AQW 36265/11-15


Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry


Tabled Date: 22/09/2014
Answered On Date: 28/10/2014
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the number of Good Relations Officers currently in each local council area; and how these positions are likely to be affected, in terms of number and function, when 11 new councils take over on 1 April 2015.


Answer:
Ms C Sugden (East Londonderry): To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the number of Good Relations Officers currently in each local council area; and how these positions are likely to be affected, in terms of number and function, where 11 new councils take over on 1 April 2015.
ANSWER
The number of Good Relations Officers employed by each District Council, along with the equivalent number of full-time staff, is set out in the table below:
Council
Number of Good Relations Officers
Number of Full-time equivalents
Antrim
1
1
Ards
2
1
Armagh
2
2
Ballymena
3
2
Ballymoney
1
1
Banbridge
2
2
Belfast
5
4.8
Carrickfergus
2
1
Castlereagh
1
1
Coleraine
3
1.5
Cookstown
1
1
Craigavon
2
2
Derry
3
2.8
Down
1
1
Dungannon and South Tyrone
2
2
Fermanagh
2
2
Larne
1
1
Limavady
2
2
Lisburn
1
1
Magherafelt
1
1
Moyle
1
1
Newry and Mourne
3
3
Newtownabbey
1
1
North Down
1
1
Omagh
2
1.2
Strabane
1
1
As we outlined in the Together: Building a United Community strategy, the District Council Good Relations Programme is an important link between the strategy’s high level strategic priorities and delivery of good relations activity at a local level. Councils’ programmes are now closely aligned with the strategy’s four key priorities while taking into account local needs identified through each Council’s Good Relations Audit.
As a result, how the strategy is implemented locally in each Council area, including staffing requirements, will continue to be a matter for the relevant Council to decide.