AQW 36265/11-15 Written question to the First Minister and deputy First Minister
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.
Asked by Claire Sugden MLA on 22 September 2014
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 22 September 2014
- Answer due by
- 7 October 2014
- Answered
- 28 October 201436 days after tabling
- Department
- The Executive Office
- Priority question
- No
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.