Agenda and minutes

            An Apology for inability to attend was reported from Councillor Hutchinson.

The minutes of the meeting of 21st October were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st November.

            Councillor Jones declared an interest in respect of item 8e National Association of Councillors – Attendance at National Executive Meetings and left the meeting whilst the item was under discussion.

            The Information contained in the following six reports is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014

            The Committee considered a report in relation to the Local Development Plan Preferred Options.  The Committee was advised that, with the publication of the Statement of Community Involvement and the publication of the Local Development Plan (LDP) timetable in June, 2016, the plan process had formally commenced.  The draft Preferred Options Summary Paper (POP) set out four strategic aims for growth and development in Belfast for the period up to 2035 which were linked to the aspirations within the Belfast Agenda.  The strategic aims and objectives, as previously discussed, formed the basis of the POP which it was proposed be published in early 2017 for a 12 week consultation period.  The preferred options paper was the first formal engagement document in the Local Development Plan and aimed to promote debate on strategic issues which would influence and shape the future development in Belfast.

            The purpose of the report was to provide the Members with the final draft of the Preferred Options for consideration; advise of the additional technical documents that would accompany the LDP when it was formally published; and update the Members on the Proposed Preferred Options consultation.

            After discussion the Committee:

·        endorsed the preferred options, as set out in the Draft preferred options Summary Paper, as the basis for the formal consultation document;

·        noted the additional technical documents that were required to accompany the Preferred Options when it was published for consultation; and

·        noted the timescale/arrangements for the proposed consultation from early 2017.

            (With the exception of the Chief Executive and the Senior Democratic Services Officer, all Council officers left the meeting whilst this item was under discussion.)

            The Chief Executive submitted for the Committee’s consideration a report which outlined and sought the agreement of the Committee in principle, for the next phase of organisational change at the officer leadership level across the organisation, to ensure effective delivery of the priorities in the Belfast Agenda, continued investment across the city and excellent service delivery.

            The Chief Executive explained that the Council, having been through local government reform, extended its boundaries and embedded delivery of the new powers, had set out an ambitious plan for the City under the Belfast Agenda.  The Agenda committed the Council under the leadership of the Elected Representatives to delivering inclusive growth across the city, with a focus on integrated service and programme delivery, investment and diverse economic growth, regeneration of the city centre, investment in neighbourhoods, improved infrastructure and addressing health, income and skills inequalities.  The Agenda set out ambitious targets to grow the population, create more jobs and reduce inequality gaps.

            To deliver the Belfast Agenda, the Council needed to ensure it had the right skills, resources and leadership in the right places.  Considerable work had been done to do this since local government reform (LGR), by continuing to build the Council’s capacity to deliver major physical projects; the development of a City Centre Regeneration/Investment Plan and a City Centre Team; the development of the necessary planning teams; as well as work on employability; both investment and small business advisory services; smart city projects and a city deal proposal.

            The Chief Executive indicated that, however, as the resourcing, leadership and skills requirements of those aspects of the Belfast Agenda had become clearer, the Council needed to move to the next phase of organisational development and design to support these major city projects.

            She submitted a report which outlined the approach to a phased organisation redesign and development; the interim arrangements which had been put in place to embed new functions and review existing functions to maximise the new powers and deliver Members’ ambitions; the future Council model; and proposals for agreement and the next steps.

            The new model sets out the reconfiguration of Planning and Building Control; Development; City Centre Regeneration; and Property and Projects and the formation of a new City Growth and Regeneration Department, with one Director and three Assistant Directors and the creation of a stand-alone Major Project Service, reporting to the Chief Executive.

            It also shows the internal departments and reporting lines to the Chief Executive (including Finance and Resources; People, Improvement and Inclusion; and City Solicitor)

            After discussion, the Committee agreed in principle to:

·        The reconfiguration of Planning and Building Control; Development; City Centre Regeneration; and Property and Projects and the formation of a new City Growth and Regeneration Department, with one Director and three Assistant Directors and the creation of a stand-alone Major Project Service, reporting to the Chief Executive; and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2b

            The Committee considered a report which provided an update on the development of the revenue estimates for 2017/18 and the key issues which Members needed to consider as part of the rates settlement process.

