Agenda item

            The Director of Property and Projects submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1To update Members on a number of area related issues for Members’ consideration.

2.0Recommendations

2.1The Committee is asked to:

      AWG minutes

·        Approve the most recent round AWG Minutes from the North/South/East and West AWGs as circulated.

      Local Investment Fund

·        Agree the recommendations from the West AWG in relation to LIF funding (Section 3.2) and note the LIF allocations as recommended by the East AWGs following the update to Committee in August (Section 3.3)

·        Note that an additional project (ELIF2-16) has been scored (Section 3.5) and has met the minimum threshold and agree that this is progressed to due-diligence.

      Belfast Investment Fund

·        Note that there is a separate report on the agenda for discussion today in relation to BIF.

3.0Main report

      KEY ISSUES

3.1AREA WORKING GROUP UPDATES

      Members agreed in June that the Area Working Group minutes would be taken into the SP&R Committee for approval going forward in line with the Council’s commitment to openness and transparency and to ensure a consistency in approach to the other Member-led Working Groups (e.g. Diversity Working Group, Shared City Partnership). Members are asked to approve the most recent round of AWG Minutes (North – 24th August; West – 25th August and East – 15th September) which are attached at Appendix 1.

3.2WEST AWG

      The West AWG at its meeting on 25th August, made the following recommendations for the consideration of the SP&R Committee in relation to their LIF. These amounts are from a re-allocation of WLIF2-09 Highfield Soft Play which Committee was previously advised was no longer being taken forward.

      EAST AWG

3.3LIF2 Recommendations - The East AWG at its meeting on 4th August (minutes approved 19th August) were updated that they had a remaining balance of £330,700 in their LIF2 Budget and that six projects were still under review - the total costs of which slightly exceeded the budget remaining.  It was highlighted to the officers had identified a number of options to facilitate the Members in reaching a decision regarding the allocation of the remaining LIF2 budget

-       Option A: To fund all projects except Dock Cafe (due to a security of tenure issue)

-       Option B: To fund all projects at (an equal) reduced level

      The East AWG requested that the Director of Property and Projects seek legal advice on whether it would be possible for the Council to provide funding for the Dock Cafe proposal and investigate whether it was likely to pass due diligence and that in the event that the legal opinion indicates that the Dock Cafe proposal does pass the requirements of due diligence, to go with Option B (i.e. to fund all projects at an equal reduced level)

      The Director of Property & Projects verbally updated the Committee last month that, following discussions, the Due Diligence Group had agreed in principle that the Dock Cafe project would receive DD approval on the security of tenure issue subject to a number of conditions and that therefore Option B could be taken forward.  Members are therefore asked to note the funding allocations for the following projects in relation to LIF -  

3.4Members are asked to note that all the above projects have been scored and have successfully met the minimum threshold and it is recommended that these projects now proceed to the Due Diligence stage of the LIF process.

      Projects recommended to proceed to due-diligence

3.5In addition Members are asked to note that an additional project (ELIF2-16 – Palmerston Residential Care Home) has been scored and has met the minimum threshold and agree that this is progressed to due-diligence.

3.6Financial and Resource Implications

·        Financial – £5m has been assigned to LIF 1 and £4m has been assigned to LIF2. 

·        Resource - Officers time to deliver projects.  

3.7Equality or Good Relations Implications

      LIF has been equality screened.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendations, subject to the ommision of project number WLIF2-17 North Belfast Working Men’s Club which was referred back to the West Area Group for further consideration.