Agenda item

            The Chief Executive submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

 

“1.0     Purpose of Report

 

1.1       The purpose of this report is to propose a special meeting of the SP&R Committee, to which all members are invited, in October to allow Members to agree the content of the more detailed Belfast Agenda for consultation and shape the content of the next Belfast City Council Corporate Plan.

 

1.2       The meeting will reflect on how the Council will lead and shape implementation of the priorities within the Belfast Agenda, consider how the Council can make its own direct contribution and discuss further opportunities to build on the work that it has undertaken to date with partners.

 

1.3       This report also sets out the key strategic planning work-streams that Members will lead in the coming months.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

 

·        Agree that a special meeting of the SP&R committee to which all members will be invited is held in October to consider the Belfast Agenda, consolidate the strategic direction of the council and shape the new Corporate Plan;

·        Note the proposed process and timeline for producing the new Corporate Plan;

·        Note the upcoming strategic planning activities which Members will lead in the coming months.

·        Agree to repeat the Belfast Residents’ Survey to inform the development of the Corporate Plan, baseline information for the Belfast Agenda and, obtain priorities for the Council’s improvement objectives.

 

3.0       Key Issues

 

3.1       The Strategic Policy and Resources Committee is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the Council through the development of its Corporate Plan and other key corporate and cross cutting strategies and policies. 

 

3.2       The Corporate Plan is a key governance and leadership document. It sets out what the council wants to achieve for the city and the key priority actions to make this happen.  It is an important part of the process of strategic planning and city advocacy which Members lead and which includes the development of the Belfast Agenda, the Local Development Plan and strategic engagement on key policy issues such as inclusive growth, city resilience and city-region growth.  It is important that the Corporate Plan captures this ambition, as well as Members’ on-going commitment to performance improvement, excellent service delivery and significant investment in the physical and social infrastructure of the city.

 

3.3       The Council is now entering a key phase of the strategic planning calendar when plans are reviewed and refreshed in order to inform priorities and decisions about resource allocation in the year ahead.  Therefore it is recommended that the Committee holds a special meeting during October in order to inform the development of a new Corporate Plan which would include the Council’s contribution to the Belfast Agenda and articulate how the Council will drive inclusive economic growth, both directly through its own services and investments and in partnership with others.    

 

3.4       In the months ahead, specific engagement with Members is being planned to help Members articulate how the Council will oversee the implementation of its strategy for the city, the city-region and the organisation.  It is intended that all these discussions will culminate in the creation of a robust Corporate Plan which will help the committee ensure that better outcomes are achieved for people and communities in Belfast. Further information on upcoming strategic planning engagement with Members is set out in the rest of this report.

 

3.5       The Corporate Plan

 

            Over the past two years, Members have been leading the development of the Belfast Agenda, which, when finalised, will become the key strategy for the City. During this interim period, Members elected to produce one-year Corporate Plans, which aligned the Council’s strategic objectives to the emerging outcomes and priorities of the Belfast Agenda.

 

3.6       As Members are aware it is intended that the detailed draft Belfast Agenda will be brought to the Committee in October with a view to being launched for consultation in November 2016 in order to formally publish the Plan in April 2017. Therefore, it is proposed that Members develop a longer term Corporate Plan, which would include the council’s contribution to the Belfast Agenda. 

 

3.7       Strategic planning processes are already underway which will inform the development of the Corporate Plan.  Committee Planning workshops are being agreed by the Council’s other standing committees and the Area Working Group workshops have been held to allow Members to consider priorities and improvement objectives at a more local level.

 

3.8      The rate-setting and strategic planning timetables have also been aligned so that Members are in a position to set cash limits for each Committee in January in the context of priorities for the year ahead.  An overview of the key milestones in the corporate planning process is set out below:

 

·        Area Working Group workshops (August – September 2016)

·        Committee workshops (October – December 2016);

·        Rates discussions with Members (October to January 2016)

·        Belfast Agenda consultation (November – January 2016)

·        First draft of Corporate Plan produced (January 2017);

·        Rate struck (February 2017);

·        Final draft Corporate Plan and Committee Plans presented to Council/Committee (April 2017).