            After discussion, the Committee noted:

(1)   the update on the development of the revenue estimates and the setting of the district rate; and

(2)   that party group briefings had been arranged for the end of November, with a further report on the setting of the district rate being brought to the Committee at its meeting in December, 2016.

            The Committee considered a report which provided an update on the development and implementation of the £105m leisure assets capital programme.

            After discussion the Committee adopted the following recommendations as set out in the report:

Programme level

                           i.      Consultation Feedback – note the feedback from the consultation sessions that were held in relation to the concept designs for Brook, Robinson and Andersonstown.  In summary the consultation feedback was very positive with 96% of those who responded welcoming the proposed redevelopments.  The most common comment in relation to the three centres was around delivering as soon as possible.  Following the outcome of the consultation, it was recommended that there are no changes to the concept design and facilities mixes for the Brook and Robinson Centres and that these are now progressed.  It was recommended that changes be made to Andersonstown to reflect the feedback.

                          ii.      Implementation and sequencing plan – note the updated implementation and sequencing plan for the Leisure Programme

                         iii.      Procurement – note that the tender process closed on 11th November and that 4 responses were received.  These were currently being assessed and Members would be kept up to date of the outcome.

Specific projects

                           i.      Andersonstown – Facilities mix - note that the key response received in relation to Andersonstown was to increase the size of the leisure water and over 600 written responses were received in relation to this.This feedback was presented to the West AWG at its meeting on 27th October and Committee was asked to agree the recommendation that the following elements are removed from the agreed facilities mix for Andersonstown (sports hall, geo-dome over one of the outdoor 5-side pitches and the BMX track) to allow for the leisure water to be increased to reflect the feedback from the consultation. These elements were required to be removed to ensure that the project remained within the capital budget (agreed by Committee in April 2015). 

At a special meeting on 9th November the West AWG considered in greater detail the two options proposed in relation to the configuration of the leisure water (Option 4A and 4B).  Both options were within the design cost limits and did not change the overall footprint of the building.  A further West AWG was held on 15th November and, following additional detail being provided, the Members agreed to recommend to the Committee to proceed with Option 4B. 

Wider area - note that there was planned investment of over £100m within the Andersonstown area with the proposed redevelopment of Casement Park and the new Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) system. Discussions were being taken forward with BRT and the Department for Communities and the Committee was asked to note that an inter-agency working group was being established to ensure alignment of the projects and to maximise the communications and engagement opportunities

                          ii.      Avoniel – In August 2015 the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee had agreed to dispose of a parcel of land to the Education Authority (EA) to accommodate its development plans  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2d

Belfast metropolitan             The Committee agreed to defer a report on Member car parking in the City Hall courtyard for a period of one month.

            The Committee was reminded that the Council, at its meeting on 3rd October, had passed the following motion on Changes to State Pension Provision, which had been proposed by Councillor Heading and seconded by Councillor Copeland:

“This Council calls upon the Government to make fair transitional state pension arrangements for all women born on or after 6th April 1951, who have unfairly borne the burden of the increase to the State Pension Age with lack of appropriate notification.

Hundreds of thousands of women, including many of our own citizens, have had significant pension changes imposed on them by the Pensions Acts of 1995 and 2011 with little/no personal notification of the changes. Some women had only two years notice of a six-year increase to their state pension age.

Many women born in the 1950's are living in hardship. Retirement plans have been shattered with devastating consequences. Many of these women are already out of the labour market, caring for elderly relatives, providing childcare for grandchildren, or suffer discrimination in the workplace so struggle to find employment. Women born in this decade are suffering financially. These women have worked hard, raised families and paid their tax and national insurance with the expectation that they would be financially secure when reaching 60. It is not the pension age itself that is in dispute - it is widely accepted that women and men should retire at the same time. The issue is that the rise in the women's state pension age has been too rapid and has happened without sufficient notice being given to the women affected, leaving women with no time to make alternative arrangements.

