Derry and Strabane Council faces £6.5 million shortfall in revenue this year over Coronavirus
Derry City and Strabane District Council has already placed around 200 staff on furlough.
The council faces a financial loss of up to £6.5 million this year as a result of of Coronavirus.
Speaking at Communities Committee meeting, Mr Durkan called for urgent collaborative working from all relevant departments to provide clear answers to safeguard the future of local councils.
Said the Foyle MLA: “Local councils are an integral part of our society. Their importance has been underlined since the outset of this pandemic in terms of the support and co-ordination of community response schemes coming from local government.
“As such, councils must be commended for their efforts to date. They have been given the colossal task of navigating this crisis, redesigning local services and support schemes and essentially been left to second-guess guidance coming from the Executive.
“Local councils have had to operate within a vacuum, due to lack of leadership and mixed messaging, to anticipate and prepare for what services can be reinstated and when.
“The demands within our communities are growing and will continue to grow post-Covid; as local councils are best placed to respond to that need it is crucial that they have the resources to do so.
“They have been adding their own financial support to community organisations and that support will disappear as revenues dry up which could have massive implications.
“This issue threatens all areas of council services including but not limited to local festivals and events, sustaining leisure centres, the upkeep of parks and the provision of weekly bin collections.
“The reality is, if the Executive refuse to bailout local councils, it will have a devastating impact on all facets of daily life.
“In addition, it is utterly ridiculous that it took until May 1st before clarification was given on access to furlough for council workers. Had this information been provided earlier, vital savings could have been made.”
Mr Durkan added: “Frustratingly, there hasn’t been much collaborative working to date among departments.
“Having written to both the Minister for Communities and Minister for Finance last week on this very issue, I was dumbfounded by the response from the Finance department that this lay outside their remit.
“That is a bizarre response – a Finance Minister cannot pick and choose what is in their remit dependent on whether the news is good or bad.
“It is clear that local councils have been treated pretty shabbily.
“We need a joined-up approach not just from departments but also together with SOLACE NI and NILGA to spell out the implications for council jobs, services and the wider impact on society.
“No-one wants ordinary citizens to bear the brunt of this financially and in other ways, yet it is hard to imagine they won’t if there isn’t immediate and adequate intervention from the Executive.”
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