Agenda and minutes

            The Director for Finance and Resources reported that an invitation had been received for the Chief Executive and the Commissioner of Resilience to attend the 2018 CityXChange event which was be held in Bellagio, Italy from 20th till 24th May.  The event, which would bring together technology innovators and investors behind some of the most promising solutions to major challenges facing 21st Century cities, was being hosted by the The Rockefeller Foundation in partnership with the 100 Resilient Cities.   Ten cities would be represented and 100RC specifically allocated a place to Belfast  All costs for the event would be met by the organisers.

            The Committee approved the attendance of the Chief Executive and the Commissioner of Resilience (or other expert) at the event.

            No apologies were reported.

No declarations of interest were reported.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of the matter until its next monthly meeting to be held on 18th May.to enable a high level integrated discussion with all interested stakeholder groups.

            The information contained in the following report 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 Committee meeting during discussion of this item as, due to the nature of the item, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Section 6 of the Local Government Act (NI) 2014.

            The Chief Executive tabled for the Committee’s consideration a paper which outlined possible future Bonfire Governance arrangements.

            After lengthy discussion it was

Moved by Councillor Long,

Seconded by Councillor McDonough-Brown,

      That the decisions in relation to the Bonfire Management Programme be delegated to the Bonfire Panel on the basis that the decisions have political consensus.  Where there was no consensus reached then a special meeting of the Council be held to consider the matter.

            On a vote by show of hands three members voted for the proposal and sixteen against and it was declared lost.

Further Proposal

Moved by Councillor Beattie,

Seconded by Councillor Attwood,

      That the Committee agrees to the decision-making Protocol as set out in the report and that the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee be designated as having fully delegated authority for decisions pertaining to bonfire related issues and that the Bonfire Panel also be established as a consultative forum.

            On a vote by show of hands sixteen members voted for the proposal and three against and it was declared carried.

         The Committee noted that, whilst the decision in relation to the decision making process had been agreed, a further report would be submitted on the final wording to be included in the paper on Bonfire Governance Arrangements.

            The Committee was advised that to give effect to this decision it would require Standing Orders to be amended.

            Accordingly, it was agreed that Standing Order 37(a) Duties of Committees – Strategic Policy and Resources Committee be amended to provide that “In addition, the Committee shall have delegated authority for decisions in relation to the Bonfire Management Programme where the Chief Executive, or in her absence the Deputy Chief Executive, determine that a decision which would otherwise be taken under an officer’s delegated authority requires political direction.”

            Sites not in Council Ownership

            The Committee agreed that the authority which had been delegated to the appropriate Council officers to undertake at Council-owned sites a number of specified “interventions” in line with the July/August 2017 arrangements, which had been agreed by the Committee at its special meeting on 27th March, and the delegated authority for officers to undertake community engagements, which had been agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 20th April, be extended to include sites which were not in Council ownership.  Clarity should however be given on the fact that the Council would not be taking on any ‘responsibility’ for the site and all efforts need to be made by the landowner in the first instance.

            Area-based Festivals

            The Committee was advised that correspondence had been received indicating that discussions had been taking place between various community organisations and some Members regarding the possibility of developing a number of larger scale area-based festivals this year by way of proof of concept.  The Chief Executive reported that, at this stage, the proposal was not sufficiently worked up to be presented to the Committee for agreement.  It was therefore proposed that the groups be requested to submit a detailed proposal which provided a balanced cross-city programme in time for consideration at the meeting of the Committee to be held on 18th May.

            The Committee agreed that a broader report be submitted regarding a wider process for this type of approach.

            In accordance with Standing Order 14, the Committee agreed, as the meeting had been held later than seven clear days before the meeting of the Council, that the minutes of the meeting be submitted to the Council on 1st May for ratification.

            The Committee agreed further that, due to the urgency of the matter, all decisions taken at the meeting not be subject to call-in.