The Council calls upon the Government to reconsider transitional arrangements for women born on or after 6th April 1951, so that women do not live in hardship due to pension changes they were not told about until it was too late to make alternative arrangements.”

            The committee was advised that a response had now been received from the Minister for Communities, which highlighted the work which had been undertaken since 1995 around the equalisation of the state pension age for men and women.  The Minister had indicated that he was supportive of a motion which had been presented to the NI Assembly on 26th September, which called for Transitional State Pension arrangements for women born in the 1950s, and that he had written to Mr. Richard Harrington M.P., Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions, advising him of the motion and urging the Government to give careful consideration to determine if any action could be taken to address the concerns of the women affected.

            The Committee noted the response from the Minister for Communities.

            The Committee considered a revised draft of the city’s first community plan – the ‘Belfast Agenda’ – as the basis for a twelve-week public consultation on the plan.  The paper outlined the main structure of the document which had been amended following discussion by Members at the all-Member workshop held on 28th October and set out the main elements of the public consultation programme.  Following consultation, it was expected that the draft Agenda would be agreed by the Council and the community planning partners in April 2017, with the first four year programme of work commencing in the spring. 

            The Committee:

·        agreed the content of the revised Belfast Agenda as a basis for the public consultation and the production of further communication materials, including a summary version; and

·        noted the proposed consultation process and timings.

            The Chief Executive reminded the Committee that the Council’s Corporate Plan 2016-17 had been agreed by the Council in May 2016.  Contained within the Plan was the Council’s commitment to securing continuous improvement through the delivery of 11 Improvement Objectives in line with Part 12 of the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act.  The projects underpinning these improvement objectives were delivered through strategic programmes of work, which were reported to the appropriate Committee on an ongoing basis and managed through the Corporate and Departmental Management Teams.  The Members would also be aware that additional delivery structures were also in place for large scale programmes of work, such as leisure, and those were also reported through Corporate Management Team and Committee.

            She pointed out that, however, there was a need to provide a full performance update on the plan in line with the Improvement Duty.  The initial overall update had been compiled from a range of sources to provide a detailed overview of progress to date on all programmes of work and Appendix 3 to the report provided a separate update on the Council’s extensive capital programme and support for development across the city.

            She tabled for the Members’ consideration a progress summary that showed that there was already alignment with the priorities outlined in the Belfast Agenda.  Work had begun on the Council’s Corporate Plan 2017-20, with an initial workshop being held with the Committee in October.  The new plan would build on the programmes and projects already underway and further align with the outcomes, priorities and actions within the Belfast Agenda.

            The Committee noted the half year update on the Capital Improvement objectives as outlined in the Corporate Plan.

            The Committee noted an update which had been provided by the Chief Executive on the visit earlier in the month to Westminster which had been undertaken by a delegation from the Council.

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0  Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

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

2.0    Recommendations

2.1       Members are asked to –

            AWG minutes

·        approve the most recent round AWG Minutes (East – 3rd November; West – 27th October and South – 31st October) as attached at Appendix 1.  Members are asked to note that the North AWG held its meeting on Thursday 10th November – the minutes for this are not yet available however the relevant funding decisions from the meeting are included within this report.

            Local Investment Fund

·        agree the recommendations from the West and North AWGs in relation to LIF funding (sections 3.2 and 3.3).

            Belfast Investment Fund

·        agree the recommendations from the South in relation to their ringfenced BIF allocation of £500,000.

3.0       Main report

            Key Issues

3.1       AREA 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. Members are asked to approve the most recent round AWG Minutes (West – 27th October; South – 31st October and East – 3rd November) as attached at Appendix 1.  Members are asked to note that the North AWG held its meeting on Thursday 10th November – the minutes for this are not yet available however the relevant funding decisions from the meeting are included within this report.

            LOCAL INVESTMENT FUND UPDATE 

3.2    WEST AWG - The West AWG at its meeting on 27TH October, made the following recommendations for the consideration of the SP&R Committee in relation to their LIF.

3.3    NORTH AWG - The West AWG at its meeting on 10th November, made the following recommendations for the consideration of the SP&R Committee in relation to their LIF.

