Coronavirus: Council pauses job cuts move amid pandemic

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council has deferred a decision to cut 46 of 73 jobs amid the Covid-19 crisis.

The remaining 27 posts, which are believed to be agency workers, will be axed, the BBC understands.

On Tuesday, the council had announced plans to cut agency and short-term workers , to balance the budget.

On Wednesday, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey urged councils to "exhaust all options to protect workers".

She said she shared councils' concerns about their ongoing financial sustainability.

'Urgent clarity'

On Thursday, the council called for "urgent clarity" about the access it would have to the government's job retention scheme.

"Given the predicted severe economic downturn, we are forecasting an unprecedented shortfall in the amount of rates which will be generated for the Council in the current financial year and beyond," said the council.

"This will impact on our ability to remain solvent and continue to deliver council services."

It noted it had a legal responsibility to remain financially solvent.

The employment of the 46 staff would be reviewed in two weeks, the council added.

Earlier, the chairwoman of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Siobhán Currie, said the council should be eligible to submit a claim under the government's job retention scheme.

Minister for Communities Deirdre Hargey said she shared councils' concerns about their ongoing financial sustainability

But there had been no definitive guidance from central government on the issue of furloughing options for councils, according to a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA).

The issue has highlighted confusion among some local councils in Northern Ireland over the issue of furloughing.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council said on Wednesday: "The UK-wide furlough scheme for staff, where the government will fund 80% of salaries if an organisation decides that certain staff will be temporarily laid off, is not expected to be used by local authorities unless certain specific situations apply.

"Even if we are eligible, it is likely that this will only cover a small percentage of the current budget gap."

The council said it needed to "immediately take action to balance our budget and help secure our long-term future".