Agenda and minutes

The Chief Executive submitted the summons convening the meeting.

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Doran, Kelly, McDonough-Brown and Smyth.

            Councillor McCabe declared an interest as she worked for Féile an Phobail but advised that she did not think there was any conflict within the minutes tabled.

            Councillor Canavan declared an interest in relation to the item “Community Support Funding” within the People and Communities Committee minutes, in that she was a Board Member of an organisation which was in receipt of funding. 

            Councillor Groogan declared an interest in relation to the items “2022-23 Year End Finance Report” and “Hardship Grant/Cost of Living Support 2022/23” within the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee minutes and “Community Support Funding Update” within the People and Communities minutes in that she was employed by the Forward South Partnership who were in receipt of funding. 

            Councillor Whyte declared an interest in relation to the item “Update on the MAC (Metropolitan Arts Centre)” within the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee minutes as he did work for a Company who had undertaken work for the MAC.

            Councillor Bunting declared an interest in relation to the item “Summer Community Festivals Programme” within the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee minutes, in that she was a member of the Belvoir Area Residents’ Group which had applied for funding.

            Alderman Copeland declared an interest in relation to the item “Summer Community Festivals Programme” within the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee minutes, in that her daughter worked for the Greater Village Regeneration Trust.

            Councillor Lyons advised that as a Member of Belfast Harbour he would excuse himself should any discussion arise in respect of Queen’s Island Transport.

            Councillors Black and Verner declared an interest in relation to item “Community Support Programme” within the People and Communities Committee as they either worked for or were associated with an organisation in receipt of funding.  

Alderman McCullough and Councillors I. McLaughlin, Nic Bhranair and Ó Néill declared an interest in relation to the item “Update on Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund” within the Strategic Policy and Resources minutes, in that they either worked for or were associated with an organisation that had applied for funding.

            Alderman Rodgers advised that he was a Board Member of Glentoran Football Club.

Moved by the Lord Mayor,

Seconded by Councillor Collins,

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Council of 5th June be taken as read and signed as correct.

            Councillor P. Donnelly congratulated St. Matthews Men’s Soccer Team on achieving the Northern Amateur Football League (NAFL) Division 2A League Championships and wished them well in the upcoming League.  The Lord Mayor agreed to extend an invitation to the Team to attend a reception in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour.

            Councillor Long and several other Members expressed their concern regarding the recent attacks on Alliance members and also in regard to the homophobic and transphobic language being used across social media platforms and expressed solidarity with those targeted. 

            A number of Members stated that they were looking forward to the Belfast Pride Festival, which was scheduled to run from Friday, 21st to Sunday, 30th July, stating that they hoped this would offer a more positive view of Belfast and Northern Ireland.  Several of the Members stated that they looked forward to participating in the centrepiece Pride Parade on Saturday, 29th July and encouraged others to also join in.  

            Councillor Verner congratulated those who had received honours in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2023.  In particular, retired Director of Finance, Mr. R. Cregan, for services to Local Government, Reverend Tracey McRoberts, for her tireless work in the community and Ms. Agnes Close, a local businesswoman, who had dedicated her efforts campaigning for a Memorial Plot at Belfast City cemetery to remember more than 7000 babies buried there.  The Lord Mayor agreed to send letters of congratulations to the recipients. 

            Councillor D. Douglas extended congratulations to the East Belfast Community Development Agency (EBCDA) on reaching its 10th birthday, noting the work of Councillor S.  Douglas, Mr. M. Gibson and Mr. M. Briggs for their vision and drive in establishing the community hub.

            At the request of Councillor de Faoite, the Lord Mayor agreed to write to the Secretary of State seeking to set up a meeting with Party Group Leaders to discuss the continued cuts to services for children and young people across Northern Ireland. 

            Alderman Lawlor extended congratulations to the Glentoran 1923 Committee on reaching its centenary year.