         BELFAST INVESTMENT FUND UPDATE

3.4    In January 2016, as part of the rates setting process, it was agreed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

            Proposed Licences at Sally Gardens

            The Committee granted approval for the Council to enter into licences with the Poleglass Community Association @ Sally Gardens Ltd. (PCA) and the Department of Communities to allow the Council’s contractors to take access across and occupy land to facilitate the construction of a new pavilion to serve the recently completed 3G pitch at Sally Gardens.  The licences would be subject to agreement of terms by the Estates Manager and the drawing up of suitable agreements by the Legal Services Section.

            Acquisition of Lands at Connswater Street/Severn Street

            from Transport NI

            The Committee approved the acquisition of three areas of land at Connswater Street/Severn Street, which was required to facilitate the regeneration of the area, from Transport NI for a nominal consideration.

            Shaftesbury Recreation Centre:

            Proposed Energy Project

            The Committee noted that the Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group’s (LORAG) request to install solar panels on the Shaftesbury Sports and Recreation Centre had been withdrawn.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of a report on the operation of the new Exhibition Area in the City Hall.

            The Director of Finance and Resources submitted for the Committee’s consideration the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1            This report presents the Quarter 2 financial position for the Council including a forecast of the year end outturn. It includes a reporting pack which contains a summary of the financial indicators and an executive summary. It also provides a more detailed explanation of each of the relevant indicators and the forecast outturn for the year.

1.2       The Departmental year end forecast is a net year end positive balance of £1,496k which represents a variance of 1.1% of the annual net expenditure budget which is well with the acceptable target limits.

1.3       However Land and Property Services are forecasting a district rate claw back position of £2,154k which means that the Council has to find an additional £658k, above the forecast departmental positive balance to fully finance the rates claw back.

1.4       Officers are reviewing the planned capital programme and non-recurrent programmes to identify potential capital financing which could meet the £658k balance of the rates claw back so as not to impact on the Council’s reserves position.

1.5       In order to secure the current forecast departmental positive balance, Directors have been advised that a recommendation will be made to Members that departmental cash limits should be capped at the forecast level with no in year reallocation of funds being allowed by departments unless they are built into the forecasts.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the forecast departmental position and rates claw back position at Quarter 2.

·        agree, that in order to limit the impact on the Council’s reserves position, departmental cash limits are capped at their forecast position and that officers will review the planned capital programme and non-recurrent work programmes to secure the £658k balance of the rates claw back from the capital financing budget.

3.0       Main report

            Current and Forecast Financial Position 2016/17

3.1       The financial position for Quarter 2 is a net departmental positive balance of £2,267k (3.4%). The forecast year-end departmental position is a positive balance of £1.496k (1.1%), which is well within the acceptable variance limit of 3%.

3.2       The departmental balance arises mainly from the receipt of additional planning and building control fee income as well as additional grant income and below budget employee and supplies expenditure due to staff vacancies, staff turnover and reduced fuel costs. This has been partly offset by uncontrollable increases in waste management contracts.

            Rates Finalisation

3.3       The Quarter 2 forecast by Land and Property Services is an adverse outturn of £2,154k. This is mainly due to non-domestic revaluation appeals and city development removals from the valuation list and the loss of industrial de-rating grant. In summary,

·        £8.2m has been removed from the valuation list due to demolitions / refurbishments.

·        £9.1m has been added to the list due to new builds.

·        £7.3m has been removed from the list following completion of valuation appeals.

            Capital Projects

3.4       Planned capital  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6a

            The Committee:

(1)   approved the public advertisement acceptance of tenders as listed in Appendix 1, table 1, through the Council’s electronic procurement system;

(2)   approved extensions where contracts were under review as per table 2; and

(3)   agreed to apply Standing Order 55(a) - exceptions in relation to contracts by direction of the Council acting on recommendations of a Chief Officer in - that the exception was justified in special circumstances for the purchase of leased assets as per table 3:

Appendix 1 - Schedule of tenders for consideration

Table 1 - New tenders

Table 2 - Contracts for extension of contract period

Table3 – Tenders justified by special circumstances

“1.0     Purpose of Report

1.1       The purpose of this report is to update Members on the current work programme around maximising the impact of procurement spend by taking a ‘social value’ approach to our procurement spend where appropriate.

