover enhanced cleansing schedules.

“Residents can expect a noticeable improvement in their communities, as these sweepers will be able to access housing developments more easily and tackle issues such as dog fouling more efficiently,”he continued.

 “Improving the health and wellbeing of our residents remains one of our eight corporate objectives and to support this we will continue to invest in our sports facilities.

“Last month we were delighted to officially welcome construction workers and engineers onsite to begin work on an urban sports park at Dunleath Park in Downpatrick, while in Newcastle’s Donard Park we will be moving forward with an exciting upgrade of the current 2G pitches to a 3G synthetic pitch.”

The council chairman said the investment includes the provision of covered seating areas and other improvement works to be completed later in the year, with similar plans in place for Jennings Park in Newry.

“In the next financial year, we will prioritise the delivery of our frontline services, businesses and vulnerable people and strengthen relationships with local stakeholders and funders to work smarter and better for our residents.