Councillors

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The Council is made up of 23 Councillors, each representing one of four District Electoral Areas (DEAs) in the Borough:

Newtownards
Ards East (includes the eastern part of Newtownards town, Millisle and Donaghadee)
Ards West (includes Comber, Ballygowan, Killinchy and Lisbane)
Ards Peninsula (includes the towns and villages on the Ards Peninsula, such as Greyabbey, Kircubbin, Portaferry, Portavogie, Ballyhalbert and Ballywalter)

The last local government elections were held in 2005 (see below to view or download a breakdown of the 2005 election results) and the current political make up of the Council is as follows:

Party political makeup

Each year in June, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are appointed at the Council's Annual General Meeting. The Mayor is the Chairman of Council meetings and, as the first citizen of the Borough, performs ceremonial duties and plays a key role in promoting the Borough and welcoming visiting dignitaries.

Council officers, led by the Chief Executive (Ashley Boreland), manage the day-to-day running of the Council in accordance with the policy laid down by the Council members. Service delivery is provided by five Departments : the Chief Executive's Department, Corporate Services Department, Development Department, Environmental Services Department and Leisure Services Department.

Councillors' Allowances

Councillors do not get paid a salary for serving on the Council, but rather receive allowances.

Each Councillor currently receives a Basic Allowance of £9,500 per annum, while those who are Chairmen of the Council's Standing Committees, as well as the Risk Management & Audit Committee, also receive a Special Responsibility Allowance of £150 per meeting.

The Committees where a Special Responsibility Allowance is payable are:

External Affairs & Planning (Maximum of 11 meetings paid)

Policy & Resources (Maximum of 12 meetings paid)

Development (Maximum of 9 meetings paid)

Council Services (Maximum of 10 meetings paid)

Risk Management & Audit (Maximum of 4 meetings paid)

Where a Councillor is elected to represent the Council on an external Committee and is the Chairperson of that committee, an allowance of £100 per meeting is paid. An additional responsibility allowance of £50 per meeting is also payable for a Councillor who is a member of an outside body.

In addition, those Councillors who are elected to serve as Mayor and Deputy Mayor also receive special allowances to enable them to carry out their roles. These allowances would be used, for example, when hosting events and receptions to recognise the work or achievements of local groups.

The Mayor's Allowance is currently £11,033.15 per annum

The Deputy Mayor's Allowance is currently £3,677.71 per annum

Elected Members are also entitled to claim a Dependants' Carers' Allowance, as follows:

Standard Care £ 5.73 per hour/£149.00 per month
Specialised Care £ 11.46 per hour/£298.00 per month

Maximum payments per Member, per month, shall not exceed £298.00. No Councillors on Ards Borough Council currently claim a Dependents' Carers' Allowance.

Councillors are also entitled to Travelling Allowances, which reimburses mileage undertaken while on Council business.

Current mileage rates are as follows:

450cc - 999cc 42.90p per mile

1,000cc - 1,199cc 46.90p per mile

> 1,200cc 58.70p per mile

These rates apply for the first 8,500 miles.

Councillor-related payments can be viewed and downloaded here.

	May 2005 Local Election Results
	Councillor-related payments 2009-10
	Councillor attendance 2009-10
	Councillor-related payments & attendance 2008-09
	Councillor-related payments 2007-08.pdf
	register of elected members interests, 2009-2010