Agenda and minutes

An apology for inability to attend was reported from Councillor Lyons.

The minutes of the meeting of 15th April were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 9th May, subject to the omission of those matters in respect of which the Council had delegated its powers to the Committee.

            No declarations of interest were recorded.

            The information contained in the reports associated with the following three item is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

      Resolved – That the Committee agrees to exclude the members of the Press and public from the meeting during discussion of the following three items as, due to the nature of the items, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Section 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

The Committee noted the contents of a report which provided an update on progress in relation to the City Hall reopening and recovery.

            During discussion, several Members requested that consideration be given to full in-person attendance at meetings of the full Council instead of the proportionality arrangements currently in place, with a view to this commencing at the Annual Meeting to held on 1st June.

            In response, the Deputy Chief Executive advised that the Return to the Office Management Trade Union Working Group would be meeting early the following week and he would relay the Committee’s view and advise the Members of the outcome as soon as practicable.

The Committee considered a report which provided an update on the proposal to develop an application for Levelling Up Round 2 Funding (LUF) in respect of 2 Royal Avenue and to seek its approval to do so following discussion at last month’s meeting.

            The report also provided an update on the scale of the Physical Programme currently underway across the City, together with an overview of key Regeneration projects and an update on current funding opportunities available to the Council, noting that officers would be designing a pipeline of projects for these future funding opportunities to ensure that the Council would be able to put forward relevant projects for funding which were in a state of readiness and aligned with strategic priorities.

            After discussion, the Committee:

                   i          noted the further information provided on the scale of the current physical programme, key regeneration projects and proposals regarding working up a future pipeline of projects;

                  ii          in light of this and, given the tight timescales for the LUF Round 2 applications, granted approval for officers to develop a bid in relation to the future use of 2 Royal Avenue, with further updates to be brought back to the Committee as required;

                 iii          noted the update in respect of requests for support for other Groups and private sector led bids under LUF, including the change in the funding criteria in respect of capital delivery and that clarification was being sought from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHUC) on the implications of this for the Council. Given that, the Committee agreed that all such requests should be brought back to a Special meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for consideration in terms of endorsement for other applications once formal requests and clarification on the implications for Council has been received; 

                iv          agreed to accept an invitation from the Inclusive Growth Network for a Political leader to participate in a panel event relating to Levelling Up in the devolved nations on 22nd June 2022 and authorised the incoming Lord Mayor to attend the event and, if not available, that the incoming Committee Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson attend;

                  v          noted the update in relation to the Shared Island Local Authority Development Funding Scheme; and

                vi          noted the plan to develop, through discussion with Party Group Leaders, a pipeline of projects to ensure the Council can access future funding opportunities in line with our strategic priorities.

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1             The purpose of this report is to update Committee on the progress of all motions for which the SP and R Committee is responsible.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        note the updates on all motions that the Committee is responsible for; and

·        agree to the closure of motions 13,17, 18, 34, 82, 115, 193, 216, 220, 221, 223, 227, 230, 231, 238, 240, 246, 249 and 250, as referenced in the attached appendix and in paragraph 3.4 below.

3.0       Main Report

            Background

            At the SP and R Committee meeting on 25th October 2019, the following motion was agreed:

            ‘This Council notes that other Councils produce a monthly status report in relation to motions; and agrees Belfast City Council adopts a similar practice and produces a monthly motion update which will be brought to each full Council Meeting, detailing the following:

1.      Date received

2.      motion title

3.      Submitted by which Councillor

4.      Council meeting date

5.      Committee motion is referred to

6.      Outcome of Committee where the motion will be debated

7.      Month it will be reported back to committee

8.      Other action to be taken.’

            Following a review exercise, a new database containing all motions and Issues Raised in Advance at Committee was created and quarterly reporting to Committee commenced in March 2021.  The latest quarterly update showing all active motions and Issues Raised in Advance for which the SP and R Committee is responsible is attached.

            Closure of Motions and Issues Raised in Advance

3.3       At the SP and R Committee meeting on 20th November 2020, it was agreed that motions could be closed for one of two reasons:

·        motions which contained an action(s) that has been completed; and

·        motion which have become Council policy. 