1.2       The report also sets out the future work programme in this area and identifies how this work aligns to the broader work programmes around the ‘Growing the Economy’ and ‘Working and Learning’ strands of the Belfast Agenda.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Endorse the use of the social value/regeneration as evaluation criteria, where appropriate, as a stepped improvement of the Social Clause Policy;

·        The Committee is asked to also note:

-       ongoing work to integrating social clauses, where appropriate, within capital and revenue contracts;

-       limitations of the current social clause approach and the timescales for moving towards the Buy Social approach by June 2017;

-       inclusion of social clause requirements into funding agreements such as Belfast Investment Fund (BIF), where appropriate;

-       findings from the local spend analysis (LM3) for the 15/16 financial year and the activities outlined to increase the impact of local spend.

3.0       Main report

3.1       At the 22 January 2016 meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, Members adopted the Council’s social clause policy.  This committed the Council to scope out all upcoming tender opportunities (focusing on those with a value of at least £250,000) to explore opportunities for securing social value returns by introducing social clauses.

3.2       These social clauses were focused primarily on employability related issues (e.g. apprenticeships, ring-fenced employment opportunities, work placements for long-term unemployed) but also included clauses relating to environmental sustainability.

3.3       Members will be aware that social clauses, as currently applied, are a relatively ‘blunt’ instrument in supporting employability and engagement by those furthest from the labour market.  To date, social clauses have been largely focused on construction contracts.  This means that the social clause obligations can only apply for the construction period of the project.  As a result, the employability opportunities on these contracts tend to be limited in both duration and scope. 

3.4       Recognising the limitations of the current arrangements, Members agreed that it would be prudent to review the Council’s Social Policy to consider moving towards greater alignment with the ‘Buy Social’ approach recently adopted by central government departments by June 2017.

3.5       ‘Buy Social’ takes a broader approach to government purchasing, with a commitment to maximising the social and economic benefits from public procurement.  This approach is now being rolled out across all government contracts and there is interest from the Finance Minister to extend this as far as is possible within the legislation. 

3.6       Following the commitment to working toward the Buy Social model, Officers introduced a number of developments in the Council’s approach to social clauses.  This included:

-       Collaboration with training providers already in receipt of financial support from the Council to act as a point of contact/ ‘broker’ for the contractor in providing training and work placement opportunities.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6c

            The Committee was advised that the Local Government (Payment to Councillors) Regulations was the proper authority from which the Council derived the ability to reimburse Councillors for motor mileage properly incurred for “approved duties”.

            In the Regulations, approved duties were described as “attendance at a meeting of a council, or any of its committees or sub-committees or the doing of anything approved by the council for the purpose of, or in connection with, the discharge of functions of the council or any committees or sub-committees”.

            The Committee was advised that the Standing Committee Chairpersons and Deputy Chairpersons were, from time to time, required to attend meetings or events that other Members of the Committee would not be required to attend, such as Chairpersons briefings or speaking at an event or an official launch.  However, as those duties fell outside the current description of a “meeting” and as there was usually not any specific Committee authority for them to attend and receive motor mileage for such events, it had not been possible to pay a claim for reimbursement of mileage claims.

            The Democratic Services Manager pointed out that that seemed somewhat unfair as the attendance at such meetings and events was a consequence of the holding of the office of Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson and were at the request of Council officers.  Therefore, It would seem to be appropriate that the mileage incurred was an expense which ought to be able to be reimbursed.

            The Committee agreed to authorise the payment of the mileage claims for Committee Chairpersons and Deputy Chairpersons when undertaking duties required of them in that role.

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Shared City Partnership held on 7th November, 2016; and approved the following:

            Future Approach to Bonfire Related Issues

            The adoption of the principles as outlined in relation to the 2017 Good Relations approach to bonfires and its continuing development over the next three to five year.

