CAUSEWAYCOAST AND GLENS DISTRICT COUNCIL

STAFF COMMUNICATION BULLETIN – MAY 2014

It is intended that this bulletin will be produced on a monthly basis as a summary of progress towards the formation of CausewayCoast and Glens District Council on the 1st of April 2015. It is developed jointly by the convergence management team and our local trade union leadership. The current headlines are as follows:

  • Legislation. The Speaker of the Assembly announced on Tuesday the 13th of May that the Local Government Bill had received Royal Assent, and will henceforth be known as the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014. Several pieces of enabling legislation and guidance are at various stages of consultation and approval, including the draft Northern Ireland Local Government Code of Conduct for Councillors.
  • Local Government Election. Plans are now in place for the Local Government Election on Thursday the 22nd of May. This work is led by the Electoral Office and overseen on behalf of our 4 Councils by Mr John Dempsey from Ballymoney Council as our Deputy Returning Officer. Staff from across our 4 councils will be involved with polling, verification, and the count for our 7 new District Electoral Areas;
  • Annual Meeting. The first meeting of the new Shadow Council will take place in early June. This is known as the Annual Meeting, at which the 40 new councillors will decide on their interim committee structure and make appointments to these groups. Work is underway to adapt the Coleraine Council Chamber to a ‘40 seater’ for the shadow council period.
  • Transferring functions / New powers. Work is underway with Stormont departments to assess and design the transfer of several functions to local government. These include: Planning, Urban Regeneration, Neighbourhood Renewal, Local Economic Development, Local Tourism, Unfit Housing / Houses of Multiple Occupancy. New powers will be Community Planning and Power of General Competence. Arguably Planning will be the biggest change with the transfer of up to 30 staff;
  • LocalConsultation and Negotiation Forum. This Forum has reconvened and intends to meet on the 4th Friday of every month. It is comprised of trade union (UNITE, NIPSA and GMB) and management reps from our 4 councils and will be chaired for the next 6 months by John Dawson from GMB. It will rotate around the 4 main council locations.
  • Staffing matters. On the direction of the Local Government Reform Joint Forum (Joint Forum) the pool of ‘at risk’ staff was increased on the 1st of May as a further vacancy control measure. Following consultation and agreement with trade unions at a local level, the affected staff from across our 4 councils were informed. This is intended to protect staff as we move through the Local Government Reform process. It is envisaged that work on the new organisation structure will commence with councillors over the summer months;
  • Project team. A small project team is being created to oversee the convergence of our 4 councils. Appointments will be on a fixed term secondment basis, initially trawled from our ‘at risk’ staff. The process is underway for a human resources and a finance lead. It is intended to appoint an ICT lead, a policy lead, and an administrative officer;
  • Timetable and key actions. Below is the current overview plan for convergence:

The new Chief Executive, David Jackson hopes to meet with as many staff as possible over the coming months to hear your ideas, views and concerns first hand.

David H Jackson
David Jackson
Clerk and Chief Executive
CausewayCoast and GlensDistrict Council / John Dawson
John Dawson
Chair
Local Consultation and Negotiation Forum

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