3.4       The Committee is asked to agree that the following 19 motions be closed:

            Category 1 Recommended Closures:

·        Social Investment Fund (Ref no 13) –This motion called for the recommendations of the SIF Audit to be taken forward. The learnings from this audit and ensuring compliance with OBA principles are now embedded into the new Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund programme. Therefore, it is recommended that this motion is now closed.

·        Dog Friendly Policies (Ref no 17) – This motion called for the Council to make its public properties dog friendly. The Council’s current policy is that we do not allow dogs that are not guide dogs into our facilities (both staff and public facilities). There is no written policy after that. To make all council properties ‘dog friendly’ would be a significant policy change with health and safety, hygiene, insurance and liability and facility upgrade implications. It is recommended that the current policy in respect of guide dogs be continued due to the reasons outlined.

·        Feasibility Support Fund for each AWG (Ref no 18) – a framework is being agreed around NRF and feasibility support is incorporated into the project proposal development process. This  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3a

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1       To consider a response to a motion on Proposed Cuts in Higher Education which was passed by the Council at its meeting on 1st February.

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       The Committee is asked to note the responses and take such action thereon as may be determined.

3.0       Main Report

            Key Issues

3.1       The Council, at its meeting on 1st February, passed the following motion, which had been proposed by Councillor Ferguson and seconded by Councillor Matt Collins:

            ‘This Council notes with alarm the budget cut proposals put forward by the Department for the Economy to reduce university places, massively increase tuition fees, slash student financial support, cut the number of apprentices, and reduce or end the Educational Maintenance Allowance.

            The Council supports an end to tuition fees and an increase in the Educational Maintenance Allowance and student financial support. The Council agrees that these proposed actions and cuts are completely unacceptable, especially at a time when students across the city are already struggling to make ends meet. As noted by the NUS-USI, these cuts ‘have the potential to decimate the hopes and opportunities of an entire generation’ and could take away ‘their ability to survive day to day, and many will simply drop out of education’.

            Therefore, the Council considers the proposals to constitute an unacceptable attack on students, young people, their futures and our education provision; and stands in solidarity with demands from the NUS-USI to oppose these cuts.

            The Council will write to the Economy Minister to express its anger and opposition to these proposals and to encourage the Minister to abandon them. In that letter, the Council will invite the Minister to a meeting with Councillors and representatives of the student population, in order to fully understand and appreciate the breadth of our concerns and the danger his proposals present.

            The Council calls on the wider Stormont Executive to refuse to give consent to these proposals and cuts and to take all necessary action to defend student places, student financial assistance, apprenticeships, the Educational Maintenance Allowance and to oppose any increase in the cost of student tuition. Accordingly, the Council will write to each Executive Minister to this effect.

            The Council also calls on the Finance Minister to work with the Minister for the Economy to find a sustainable solution to funding issues within the higher and further education sectors. The Council considers it utterly unacceptable that young people in our city should be made to pay the price for budgetary pressures and include in our letter to the Minister for Finance a demand that funding is found to secure the future for young people.

            This Council recognises that many of these proposed budget cuts are as a result of the loss of EU funds due to Brexit.

            Finally, the Council recognises the role of Westminster budgets in creating difficulties for public spending locally and agrees to write to the treasury  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3b

The Committee was advised that the Department for Infrastructure had, on 11th March, published a consultation on policies relating to water, flooding and sustainable drainage which were being considered for future amendments to primary legislation. A copy of the consultation document can be found here. The closing date for responses was 3rd June, 2022.

            There were nine topics included within the consultation, which covered a range of proposed new or amended powers for the Department and NI Water. The topics being consulted upon were:

           i        Powers for NI Water to implement wider water shortage measures;

          ii        Powers for NI Water to enter onto private land to carry out works, for flood risk management purposes including construction of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS);

         iii        Provision of an enabling power for the Department to introduce arrangements to encourage developers to use sustainable drainage systems (SuDs) as the preferred drainage solution in new developments;

         iv        Powers for NI Water to adopt certain drainage infrastructure, which is in private ownership and was constructed prior to 1st October 1973;

          v        Enhanced powers for NI Water to deal with drain and sewer misconnections;

         vi        Power for NI Water to register Article 161 Agreements in the Statutory Charges Register;

        vii        Powers for the Department to grant fund Homeowner Flood Protection measures;

      viii        Powers to provide for easements and additional compensation arrangements for affected landowners to facilitate flood storage; and

         ix        Technical amendments to enable future amendment of subordinate legislation - Powers for the Department to amend, update or revoke the Drainage (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017 and the Water Environment (Floods Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009.