            International Women’s Day

            The hosting of an event on 4th March, 2017 to mark International Women’s Day 2017, at a cost of up to £6,500.

            Holocaust Memorial Day

            The hosting of an event to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day as part of the Good Relation Unit’s Diverse city Programme Mural Transformation Programme Update, at a cost of up to £1,000.

            Mural Transformation Programme

            Funding of up to a maximum of £5,000 to be allocated for the Council to undertake work, in conjunction with the East Belfast Football Club, to transform a mural on the bowling green wall at Inverary Playing Fields.

            Request for Support for Fusion+ Programme Event

            To support the use of the City Hall for the Fusion+ Programme to hold its finale event in March 2017 and noted the cost of the event was estimated to be in the region of £2,000, which would be met through the existing budgets.

            Contribution towards Christmas Good Will Events

            A contribution of up to £500 for a maximum of 6 local interface groups to be awarded under the scheme of delegated authority.

            The Committee was advised that, under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Council was required to develop an Equality Action Plan and report progress annually to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).  The Council had an interim plan at present and it had been agreed with ECNI that the new plan would be in place by 1st April, 2017.

            As recommended by the ECNI, in order to develop the plan, the Council had carried out an Audit of Inequalities which had included: holding a staff workshop; carrying out one-to-one interviews; collecting information from departments; commissioning research; and carrying out pre-consultation engagement.

            It was planned to issue the draft action plan for a 12-week consultation period in December.  That would be at the same time as the Belfast Agenda and the Equality Action Plan made reference to the developing Community Plan for Belfast and its ambition to address inequalities in the city.

            The Committee approved the draft Equality Action Plan 2017-21 for public consultation.

            The Committee was reminded that one of the main requirements of the Council’s Equality Scheme was to carry out the screening of new and revised policies.  That allowed any impact related to equality of opportunity and/or good relations to be identified and addressed.  An equality screening template was completed by the relevant officer, in collaboration with the Equality Diversity Officer.  On a quarterly basis, the Equality and Diversity Officer collated all completed templates into a Screening Outcome Report and published it on the Council’s website along with the relevant screening templates.

            The Committee noted the Screening Outcome Report for quarters one and two of 2016.

            The Committee was advised that one of the key outcomes in the Belfast Agenda was to ensure that Belfast was a welcoming, safe, fair and inclusive city for all.  One of the Strategic priorities in the Council’s Disability Strategy was “to eliminate the barriers disabled people face in accessing the physical environment, goods and services so that disabled people could participate fully in all areas of life”.

            It was reported that the Council had recently received two requests to participate in initiatives aimed in improving the experience of disabled people when accessing services both from the Council and other city centre businesses as follows:

            Every Customer Counts (ECC) –

            Promoting Accessible Services

            The Every Customer Counts initiative was a corporate initiative launched recently by the Equality Commission.  The aim of the initiative was to improve disabled people’s access to services by encouraging organisations to demonstrate support for the initiative by making their services available to all of their customers on a fair and equitable basis.  The ECNI would approve a sticker which could be displayed to inform the Council’s customers that we:

·        Review the accessibility of our service

·        Make reasonable adjustments for disabled customers

            The Now Group – JAM Card and App

            The Now Group, the operator of the Bobbin Café, was the social enterprise which supported people with learning difficulties and autism into jobs.  The JAM Card and APP was an information card/App carried by people with hidden disabilities/learning disabilities to provide a discreet way to alert staff in a range of services including, retail, transport or other outlets that the card-holder needed “Just a Minute” of time and patience when interacting with them.

            The Now Group had been awarded funding from the Big Lottery to roll out the JAM Card/App regionally over the next six months and was now seeking the assistance of key private and public sector stakeholders.  In addition to the Council, the other key stakeholders would likely be Libraries NI, Translink, NIE and the Henderson Group.

            It was proposed that free online “JAM Card Awareness” training would be provided to front line staff to help raise awareness of how to interact when presented with a JAM Card.  In return it had requested the Council offer free publicity in its publications and promotion to key city centre partners through Belfast City Centre Management.  The NOW Group hoped to use the Council’s involvement as a model of good practice to use with other councils in Northern Ireland.

