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The Cost of Stormont
It has emerged that MLAs are to get £70k a year on top of their salaries in the form of expenses ("expenses that allow the MLAs to employ people, in some cases close relatives, to help carry out their constituency work"). Just before devolution was restored, Peter Hain increased these allowances by 45% to £70k a year!
Prompted by this I've done a little bit of digging and tried to work out exactly what the farce at Stormont is going to cost us each year. Apart from the extra allowance for committee chairs which I had to estimate, the following figures represent the cost of bribing our politicians to doing their jobs.
| Job | Allowance/Salary | Num. of Positions | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| MLA Salary | £41,321 | 108 | £4,462,668 |
| MLA Expenses | £70,000 | 108 | £7,560,000 |
| Committee Chair | £10,000 | 10 | £100,000 |
| Minister | £36,241 | 10 | £362,410 |
| First/Deputy First Minister | £69,862 | 2 | £139,724 |
| OFMDFM Jr. Ministers | £18,800 | 2 | £37,600 |
| Speaker | £17,033 | 1 | £17,033 |
| Total | £12,679,435 |
Follow up:
What's interesting is that if each constituency elected 4 MLAs instead of 6, and the government had 8 departments instead of 10, we'd be looking at somewhere around £8½ million.
So, I ask, is it all worth it?
Most of the figures come from gmtv.teo.ie/pdf/stormont.pdf although the MLA salaries were grabbed from www.niassembly.gov.uk/members/expenses/members_expenses6.htm which is actually discussing a reduction in the basic salary for MLAs while the assembly was dissolved. I can't recall hearing that the salary itself has changed since this so the figure included in the calculation is this previous assembly salary, although knowing our overlords they've probably awarded themselves a pay-increase too [Edit: apparently not just yet]. I'm happy to be corrected if anyone can point to more accurate figures, particularly for committee chairs.
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7 comments
They should have got the same amount of money I get when I don't work. Nothing.
"Democracy costs money."
I guarantee it doesn't cost half this much elsewhere in the UK. £70k a year each on 'expenses' is completely unjustifiable.
I've no problem in accepting that democracy and government costs money, but not this much! It's ridiculous for a country the size of Northern Ireland to be this over-governed (presumably for fear of upsetting the sectarian balance or the Alliance party?).
I repeat: "if each constituency elected 4 MLAs instead of 6, and the government had 8 departments instead of 10, we'd be looking at somewhere around £8½ million."
I'm sure a lot more could be saved by rationalising these expenses instead of doling them out like they're going out of fashion too.
2) The expenses of an MP are about similar, probably more. Do you want your representatives to have an office? Do you expect them not to have a secretary or should all their letters be done by hand in person?
4 MLA's per constituency and reduction in the number of departments is not something that is not being discusses, it is.
It also needs to be understood than an MLA doesn't get 70 grand handed to them, it is all accounted for and invoices paid by the civil service.
) They were working, the legislative function is not the only part of the work of a legislator.
But with the Assembly suspended, Westminster (and Brussels) were our legislatures, the legal responsibility for constituents fell back on our MPs and our MEPs.
2) The expenses of an MP are about similar, probably more.
Well, in the case of NI's MPs they should be, what with air fares and having maybe to rent London accomodation.
Do you want your representatives to have an office?
The flippant answer is "no, not especially"; I and many others are able to work from home, why not a MLA?!
But more seriously, why they can't they work from their party's constituency office (or rent one between three or four MLAS/councillors/MPs)?
Do you expect them not to have a secretary or should all their letters be done by hand in person?
As per the office question, why not the sharing of temp. secretaries between several MLAs- would there really be that much work to justify a full-time secretary for each MLA? Also, even you must find it slightly suspicious how many personal assistants tend to be spouses or close family members.
It also needs to be understood than an MLA doesn't get 70 grand handed to them, it is all accounted for and invoices paid by the civil service.
True, however it'll be interesting to see how many end up not using their full allocation of funds.
MLA's who are in the same party usually do share constituency offices (save for Michelle McIlveen and Simon Hamilton), but it isn't possible to legilslate separatly for, to take West Belfast for example, 5 Shinners vs 1 SDLP.
I can assure you that there is enough work to justify more than one member of staff for each MLA, there is research, speech writing, media, constituency work (which is huge in itself).
Nepotism can be a problem, that isn't something I'm going to deny.
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