            Council officers had collated a draft response to the consultation and this was attached to the report and be found on the Council’s website here.

            In summary, the response that the Council would, in principle, support the suggested changes and, where appropriate, outlined where it believed further clarification was required.

The Committee approved the draft response.

The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 20th August 2021, it had approved the establishment of a funding agreement with the Woodland Trust to the value of £45,000 for the service of volunteer coordination, community outreach and support for PR and communication for the Belfast One Million Trees Programme.

Subsequently, discussions had taken place between the Belfast One Million Trees delivery partners, namely, the Council, Belfast Hills Partnership and the Woodland Trust, which had resulted in a request for a variation, and that the funding agreement be made with Belfast Hills Partnership rather than with the Woodland Trust.

The Belfast Hills Partnership had acted as the primary support for the Council’s Climate Unit in the delivery of the Belfast One Million Trees Programme. The Council would remain the co-ordinating body and continue to lead the programme, act on behalf of the city steering group, and lead on funding and the administration of the programme.

            The Committee approved the amendment to the funding agreement to reflect that the Council would now work with Belfast Hills Partnership to deliver engagement and communication support services for the Belfast One Million Trees Programme.

The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1       The purpose of this report is to present to the Committee an update on the development of a Corporate Performance Management Framework and how this relates to measuring city-wide performance for the refreshed Belfast Agenda. 

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to note the update, including the commitment to bring forward regular performance update reports for consideration.

3.0       Main Report

            Key Issues

3.1       Members are reminded that, within the Corporate Plan, there is a strategic priority around the development of a Corporate Performance Management Framework and that in the recently agreed delivery plan for 2022-23 the key deliverables are:

§  review performance management framework;

§  procure external support to review planning and performance framework;

§  ensure that oversight arrangements are in place to provide assurance on our corporate deliverables at Executive and political levels; and

§  scope and develop performance dashboards in line with review of the performance management framework.

3.2       The purpose of this report is to update the Committee on some of the work that is currently ongoing on relation to corporate performance management and the steps being taken to further enhance the approach to measuring the impact of the Belfast Agenda and the underpinning action plans on the city and communities.

            Corporate Plan Reporting

3.3       Members are reminded that there is reporting mechanism in place for the Corporate Plan and that a year-end report on the 2021-22 Corporate Delivery Plan will be brought to the June meeting of this Committee.  It has been agreed that a 6-monthly update on the 2022-23 Delivery Plan will be brought to Committee, in addition to the year-end report. We would anticipate that the 6-monthly report would be brought to this Committee in November 2022 and the year-end report in June, 2023.

3.4       As part of this cycle annual Committee Plans are also developed and regular updates on progress are brought to the relevant Committee.  It is anticipated that the Committee Plans for 2022/23 will be brought to the relevant Committees next month.

            Improvement Plan

3.5       As a Council, we must publish an annual improvement plan that sets out our improvement actions for the year ahead. This is a legal obligation referred to as our Duty to Improve.  We are currently finalising our Improvement Plan 2022/23 and this will be brought to the June meeting of this Committee for consideration and approval. The new performance management framework will take into consideration our legal requirements articulated through the improvement plan.

            Belfast Agenda – City’s Community Plan

3.6       In addition to assessing and reporting organisational performance against the delivery of the Corporate Plan, the Council is the convening lead for community planning and delivery of the Belfast Agenda. In this capacity the Council has a direct delivery role as an organisation as well as working across sectors and partners to encourage and enable collaborative action in addressing key city priorities and challenges.

3.7       Progress updates on the Belfast  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4c

The Committee:

i)       Corporation Street Car Park – Licence Renewal from DfI

-        approved the renewal of a Licence Agreement from DFI to the Council for the off-street car park at Corporation Street

ii)     Corporation Street - Grant of Licence Agreement for advertising hoarding, to Clear Channel NI Ltd.

