Cllr Frances Burton, President, Northern Ireland Local Government Association
Responding to Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey MLA’s announcement in the Assembly this morning that the Executive has allocated funding of £20.3m to local government in Northern Ireland, NILGA President Cllr. Frances Burton said:
"This is welcome funding which will help alleviate some immediate pressures across our 11 local councils. Working with all councils, NILGA and chief officers have outlined the income annihilation that local government has suffered and will suffer solely due to Covid-19. The pressures on councils right now are huge and mounting daily.
“We will work with Stormont to ensure that this funding is allocated swiftly. NILGA sees this as the first in a range of substantial funding measures which will help sustain essential council services for those in greatest need, thereby protecting frontline public services.
“This funding gives hope, not just for institutions like councils, but for the many partners that councils work with, to serve the community in the new Northern Ireland that must emerge out of Covid-19. Ultimately this is about caring for our community. We owe it to all those who are sacrificing so much, so selflessly.
“With a longer-term financial package to be worked on for our councils, we reiterate our message that we will put citizens first and join with Stormont and national government to get our country safe and back to work again.”