Assembly staff facing redundancy

Assembly members have been told to prepare to make staff redundant

NI's assembly members have been told to prepare to make their office staff redundant should the assembly not be restored by 25 November.

Assembly members received letters from the Northern Ireland Office on Friday to notify them of the proposed cuts.

The letters said while the government hoped devolution would be restored, they had to ensure those affected by a cut of allowances had proper notice.

The move has been criticised by both nationalist and unionist politicians.

The DUP's Lagan Valley MP and assembly member Jeffrey Donaldson, who employs two assembly workers, said the decision was unfair.

"If the secretary of state is to remove assembly members salaries that's one thing, but denying their staff members salaries and closing down constituency offices is not the way to build a stable political process," he said.

The SDLP's North Belfast Assembly member Alban Maginness, who also employs two assembly workers, said: "My staff will have to go and get other employment.

'No surprise'

"It's not sufficient for the secretary of state to say 'make your own plans'.

"If you have no money, how can you make plans?"

A Northern Ireland Office spokesman said the announcement should come as "no surprise" to assembly members.

"When the government published its work plan (for restoring devolution) at the end of last month it made clear that it would be writing to MLAs to make them aware of their responsibilities to their employees in the event that devolution was not restored by 24 November.

"It is the government's firm hope that full devolution can and will be restored and that the arrangements detailed in the letter will not need to come into effect."

Devolution in Northern Ireland was suspended in 2002, but the British and Irish governments recalled the assembly in May with the aim of restoring power-sharing by November.