            The Committee approved the Council’s involvement in the Every Customer Counts Initiative and the JAM Card initiative.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1        This report provides an update on current performance in the planning service. Also attached at Appendix 1 is a copy of the 2016-18 Service Improvement Plan which identifies areas for further service improvement and indicates what actions are proposed to undertake these improvements.

2.0       Recommendations

            The Committee is asked to note:

·        the current processing performance; and

·        Service improvement actions for 2016 - 18

3.0       Main Report

3.1       Planning Performance

            Members will recall from previous reports that a number of changes were introduced by the service to respond to the requirements of the new planning legislation and to make our decision making processes more accessible. This includes the restructuring of the Development Management functions to provide greater flexibility to respond proportionately to the development pressures across the city and manage performance. 

3.2       Monitoring and regularly reporting on processing performance is essential for ensuring that the Council’s priorities are being achieved and that the information informs decision-making and business planning. Work continues in the planning service through the Improvement Plan on developing a proactive culture of monitoring business intelligence and customer insight information as well as completing policy reviews, business critical process audits, service reviews and self-assessments. This includes taking account of recommendations within the recent Internal Audit Report.

3.3       The Council inherited a substantial legacy of planning applications (780).  It was recognised in 2015/16 that it would be difficult for the planning service to achieve the two statutory performance indicators in relation to the processing of Major and Local planning applications given the volume of ‘legacy’ applications. These statutory targets are to achieve an average processing time of 30 weeks on Major applications and 15 weeks on Local applications. It was therefore agreed that this year there would be a sustained approach towards eliminating this backlog. Agreement was secured from elected members that for those non-delegated legacy applications that were not required by law to be determined by the Planning Committee, the Director of Planning & Place in consultation with the Town Solicitor and chair and vice chair of the Planning Committee, was authorised to make the decision.  As a result of these actions there are now less than 45 legacy applications remaining.

3.4       The planning service also remains focused on achieving the performance target for those applications processed entirely by Council. In this financial year, up to 30 September 2016, 1,102 planning applications have been received, which is 25% more than the same period last year. Additional temporary agency staff were employed to assist with this increase and the number of decisions issued is up 53% on the same period last year.  (603 up to 30 Sept 2015 to 1,127 up to Sept 2016).

3.5       Furthermore, in line with the recent Audit recommendations, new administrative processes are in place which means cases are prioritised to ensure, that where possible, target dates are achieved.  Ongoing performance is monitored by the Senior Management Team and performance updates  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8a

            (Mr. N. Grimshaw, Director of City and Neighbourhood Services Department, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee agreed to defer the public consultation process on the proposed future provision of Household Recycling Centres in Belfast to enable further discussion to take place regarding the content of the questionnaire.

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of report or summary of main issues

1.1       The purpose of this report is to provide an update to Members on the development of the Members’ Portal.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the contents of this report.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Background

            Following consultation with the Party Group Leaders and the Elected Member Development Working Group, a facilitated ‘discovery workshop’ was held in June to explore how technology could be best used to improve communication between Members and the wider council organisation.

3.2       Key Issues

            During the workshop, Members highlighted key issues relating to how communication could be improved within the council with specific suggestions. These have been analysed, grouped and prioritised by the Members’ Portal project team in consultation with officers from relevant departments. The actions have been grouped under the following headings:

1.     Making it easier to find out who is the best person to contact

2.     Making it easier to find important information

3.     Prioritising the information flow to Members

4.     Making it easier to deal with and resolve issues raised by constituents

5.     Other suggestions

3.3       The detailed action plan is due to be reviewed by Members at the next Elected Member Development Working Group on 21 November 2016.

