| Northern Ireland |
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NI in the UK
NI in the EU
Local Government
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Northern Ireland is divided into 26 districts for local government purposes. In Northern Ireland local councils do not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom, for example they have no responsibility for education, for road building or for housing (though they do nominate members to the advisory Northern Ireland Housing Council). Their functions do include waste and recycling services, leisure and community services, building control and local economic and cultural development. They are not planning authorities, but are consulted on some planning applications. The collection of rates is handled by the Land and Property Services agency. The councils of the 26 districts are variously styled 'district councils', 'borough councils', 'city councils' and 'city and district councils'.
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The current pattern of local government in Northern Ireland, with 26 councils, was established in 1973 by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 and the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 to replace the previous system established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The system is based on the recommendations of the Macrory Report, of June 1970, which presupposed the continued existence of the Government of Northern Ireland to act as a regional-level authority.[1]
From 1921 to 1973, Northern Ireland was divided into six administrative counties (subdivided into urban and rural districts) and two county boroughs. The counties and county boroughs continue to exist for the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty.[2]
Councillors are elected for a four-year term of office under the single transferable vote (STV) system. Elections were last held in May 2005. The elections due in 2009 were postponed in anticipation of local government reform.[3] With the abandonment of the reorganisation, the elections were held in May 2011, with the next polls due in May 2015. In order to qualify for election, a councillor candidate must be:
In addition, he or she must either:
For local government purposes, Northern Ireland was previously divided into six administrative counties and two county boroughs, with various rural districts and urban districts in the counties. This system, with the abolition of rural districts, remains the model for local government in the Republic of Ireland. See: List of rural and urban districts in Northern Ireland for more details.
The districts are combined for various purposes.
There are currently five education and library boards (ELBs) in Northern Ireland.
As part of the Review of Public Administration process, the library functions of the ELBs were taken over by a new body, the Northern Ireland Library Authority (branded Libraries NI) in April 2009.[4]
The education and skills functions were to have been centralised into a single Education and Skills Authority in January 2010, but this has been postponed.[5][6]
The boards are as follows:
| Name | Area | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Belfast | ||
| 2. | North Eastern | Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Larne, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newtownabbey | |
| 3. | South Eastern | Ards, Castlereagh, Down, Lisburn and North Down | |
| 4. | Southern | Armagh, Banbridge, Cookstown, Craigavon, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Newry and Mourne | |
| 5. | Western | Derry, Fermanagh, Limavady, Omagh, Strabane |
There were four health and social services boards which were replaced by a single Health and Social Care Board in April 2009.[7]
The former health and social services boards were as follows:
| Name | Area | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Eastern | Ards, Belfast, Castlereagh, Down, Lisburn, North Down | |
| 2. | Northern | Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Cookstown, Larne, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newtownabbey | |
| 3. | Southern | Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Newry and Mourne | |
| 4. | Western | Derry, Fermanagh, Limavady, Omagh, Strabane |
In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), Northern Ireland is divided into five parts at level 3
| Name | Area | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Belfast | ||
| 2. | Outer Belfast | Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Lisburn, Newtownabbey, North Down | |
| 3. | East | Antrim, Ards, Ballymena, Banbridge, Craigavon, Down, Larne | |
| 4. | North | Ballymoney, Coleraine, Derry, Limavady, Moyle, Strabane | |
| 5. | West and South | Armagh, Cookstown, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Magherafelt, Newry and Mourne, Omagh |
In June 2002 the Northern Ireland Executive established a Review of Public Administration to review the arrangements for the accountability, development, administration and delivery of public services. Among its recommendations were a reduction in the number of districts.[8] In 2005 Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced proposals to reduce the number of councils to seven.[9] The names and boundaries of the seven districts were announced in March 2007.[10] In March 2008 the restored Northern Executive agreed to create eleven new councils instead of the original seven.[11][12][13] The first elections were due to take place in May 2011. However by May 2010 disagreements among parties in the executive over district boundaries were expected to delay the reforms until 2015.[14] In June 2010 the proposed reforms were abandoned following the failure of the Northern Ireland Executive to reach agreement.[15][16]
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