§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what power sharing arrangements have been adopted for the appointment of mayor, deputy mayor and committee chairs in each district council area. [166780]
§ Angela SmithThere are a number of formal and informal power sharing arrangements operated by district councils for the appointment of mayor, deputy mayor and committee chairs. These include proportionality systems such as the D'Hondt system, the rotation of posts or a combination of these. The following table is based on information provided to the Department of the Environment by district councils and shows for each district council whether power sharing arrangements are in place.
575W
District council1 Mayor Deputy mayor Committee chair Antrim BC Formal (Rotation) Informal (Rotation) Informal (Rotation) Ards BC Information unavailable Information unavailable Information unavailable Armagh C and DC Information unavailable Information unavailable Information unavailable Ballymena BC Informal (Power Sharing by Unionist parties) Informal (Power Sharing by Unionist parties) Informal (Power Sharing by all parties) Ballymoney BC None None None Banbridge DC Formal (Proportionality) Formal (Proportionality) Formal (Proportionality) Belfast CC No formal arrangement No formal arrangement Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Carrickfergus BC Information unavailable Information unavailable Information unavailable Castlereagh BC None None None Coleraine BC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Cookstown DC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Rotation) Formal (Rotation) Craigavon BC None None None Derry CC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Down DC Information unavailable Information unavailable Information unavailable Dungannon and ST BC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Fermanagh DC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Lame BC Informal (Power Sharing) Informal (Power Sharing) Informal (Power Sharing) Limavady BC Formal (Power Sharing) Formal (Power Sharing) Formal (Power Sharing) Lisburn BC None None None Magherafelt DC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) None None Moyle DC Formal (Rotation) Formal (Rotation) 2n/a Newry and Mourne DC Formal (Mix of Proportionality and D'Hondt) Formal (Mix of Proportionality and D'Hondt) Formal (Mix of Proportionality and D'Hondt) Newtownabbey BC Informal (Based on party strengths) Informal (Based on party strengths) Informal (Based on party strengths) North Down BC None None None Omagh DC Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Formal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Strabane DC Informal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Informal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) Informal (Proportionality—D'Hondt) 1A number of councils have not been able to respond in the time available. 2Moyle District Council does not operate a committee system.