Down Council spent more than others on farewell party

Down Council spent more than others on farewell party

21 October 2015

THE former Down Council spent almost £49,000 of ratepayers’ money on farewell parties and events before it went out of business at the end of March, new figures have revealed.

The figures, obtained by Detail Data, a Big Lottery funded collaboration between investigative website thedetail.tv and the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, reveal Down Council spent the most of all the Province’s 26 district councils to say goodbye.

Down Council formally merged with its neighbour in Newry and Mourne in April as as part of a radical shake-up of local government which reduced the Province’s 26 district councils to 11. Newry and Mourne Council spent almost £44,500 on farewell events.

The combined spending by Down and Newry and Mourne councils — £93,319 — also topped the farewell spending charts of all the new council areas. In total, councils across Northern Ireland spent more than £300,000 on farewell parties and events, with Down and Newry and Mourne accounting for almost a third of this total.

The bulk of Down Council’s spending went on a community carnival in Downpatrick town centre which the council claimed was attended by an estimated 10,000 people and which cost just over £36,340. A dinner for council staff held in Downpatrick Cricket Club cost almost £2,280, while £10,235 was spent on a special book chronicling the history of the local authority since its formation in 1973.

Newry and Mourne Council spent almost £40,300 on a public concert in Newry City Centre attended by an estimated 2,000 people with a farewell staff function attended by 450 people costing £4,170.

The figures, obtained as a result of a Freedom of Information request, were published after it was revealed that the combined council debt and liabilities across Northern Ireland rose from £367m in 2008 to over £1bn for the 2013/14 financial year.

The £308,248 spent on farewell events, plus the scale of council debt, comes against a background of forecasts by the Stormont administration that the new super-council system would save as much as £438m over 25 years.

The Department of Environment (DoE), which implemented the local government reforms, responded to the Detail Data findings by claiming the savings could still be made, depending on the decisions of the 11 new councils.

“It would be for councils as, autonomous bodies, to answer any questions regarding their expenditure on farewell events,” the DoE said. “The reform of local government is estimated to deliver projected savings at £20m per year over 25 years. The actual savings achieved will depend on key decisions that each of the new councils will make relating to future costs and service delivery models.”

The majority of outgoing councils spent less than £15,000 on initiatives, but three spent considerably more, with the highest individual bills lodged by Down (£48,858), Craigavon (£44,500) and Newry & Mourne (£44,460).