-        approved the Licence Agreement for advertising hoarding at Corporation Street site to Clear Channel NI Ltd

iii)   Balmoral Estate -Deed of Variation to extend term of ground Leases at Plots 56 and 57

-        approved the extension of the current term of the ground leases at Plots 56 and 57 Balmoral Estate to a term of 125 years from 2022. 

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1             The Council’s Physical Programme currently includes 170 capital projects, with investment of £150m+ via a range of internal and external funding streams, together with projects which the Council delivers on behalf of external agencies. This report requests a movement on the Capital Programme and provides an update on the Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund.

2.1       The Committee is requested to:

·        Proposed movement on the Capital Programme: City Hall Stained Glass Windows – Health Service and LGBT community- agree that both projects be added to the Capital Programme at Stage1 – Emerging.

·        Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund – note the update provided on the new capital fund.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       Members will be aware that the Council runs a substantial Physical Programme. This includes the rolling Capital Programme – a multimillion regeneration programme of investment across the City which improves existing Council assets or provides new Council facilities. The Council also delivers externally focused funding streams such as BIF, LIF and SOF, as well as numerous capital programmes which we deliver for central government. Our funding partners include NHLF, SEUPB Peace IV, the Executive Office via Social Investment Fund and Urban Villages, DfC, DfI, DAERA, Ulster Garden Villages and others.  When appropriate, as per Covid 19 public health guidance, the Physical Programmes Department is happy to arrange site visits to any projects which have been completed.

            Proposed Movement – Capital Programme

3.2       Members have previously agreed that all capital projects must go through a Three Stage process, where decisions on which projects progress are taken by the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee. This provides assurance on the level of financial control and will allow Members to properly consider the opportunity costs of approving one capital project over another capital project.

            The Committee is asked to agree to the following addition to the Capital Programme:

            City Hall Stained Glass Windows – Health Service and LGBT community

            Members will recall that, in November 2018, the Committee agreed to progress a stained-glass window to recognise the LGBT community. All proposals in relation to stained glass windows are now taken via the City Hall/City Hall Grounds Installation Working Group. At its meeting on 12th April 2022, the Installations Working Group agreed to recommend to the Committee that the stained-glass windows in recognition of the Health Service and the contribution of LGBT citizens be progressed to Stage 1 – Emerging on the Capital Programme. This will allow the business case to be developed with further detail to be brought back to the Committee in due course. This project is in reference to the following Notices of Motion:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5b

The Committee:

·        approved the public advertisement of tenders as per Standing Order 37a detailed in Appendix 1 (Table 1);

·        approved the modification of the contract as per Standing Order 37a detailed in Appendix 1 (Table 2); and

·        noted the award of retrospective STAs in line with Standing Order 55 exceptions as detailed in Appendix 1 (Table 3):

Appendix 1

Table 1: Competitive Tenders

Table 2: Modification to Contract

The Committee was reminded that, under section 49A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (‘the Act’), (as amended by the Disability Discrimination (NI) Order 2006) public authorities, when carrying out their functions must, have due regard to the need to:

§  promote positive attitudes towards disabled people; and

§  encourage participation by disabled people in public life.

      The Council’s current Disability Action Plan expired in March 2022.  In January, the Council carried out a disability exercise with the departments and, by doing this, was able to develop the three-year DDO Disability Action Plan.

      The draft document was being presented to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for approval and would then be submitted for a twelve-week period of public consultation from 30th May – 19th August 2022. The final document would then be resubmitted to the Committee with any subsequent amendments.

The Committee:

·        approved the Draft Disability Action Plan 2022- 2025, as set out in the appendix to the report; and

·        approved the document for consultation for a 12-week period, from 30th May to 19th August, 2022.

The Committee noted the contents of a report providing a summary of equality screenings and rural needs impact assessments for the period from October to December, 2021.

The Committee approved and adopted the minutes and the recommendations from the Shared City Partnership meeting held on 9th May, including:

PEACE IV

Children and Young People

CYP 1 – GIGA

• To realign participant numbers between Lots 1 and 2 with Lot 1 (age 6-11) increasing by 80 participants and Lot 2 (age 12-16) reducing by 80 participants.

