Agenda and minutes

Apologies were reported from Councillors Howard and Mullan.

            The minutes of the meeting of 10th December were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Shadow Council at its meeting on 6th January. 

            No declarations of interest were reported.

            (Mr. R. Cregan, Director of Finance and Resources, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Director of Finance and Resources provided the Committee with an update in relation to the establishment of the District Rate for 2015/2016, which would be considered by the Shadow Strategic Policy and Resources Committee at its meeting on 30th January.  He reported that the Northern Ireland Executive had committed a sum of £30million towards a rates convergence scheme, as part of Local Government Reform, and provided examples of how that scheme and the level of District and Regional rates would impact upon the ratepayer.

            He explained that, once the aforementioned Committee had agreed the District Rate for the year, information would be published within the next edition of City Matters, on the Council’s website and on rates bills and Members would be provided with details on how the rates would impact upon their constituents.

            The Chief Executive outlined a number of decisions which were still to be made regarding, for example, the future of the Belfast Investment Fund and the Local Investment Funds and that discussions would take place around the feasibility of making funding available for holding festivals and events in those areas which would, from 1st April, 2015, be moving into the Belfast City boundary area.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.    Purpose of report

1.1    The purpose of this report is to update Members on the key findings from the Belfast Resident Survey and to outline next steps in terms of how the data will be used and reported.  

2.      Background

2.1    Earlier this year, Members agreed to undertake a resident survey to help inform the development of the new Belfast corporate plan and the new community plan for Belfast.  The survey helps the Council fulfil its duty to consult under the Local Government (NI) Act 2014 as it provides reliable resident perception data to inform strategic planning and performance management.  The information gathered from the survey, together with other evidence and data, will be used to help set the future strategic direction of the Council and to inform community planning priorities.   Information about the approach taken and some of the key findings are set out in this report. 

         Methodology

2.2    The survey was carried out by Social Market Research, who were appointed following a quotation process to ensure independence and to provide expert assurance regarding the statistical validity and reliability of the data.  As with previous exercises, the survey was based on a representative sample of residents and carried out via face-to-face interviews conducted in the home.  1500 people over the age of sixteen were interviewed across the new Belfast district council boundary; all new DEAs and electoral wards covered with quotas set to ensure proportionality and representativeness.

         The fieldwork was carried out between 20th August and 25th September 2014 and sought feedback from residents on the following matters:

·        Priorities for Improving Belfast

·        Living in Belfast

·        Your Local Area

·        Your Wellbeing

·        Belfast City Council Performance (current ratepayers only)

2.3    The priority questions were also put on the council website to give everyone in Belfast an opportunity to provide their views and contribute to the development of the priorities.   In total 266 responses were received on-line.  Key findings from this survey are also reported below. 

2.4    It should also be noted that the questions relating to council performance were adjusted so that only current Belfast ratepayers were asked their opinion, as until April 2015 those living in areas transferring to Belfast will not have received direct services from BCC and therefore would be unable to answer these questions.

         Key Findings

         Priorities for Improving Belfast

2.5    When asked to prioritise the following 5 themes, respondents to both the resident survey and the on-line survey put them in the following order:  

1.     A Strong Economy

2.     Supporting People and Communities    

3.     Good City Leadership    

4.     Providing value for money services

5.     A Better Environment

2.6    To help inform the development of the community plan for Belfast, respondents were asked to select, from a list, the top three things which they felt would make the most difference to improving the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of Belfast.  The following tables show the top priorities for each theme:   

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1        Relevant Background Information

1.1      This report outlines for Members an approach for establishing the city’s first community plan - the ‘Belfast Agenda’. The paper describes the approach to strategic design; stakeholder inclusion; and outlines the likely engagement processes and interim governance structures that are required to ensure endorsement of the Agenda by Members and our community planning partners by December, 2015.

1.2      Following agreement by Members and our partners, the Belfast Agenda will set out a vision for our city in 2030 and establish a series of related quality of life outcomes for our citizens which will, in effect, constitute the shared long-term strategic plan for the city and its partners. The Agenda will also identify medium term priorities that the Council and its partners are committing to over the next four years if we are to make progress towards achieving our stated long term outcomes.

1.3      There already is a substantial body of evidence, and initial feedback from Members and partners, about what our priorities might be – with a strong emphasis on the need to secure sustainable economic growth for the city as a central driver for achieving longer term outcomes for residents. This emphasis has been supported by our initial engagement; ongoing analysis of the socio-economic data; our analysis of our partners’ plans and strategies; and in feedback from our residents via our recent survey.

1.4      A key aim of the Belfast Agenda will be to turn emerging consensus on the city’s priorities into a series of firm medium term commitments by government departments, agencies, and other relevant stakeholders over the next four years.

1.5      The objectives of this report is to outline for Members consideration a programme of work that will ensure that by December 2015 we have an action-orientated Belfast Agenda that builds on practice, experience and the substantial body of strategic thinking that already exists in the city. At the same time the programme will ensure that we fulfil our statutory obligations as Belfast’s lead community planning partner such as engaging with our partners and residents on the long term vision and outcomes for the city.

1.6      We have an opportunity to be creative and pragmatic in our approach to community planning in ways that allow us to begin to quickly address a number of the city’s key priorities.

2          Key Issues

2.1      The key elements relating to the programme are outlined in the following sections:

1.     What are our community planning obligations?

2.     Our approach to design the Belfast Agenda

3.     The approach to strategic design and engagement

4.     Design of governance structures

5.     Timeline

6.     Initiatives supporting the development of the Agenda

            (1) What are our community planning obligations?

2.2      The following is a brief summary of the obligations as described in the draft community planning guidance which is currently out for public consultation. From April 2015 the Council will have a statutory obligation to bring together its partners in the city to lead  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.