McDonnell (Stuart) and Northern Area Health and Social Services Board
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Her Honour Judge Smyth |
| Judgment Date | 2009 |
| Neutral Citation | [2009] NICty 2 |
| Court | County Court (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 18 February 2009 |
Neutral Citation No.: [2009] NICty 2 Ref:
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
18/02/09
(subject to editorial corrections)
In the County Court for the Division of Antrim
Between:
Stuart MacDonnell Plaintiff
And
Northern Area Health and Social Services Board Defendant
Delivered on 18th February 2009
His Honour Judge Smyth
1. Mr McKee appeared for the Plaintiff and Mr Devlin for the defendant. The
court is grateful to both of them for their assistance and for their helpful
written arguments.
2. The Plaintiff is Chief Executive of the Northern Health and Social Services
Board and employed by the defendant as such since 29th July 1996. The letter
offering him this post and its schedule form the plaintiff’s contract of
employment. This case concerns “Performance Related Pay” (PRP) which is
dealt with by various circulars from the Department of Health and Social
Services. These are expressly referred to in a letter from the Defendant Board
dated 17th August 2001: “in addition to any annual pay awards, you will be
eligible for increases under the arrangements for performance related pay set
out in the relevant circulars.”
3. The circulars and the history of PRP, certainly at first sight, appear to be
complicated. It is also clear that various courts and tribunals have had to
consider pay-related issues between the senior and general managers of Trusts
and Boards and their employers. I only give a very limited history of this and,
at this stage, confine myself to the concept, status and history of PRP from its
introduction and as I find directly relevant to the questions I have to ask.
4. PRP was first introduced by Circular in 1989 but the Circular that directly
concerns this case is that of 1/91 headed “Performance-Related Pay for
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