CYP 3 – OTRT

• To extend participation in the project to young people/individual not involved or registered with an affiliated sports club.

CYP 5 – NIHE

• To include a Resource Allocation approach for both CYP and BPR projects, subject to the approval of the SEUPB and agreed in principle to extend delivery of the project to December 2022 subject to extended Letters of Offer from SEUPB.

Shared Spaces and Services

• To agree a three-month extension, until 30th September 2022 for the Mediation NI contract and to extend all four volunteer projects (Sustrans, Volunteer Now and The Conservation Volunteers) to 30th September 2022.

Building Positive Relations

BPR1 Cross Community Networks

• To agree a modification request from South West CCAN to hold an overnight residential in NI as part of BPR1 Stage 3 Programme Activity for participants.

BPR3 Transform for Change-NICVA

• To amalgamate the Resource Allocation for 2 projects from the Village/Westlink areas to build on their concept for Shared past Shared Future.
• To delegate authority to the BPR Chair and the PIV Programme Manager to consider requests to amalgamate resource allocations for urgent future projects.

BPR6 St. Comgalls

• To extend the project to 31st August 2022, in principle, subject to submission of a formal request.

• To agree to increasing the Peace IV NIHE contract with Park Hood by £7.5k to enable concept drawings on the redesign of a Peace Wall to be compiled.

Good Relations

• To note that a Letter of Offer had been received in the amount of £568,938.27 from The Executive Office towards the Council’s Good Relations Action Plan 22/23.

PEACE PLUS

• To agree to hold a workshop for SCP Members to consider the shaping of the design of the new Peace Plus Programme.
• To agree that officers proceed with organising area information sessions with the consultant’s consortium to update stakeholders on the emerging work with regards to PEACEPLUS Local Community PEACE Action Plans.

The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Party Group Leaders’ Consultative Forum of 12th May.

The Committee agreed to adopt the recommendations made in respect of those applications received up to 6th May, as set out within the appendix to the report:

The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the City Hall/ City Hall Grounds Installations Working Group of 12th April.

The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Castle, Cavehill, Zoo and North Foreshore Steering Group of 16th May.

Councillor Heading to request that a brief update on the status of the Belfast Region City Deal be brought to the Committee on a quarterly basis.

            The Committee noted an update on the latest position in relation to BRCD and that a further report would be submitted to the June meeting

            The Committee was advised that the National Association of Councillors Conference would be taking place in Southport from 24th till 26th June, 2022.

            The Committee was reminded that it had appointed 8 Members to the National Association of Councillors (Northern Ireland Region) and had, in previous years, authorised attendance of its representatives at National Association Conferences.

            The theme of the conference was entitled Emergency Planning and Resilience.  It would look at how local Councils, emergency services and power companies react and deal with natural events to protect and assist the communities in which they live and work.  It would also examine what resilience had been or could be put in place by local authorities resulting in a cohesive plan to get supplies and services to areas which suffered severe disruption.

            The fee for attendance at the conference was £350 plus VAT per delegate.  There will also be travel and accommodation costs.  Any expenditure in this regard can be met from within existing budgets.  

            The Committee approved the attendance of the Council’s representatives on the National Association of Councillors at the Conference to be held in Southport from 24th to 26th June, 2022.

The Committee was reminded that, at is meeting on 28th March, it had:

                   i          approved the recruitment of the post of Director of Finance and Resources on a permanent basis; and

                  ii          agreed that the selection panel should consist of:

a.     the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee (or their nominees) and Councillor Bunting; and

b.     the Chief Executive (or his nominee) and a Director.

The Director advised the Members that neither the Chairperson nor a nominee would be able to sit on the panel, therefore, he was seeking an additional panel not representing either the Sinn Fein Party or Democratic Unionist Party.

         The Committee agreed that Councillor Lyons be appointed as the third political representative on the panel.

          The Committee noted that, if the additional Member was not available, then the Director would be contacting the Local Government Staff Commission for approval for the panel to consist of three persons.