Members’ staff made redundant

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our Ref: FoI 16 - 20

31 March 2020

Freedom of Information Act 2000

I can confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission holds information relevant to your request of 20 February 2020.  In your request you asked for the following information:

“Between 1 Jan 2017 and 1 Jan 2020:

a) how many members of members’ staff were made redundant as a result of the Member resigning/losing their seat/retirement

b) how much money was spent on redundancy payments in total for all those staff

c) what protocols were put in place to ensure that staff made redundant as a result of the conditions in (a) were not then re-employed by another Member

c) how many members of staff were re-employed by another member as above

d) were those individuals required to give up their redundancy payments”

Please see information in relation to your request in Appendix A below.

 

If you feel that the information we have provided does not meet your request fully, please contact this office as soon as possible.  You have the right to request a formal review by the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission and if you wish to do so, please write to me at the above address.

If after such an internal review you are still unhappy with the response, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,  Cheshire SK9 5AF who will undertake an independent review.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.  Please remember to quote the reference number above. 

Yours sincerely

INFORMATION STANDARDS & DATA PROTECTION OFFICER

  

Appendix A

Between 1 Jan 2017 and 1 Jan 2020:

a) How many members of members’ staff were made redundant as a result of the Member resigning/losing their seat/retirement?

84 members of Members’ staff were made redundant in that period as a result of the Member resigning/losing their seat/or retirement.

 

b) How much money was spent on redundancy payments in total for all those staff?

The amount paid on statutory redundancy was £157,078.

 

c) What protocols were put in place to ensure that staff made redundant as a result of the conditions in (a) were not then re-employed by another Member

No such protocols exist.

Support staff costs may be recovered by Members under the provisions of the Assembly Members (Salaries and Expenses) Determination (Northern Ireland) 2016 (‘the Determination’).  Paragraphs 31-42 of the Determination not only set the quantum of the costs that may be recovered but also establish a number of general and specific criteria that must be met in order to avail of the funding.  Paragraph 33 states that the Commission will not pay and the Member is not entitled to recover any staff costs that breach a number of conditions including the requirement that “employees must be appointed on merit after having been identified by a fair and open competition”. 

Therefore, if a member of support staff is made redundant because a Member stands down or loses his/her seat, neither the Determination nor employment law precludes them from applying for employment with a different Member i.e. a different employer.  However, the recovery of costs for subsequent employment by a different Member can only be made if the member of support staff has been appointed on merit through fair and open competition.

 

d) How many members of staff were re-employed by another member as above?

13 individuals entered into new employment with a different Member following participation in a fair and open competition.

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