MLAs tell Brokenshire: Don't cut our staffing costs

With the ongoing political deadlock showing no signs of abating, Secretary of State James Brokenshire has been advised to cut MLAs’ salaries by £13,612.

An independent review, penned by former Assembly chief executive Trevor Reaney, proposes that the 90 lawmakers should have their wages reduced by around a third, from £49,500 to £35,888.

And if there is no return to devolved government by the end of March, Mr Reaney has also proposed cutting MLAs’ staff allowance from £50,000 to £37,500 – which may result in job cuts.

UUP MLA Doug Beattie warned that, if the proposed cuts are implemented, he would be forced to let one of his office staff go.

While he was on board with Mr Reaney’s recommendation to slash MLAs’ wages, Mr Beattie said staff “must be left out of it”.

He told the News Letter: “Because Stormont is not currently operating, the off-shoot of that is that MLAs’ constituency offices are picking up the slack.

“Staff in these offices are actually busier than they were prior to the collapse of the Assembly.

“I employ three staff, which gives me the ability to ensure the office is open at the right times, we can arrange home visits and have cover when people are sick.

“If these staffing allowance cuts go ahead, I will have to make one of my staff redundant, which will directly affect the output of my office.

“This has not been thought through. If Mr Brokenshire has to take another pound of flesh from MLAs in order to spare our staff, then so be it.”

NI’s 90 MLAs have not been engaged in parliamentary work scrutinising government or passing laws because of a major fallout between former coalition partners the DUP and Sinn Fein over a botched green energy scheme early this year.

In his report, Mr Reaney acknowledged the constituency work Assembly members were doing in the absence of a properly functioning legislature.

DUP MLA Mervyn Storey urged the Secretary of State “not to punish” MLA staff, adding that such a move would be “totally unfair”.

The North Antrim MLA told the News Letter: “The work of constituency office staff is not affected by the absence of an Assembly; in fact they are doing more work now because there is no Assembly. So how is it fair to punish them for that?”

TUV leader Jim Allister echoed these remarks, tweeting: “Cutting MLA pay is right and proper, but punishing staff is unfair.”

Speaking to the News Letter, he added: “It is almost as if this is an attempt to widen the net of pain in a bid to put further pressure on MLAs to reach a deal.”

While he felt the cuts to MLAs’ pay should be implemented “immediately”, former Alliance leader David Ford took issue with the proposal to cut staffing allowances.

He added: “What concerns us is the possible implications for staff who through no fault of their own have found themselves in this situation. I would also question the secretary of state making this public knowledge five days before Christmas.”

Mr Brokenshire said he would carefully consider the advice of the independent review, which recommended that MLAs’ pay be cut in two stages.

Mr Reaney’s report said: “It is inevitable that public frustration with a non-functioning Assembly will continue to increase.

“The impact of any salary reduction on MLAs’ personal circumstances is also acknowledged.

“Therefore, it is judged that a ‘stepped’ approach to salary reduction is warranted.”

He said pay should fall from £49,500 to £42,075 now and be followed by a decrease to £35,888 three months later.

It was recommended that future annual increases for MLAs be deferred pending the restoration of power-sharing.

He also acknowledged advocacy with senior civil servants while no ministers are in place.

The salary of the DUP speaker of the House, Robin Newton, would be reduced from £87,500 to £55,848.

Mr Newton has faced calls from political opponents to quit.