Nationalist parties at Belfast Council try to block privileges for British Army members

Nationalist parties have made another attempt to stop Belfast Council joining a scheme that gives special privileges to past and present members of the British Army.

This week Sinn Féin and the SDLP successfully blocked a decision to sign the Armed Forces Covenant at committee level at City Hall after an officer report at the local authority stated it was “a divisive issue” in the city, but ruled out the need for a full equality impact assessment.

Earlier this month Sinn Féin 'called-in' a vote which led to a council decision for Belfast to sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant. The original DUP motion which called for the signing of the covenant passed on a knife edge at City Hall due to a casting vote by the Alliance Lord Mayor.

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This week an attempt to get the covenant signing finally over the line failed after a vote which saw nationalists outnumber unionists and Alliance.

Council officials had come to the conclusion that while the covenant could be seen as “divisive” in the city, the decision by the full council to sign up to it would not require a full independent Equality Impact Assessment, which would involve a lengthy public consultation.

Officials noted that while the signing of the covenant required no further screening, any future decisions involving council money being spent on anything related to the signing of the covenant would face further equality screening.

The covenant sets out two principles. The first is that those who serve in the armed forces, whether regular or reserve or those who have served in the past and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. The second is that special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have been injured and bereaved.

The intention of the covenant specifically relates to issues around housing, education and healthcare. The Armed Forces Act 2006 is a UK wide Act which imposes a statutory duty upon specified bodies to have due regard to principles of the covenant.

At the committee meeting on Monday (January 27), a proposal by the DUP for the council to finally adopt the motion following an equality screening did not pass due to a larger number of nationalist elected members.

A report for the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee states: “The draft equality screening report concludes that the signing of the covenant is likely to have a minor impact on the basis of religious belief and political opinion on both the promotion of equality of opportunity grounds and good relations grounds.

“This is on the basis that the legacy of the conflict is still very much evident in some areas throughout Belfast and the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant may be a divisive issue.

“As such the decision has been screened out at this time. However any future decisions about resource allocation based on signing the covenant would require an updated screening exercise to be undertaken.”

At the committee meeting, DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting proposed again that the council sign up to the covenant following the equality screening. Nine councillors from Sinn Féin and the SDLP were against the proposal, while eight councillors from the DUP, Alliance and the UUP were in support of the proposal, while one Green councillor abstained.

The committee therefore could not pass the proposal to sign the covenant, and the matter will almost certainly again return to the full council where another knife edge vote is expected.

In December at committee level the DUP on its first attempt failed to get sufficient numbers to sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant due to resistance from Nationalist parties.

The party however succeeded during the full council meeting on January in the most contentious fashion. On a vote to support the Armed Forces Covenant, 27 voted in favour, from the DUP, Alliance, the UUP and the TUV, while 27 voted against the proposal, from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, and People Before Profit. Three Green councillors abstained.

As is the protocol in an evenly split chamber, the Lord Mayor gets the casting vote, in this case Alliance Councillor Micky Murray, who went with his party and supported the Armed Forces Covenant.

Sinn Féin however cried foul, stating one of their councillors, Councillor Áine McCabe, who was involved in the council meeting remotely, had not gotten the chance to vote due to technical difficulties. Her vote would have led to a refusal to sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant.

After legal advice from the City Solicitor Nora Largey, the vote was upheld. After a failure by the two Nationalist parties to stop the Strategic Policy and Resources Committees minutes being adopted, where the original vote on the Covenant took place, Sinn Féin said they would be “calling in” the decision.

Call-ins involve an independent legal examination, and have to be delivered to the Chief Executive within five working days of the publication of the draft minutes or decision register.

According to local government law, only 15 percent of a council is required to call-in a decision, setting off independent legal examination, a potential an equality impact assessment, then a redetermination of the decision.

If the call-in is seen as competent, it will go back to the full council, where the original proposal has to then pass an 80 percent threshold of the vote to be successful.

Councillors have to give reasons for any call-in, explaining why they believe the decision “was not arrived at after a proper consideration of the relevant facts and issues” and why they believe the decision “would disproportionately affect adversely any section of the inhabitants of the district.”

The council has not yet given a public update on this call-in.

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