3.4       Content

            Based on these suggestions, the proposed content of the Members’ Portal is therefore:

            Immediate (aim for Jan 17)

·        Directory of key internal and external contacts – internal contacts will have photos and any relevant description tags e.g. bonfires, dogs, derelict buildings 

·        Alert function for:

o   significant LIF project issues

o   briefings for Members on emerging situations

o   reminders of upcoming Member training sessions

o   recently approved council policies

o   recent awards won by council

·        Existing ‘Members’ meeting calendar’ e.g. training events, non-committee meetings

·        New calendar showing the event and RSVP details for council-organised events to which all Members have been invited

·        Open consultations: council’s own; NI Executive; others which the council has been consulted

·        Member training material

·        A list of key council policies

·        Area Working Group area profiles

·        Frequent Member queries  (if required for any remaining queries not addressed by portal)

            These actions can be taken forward by the project team immediately.

            Medium-term (date to be agreed)

            Up-to-date information about council grants ie grants currently open, remaining size of fund, how to apply, tracking progress of applications, total grants received by organisations, grants awarded by District Electoral Areas (DEA)

            Some recommended actions to take this forward have been identified and will be fed into the planned corporate review of grants. However, in the interim, this information will be provided in liaison with Development Department Business Support, Central Grants Unit, Good Relations, and Corporate Finance.

3.5       Design

            Following agreement on the content, Internal Communications will design the look-and-feel of the website.

3.6       Additional actions

            Some additional actions to address issues raised by Members, which can also be taken forward by the project team immediately, are:

            Development of a ‘contacting Members protocol’ (e.g. using  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8c

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Budget and Transformation Panel of 10th November.

            The Committee was reminded that it had eight members on the National Association of Councillors – Northern Ireland Region.  Two Members, namely, Councillors Jones and Sandford, had been appointed to represent the Northern Ireland region on the National Association, which would require attendance at a number of National Executive meetings and the AGM in Carlisle, London and Glasgow during the year.  The next four meetings were scheduled to be held in January, May, September and November.

            The Committee:

·        approved the attendance of Councillors Jones and Sandford at the meetings of the National Executive of the National Association of Councillors; and

·        authorised the payment of the appropriate travel costs and subsistence associated therewith.

            The Committee adopted the recommendations for the requests for the use of the City Hall and the provision of hospitality as set out below:

Appendix

            The Committee was advised that the 2018 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies had commenced on 28th February, 2016.  In accordance with schedule 2 of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the number of Parliamentary constituencies across the United Kingdom would be reduced from 650 to 600.  In Northern Ireland, the decrease would be from 18 seats to 17 at the next Westminster elections expected in 2020.  That would mean redrawing the existing constituency boundaries.  The Act required that Northern Ireland’s electorate (1,243,369 people as at 1st December 2015) be divided into 17 constituencies utilising complete local government wards as building blocks.  The electorate of each constituency must also be within a 5% variance of the UK electoral quota of 74,769 (that is, no less than 71,031 and no more than 78,507 people).

            The Boundary Commissioner for Northern Ireland had published on 6th September, 2016 provisional recommendations for the new Parliamentary Constituencies within Northern Ireland.  Responses to the consultation were being sought by 28th November 2016.  The Commission was required to submit its report on final recommendations to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland no later than 1st October, 2018.

            It was

Moved by Councillor McVeigh,

Seconded by Councillor Long,

      That the Committee agrees not to submit a Council response to the 2018 review of Parliamentary Constituencies – provisional proposals but rather that individual party responses should be made.

            On a vote by show of hands ten Members voted for the proposal and six against and it was declared carried.

            The Chief Executive provided the Committee with an update in relation to the High Court hearing in relation to the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP).

            The Committee noted the High Court had ruled, earlier in the day, that the bulky goods restriction in BMAP be lifted and agreed that the Council appeal the decision.

            The Chief Executive advised the Committee that a letter had been received from the Chief Executive of the Local Government Staff Commission in relation to the funding for 31st March 2017.  The letter indicated that the Commission, which was to be dissolved on 31st march, 2017, had now agreed its revised financial scheme for the remainder of the year and estimated that the dissolution costs to be £1,996,101, of which Belfast City Council was required to pay 20.3034%.

            The Committee agreed that a letter be forwarded to the Minister for Communities stating that the Council was not liable for the cost associated with dissolving the Local Government Staff Commission.