NORTHERN IRELAND ACT 1998

The Northern Ireland Assembly (Members' Allowances) Determination 1999

Interpretation

1. (1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to this Determination as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

    (2) In this Determination:-

        "the Act" means the Northern Ireland Act 1998;

        "Member" means a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly; and;

        "year" means any period of 12 months starting on 1 April.

     (3) In this Determination, "Assembly duties" in relation to any Member means the undertaking of any task or function which he may reasonably be expected to carry out in his capacity as a member of the Assembly including:-

        (a) attending a meeting of the Assembly;

        (b) attending a meeting of a committee or sub-committee of the Assembly of which he is a Member or which he is required to attend by virtue of the fact that he has responsibility for a Bill or other matter under consideration by the committee or sub-committee or for any other valid reason relating only to the business of the committee or sub-committee;

        (c) undertaking research or administrative functions which relate directly to the business of the Assembly.

        (d) attending meetings for the purpose of representing electors in Northern Ireland including meetings with a constituent or constituents;

        (e) attending, with the approval of the Assembly Commission, any ceremony or official function or national or international conference as a representative of the Assembly.

        but does not include a Member's activities which relate wholly or mainly to that Member's role as a Party spokesperson or representative.

    (4) In this Determination, other expressions which are also used in the Act shall have the same meaning as in that Act.

Allowances

2. The allowances payable to any Member under section 47(2) of the Act shall be those specified in the Schedule.

Article 2

Travel Allowance - Members

1. (1) An allowance, calculated in accordance with the following sub-paragraphs, in respect of travel by the Member within Northern Ireland or between Northern Ireland and any other place which is necessarily undertaken by him in carrying out his Assembly duties.

    (2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3) the allowance referred to in paragraph (1) shall be the amount equal to the aggregate of the following sums:-

         (a) where the Member has travelled by rail, omnibus, aircraft or any vessel, the cost of the fare of those journeys;

        (b) where the Member has travelled by private motor vehicle, including a motor cycle, 51·2 pence for every mile of those journeys not exceeding 20,000 miles in any year and 23·6 pence for every mile exceeding that distance in the same year travelled by the Member in question;

        (c) where the Member has travelled by hire car, 51·2 pence for every mile of those journeys;

        (d) where the Member has travelled by taxi, the cost of the fares of those journeys;

        (e) where the Member has travelled by pedal cycle, 6·5 pence for every mile of those journeys.

    (3) An amount shall only be payable in pursuance of sub-paragraph (2)(c) or (d) in respect of any journey where the use of the hire car or taxi for such journey is necessary for reasons of urgency or because it is not practicable to use any means of transport referred to in paragraph (2)(a).

    (4) In this paragraph:-

        "aircraft" means any aircraft used for carrying passengers on predetermined routes at separate fares;

        "motor cycle" means any mechanically propelled vehicle with two wheels;

        "hire car" means any motor vehicle, leased or hired by a member for the purpose of one or more particular journeys;

        "omnibus" means any motor vehicle used for carrying passengers on predetermined routes at separate fares;

        "private" in relation to a motor vehicle used by a member for a journey means owned by the Member or a member of his family and for this purpose a vehicle is owned by a person where it is leased or hired by that person under a hire purchase or similar agreement;

        "vessel" means any vessel, including a hovercraft, used for carrying passengers on predetermined routes at separate fares.

Subsistence Allowance

2. (1) An allowance calculated in accordance with the following sub-paragraphs in respect of living expenses incurred by a Member in connection with any travel to which paragraph 1 and which necessarily involves an overnight stay at a place away from the Member's normal place of residence.

    (2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3) the allowance referred to in paragraph (1) shall be an amount equal to

        (a) the sum of £18.30 in respect of meals and other living expense for each night of an overnight stay;

        (b) where the overnight stay is in a hotel or similar accommodation in the United Kingdom, the cost of that stay on a bed and breakfast basis, up to a maximum of:

            (i) £100 per night in the Greater London area;

            (ii) £80 per night in any other part of the United Kingdom;

        (c) where the overnight stay is in an hotel outside the United Kingdom, an amount calculated in accordance with the rates set out in Worldwide Subsistence Rates published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in May 1999.

    (3) A member is not eligible for an allowance under this paragraph in connection with Assembly duties within his constituency.

Office Costs Allowance

3. (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) an allowance equal to the expenses incurred by the Member on research, secretarial, clerical or administrative assistance (including the provision of any equipment, facilities or services associated therewith) required by the Member in connection with the carrying out of his Assembly duties.

    (2) The allowance payable to any Member under paragraph (1) shall not exceed £34,850 in any year.

Disability Allowance

4. An allowance up to a maximum of £10,000 per session equal to the increased costs reasonably incurred by any Assembly Member in carrying out his Assembly duties where those costs are wholly or mainly attributable to any disability from which the Member suffers.

Recall Expenses

5. An allowance equal to the costs reasonably incurred by any Member which are wholly attributable to his attendance at the Assembly during any recall of the Assembly which takes place during a recess.

Travel Allowance - Employees

6. (1) An allowance calculated in accordance with the following sub-paragraphs in respect of the cost of a Member of meeting the expenses incurred by any of his employees in travelling by rail, omnibus or private car to or from Parliament Buildings in Belfast in connection with that employee's employment by the Member.

    (2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), the allowance referred to in sub-paragraph (1) shall be an amount equal

        (a) in the case of journeys by rail or omnibus to the cost of the fares of those journeys;

        (b) in the case of journeys by private motor vehicle, including a motor cycle, amounts calculated in accordance with authorised mileage rates payable to established Civil Servants as published in the Northern Ireland Civil Service Staff Handbook.

    (3) An allowance shall not be payable under this paragraph in respect of more than an aggregate of 18 single journeys in any year by all the employees of the Member concerned.

    (4) In this paragraph:-

        (a) "employee" in relation to a Member means any person whose salary is paid wholly or mainly out of an allowance payable to the Member under paragraph 3; and

        (b) other expressions which are also used in paragraph 1 shall have the same meanings as in that paragraph.

Staff Pensions and Redundancies

7. (1) In addition to any allowance payable under paragraph 3, an allowance calculated in accordance with the following sub-paragraphs to defray the expense to any Member in making:

        (a) a contribution towards the pension of any person employed by him; and

        (b) redundancy payments to any person.

    (2) In each year the amount of the allowance paid to any member under sub-paragraph (1)(a) shall be:

        (a) 10 per cent of the amount paid by way of salaries out of the allowance paid to that Member in the year under paragraph 3; or

        (b) the actual cost to the Member of making the contributions concerned,

        whichever is the less.

    (3) In each year the amount of the allowance paid to any member under sub-paragraph (1)(b) shall be the actual cost to the Member of meeting statutory redundancy payments.

    (4) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (3), "statutory redundancy payments" in relation to any Member means the redundancy payments which the Member, as an employer, is required to make to any person under a statutory provision for the time-being in force in Northern Ireland.

Temporary Secretarial Allowance

8. An allowance in any year of the cost to the Member of temporarily employing a person to replace a permanent employee where:

    (a) that employee is absent from work by reason of illness or maternity leave for a continuous period of at least four weeks;

    (b) that employee continues to be paid a salary by the Member during that period;

    (c) the cost of the replacement for that employee would mean that the allowance payable to the Member for the year in question under paragraph 3 would be exceeded.