 

3.9       Committee Plans

 

            For the information of Members, at its meeting on 14 September, members of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee agreed to hold a planning workshop in October/November to consolidate the strategic direction of the Committee and shape the new Corporate Plan and budgets for 2017/18. It is planned that a similar workshop will be held by the People and Communities Committee. 

 

3.10     The Belfast Agenda and the Local development Plan

 

            Members have played a leading role in shaping the Belfast Agenda to date and have ensured that its focus is on inclusive growth – driving forward the local economy whilst ensuring that interventions are made to connect as many people as possible to that growth.  The draft Belfast Agenda has been the subject of party briefings in August and the proposed draft document will be brought to the special Committee in October with a view to it being issued for broader consultation in November.  The report in October will also set out plans for engagement on the Belfast Agenda, including the role of Members. 

 

3.11     As Members are aware significant work is also underway to create the Local Development Plan which will shape the physical development of the city in future years.  It is intended that consultation related to the creation of the Local development Plan will also take place in the Autumn.  Officers are working to ensure that there is a joint approach to planning engagement on the Belfast Agenda and the Local Development Plan so that the public and other stakeholders get a coherent message about the purpose of these documents and we ensure there is not duplication or ‘ consultation overload’ for local people or Members.

 

3.12     Inclusive Growth and Resilience

 

            The concept of ‘inclusive growth’ has become an important issue both nationally and a city level. Broadly it can be described as a commitment by institutions to ensuring that all sections of society have equitable opportunities to reap the benefits during times of economic growth. This can include programmes that seek to support those furthest from the labour market into work by removing barriers to employment. Members explored how the concept could be incorporated into the Belfast Agenda at a June workshop led by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation who described how the approach was being adopted in Leeds and Manchester. The Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) are also currently conducting a major nationwide commission on inclusive growth – the findings of which are to be presented to the Government next February. The RSA have approached the Council offering to facilitate a roundtable discussion in Belfast next month on their preliminary findings. Once confirmed with the RSA further details will be shared with Members in the next few weeks.

 

3.13     Members will also note a separate paper at this month’s Committee with proposals for a conference on a Belfast Resilience strategy. The Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities framework process will allow city partners to develop a resilience strategy for the city which will focus on mitigating against the shocks and stresses that may affect the continued success and growth of the city.  This work will be aligned with our overall approach to the Belfast Agenda.

 

3.14     City-regional growth

 

            As Members will be aware the autumn will be a period of ongoing engagement with regional partners, local councils and government on the importance of city-regional growth with this process informing the priorities of both the Belfast Agenda and Corporate Plan.

 

3.15     Belfast Residents’ Survey

 

            As part of the consultation to develop the new Corporate Plan, it is recommended that the Belfast Residents’ Survey be repeated. The survey was last undertaken in September 2014 and the results are used for many purposes including: informing council priorities; performance management; inform community planning;

 

3.16     The information resulting from the Residents’ Survey will take on increasing importance due to the council’s community planning and performance improvement duties.  The survey instrument has the potential to baseline a number of Belfast Agenda indicators, providing indicative information at a District Electoral Area level – information that is simply not available from central government household surveys.  This will be of critical importance going forward, as we move towards monitoring the Belfast Agenda.  The new performance improvement duty further requires the council to set itself improvement objectives and provide evidence that supports the rationale for their selection. The Residents’ Survey results will provide a strong evidence base from which to agree the council’s improvement objectives.

 

3.17     Implementation

 

            Implementation of the corporate plan is supported by a suite of strategic and operational plans and programmes which include committee plans, strategic programme plans and plans at departmental and service level as appropriate. Implementation will be monitored and reported in accordance with the council’s performance management framework.

 

3.18     Resource Implications

 

            Costs for the implementation of the Council’s Corporate Plan 2017-21 will be factored into the budget estimates for 2017/18 and future years.  The cost of the residents’ survey will be no more than £30,000 and is within current budgets.

 

3.19     Equality Implications

 

            As part of the Belfast Agenda and corporate planning process, residents and other stakeholders will be consulted through the Belfast Residents’ Survey and other stakeholder engagement events. The Belfast Agenda and new Corporate Plan will also be subject to the normal screening processes. Equality and good relations implications of the key programmes and actions contained within the Corporate Plan will be subject to ongoing consideration under the Council’s commitments under the equality and good relations frameworks.”

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.