Peter Gray, who is standing as a Conservative candidate for Belfast City Council, said Nigel Williams' 1.9m budget was "soaking up" money that could be better spent on direct services for young people.
Gray's comments were backed up by David Lidington, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary and Conservative MP for Aylesbury. He said: "We have no plans whatsoever to abolish the commissioner, but like every other part of the public sector we would expect the commissioner to deliver good value for taxpayers' money." The commissioner's budget in Northern Ireland is 3.80 per young person aged under 19, compared with 2.11 in Wales and 98p in Scotland. In England, the budget is 24p for every 18-year-old.
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