            Councillor Maskey extended congratulations to the Lord Mayor on his forthcoming wedding.

            Councillor Long noted that July 1st was Happy Canada Day, and he took the opportunity to wish those Canadian citizens throughout the world a Happy Canada Day.

            Councillor S. Douglas and Alderman Rodgers congratulated the staff involved in the restoration and expansion of the Templemore Baths which had been repurposed into a visitor centre with modern leisure facilities.

            Councillor S. Douglas referred to the City Matters magazine and expressed gratitude to the staff for producing such an excellent publication. 

            It was noted that this was Ms. L. Caldwell’s, Director of External Affairs, Marketing and Communications, last meeting as she had resigned from the Council.  On behalf of the Council, the Lord Mayor thanked Lisa for her dedication and commitment to the Council and extended the Council’s best wishes to her going forward.  

            Councillor Maghie extended condolences to the family and friends of murder victim Chloe Mitchell and expressed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

            The Chief Executive reported that a request to address the Council had been received from Ms. Shannon Montgomery, Policy and Public Affairs Co-ordinator, British Heart Foundation, in relation to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) CPR motion which was referred by the Standards and Business Committee to the August meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.

            The Council acceded to the request and, accordingly, Mr. Liam Duggan, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, and Ms. Denise McAnena, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, were welcomed to the meeting by the Lord Mayor.

            Mr. Duggan advised that the BHF was seeking the Council’s assistance in improving access to defibrillators and promoting lifesaving CPR training. 

            The representative reported that there was approximately 1,400 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Northern Ireland each year and, unfortunately, less than one in ten people survived.  Performing CPR, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, when someone’s heart suddenly stopped beating during a cardiac arrest, dramatically increased their chances of survival and, in many cases, could more than double someone’s chances of survival.

            He advised that the BHF could help the Council and people of Belfast play their part in saving lives. He highlighted that the BHF offered CPR training opportunities to help equip people to deal with such emergencies.  He explained that RevivR offered simple, step-by step training on how to recognise a cardiac arrest and what to do should a person encounter one. The training was free, interactive and took only 15 minutes to complete online. The online training link is available here  

            The Council was advised that the BHF had also developed ‘The Circuit’, a National defibrillator network that mapped out the location and how to access defibrillators across the UK.   He explained that it worked with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to ensure that in an emergency, the public and emergency services had access to the nearest defibrillator as quickly as possible and he encouraged the Council to ensure that all its defibrillators were registered and ready to use in an emergency. The link to the defib finder is available here

            The representative thanked the Members for their interest in promoting CPR as a life skill and improving access to life saving devices within Belfast.

            The Lord Mayor thanked the representatives for their informative presentation and they left the meeting.

            The Council noted the information.

            The Chief Executive reported that notifications had been received from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of the following changes in membership:

            UUP

·        Alderman Rodgers to replace Alderman Copeland as Deputy Chairperson of the Standards and Business Committee.

            DUP

·        Councillor Doran to replace Councillor Verner on the Planning Committee; and

·        Councillor Verner to replace Councillor Doran on the Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Hall Ltd. Shareholders’ Committee.

            The Council noted the changes.

            Moved by Councillor Black,

            Seconded by Alderman McCoubrey,

      That the minutes of the proceedings of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 16th and 26th June, omitting matters in respect of which the Council has delegated its powers to the Committee, be approved and adopted.

Addition

Review of Strategic Policy and Partnerships

Unit, Portfolio Unit and Creation of a new

Strategic Performance Unit

            At the request of Councillor R. McLaughlin, the Council agreed that a report be submitted to the August meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee providing a final update on the review of the Democratic Services Section and by September for the Equality and Diversity Section, with all staff consultations having been undertaken and the new structures agreed.

Amendment

Summer Community Festivals Programme

            At the request of Alderman McCullough, the Council agreed to convene a special meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to further discuss the Summer Community Diversionary Festivals Programme for 2023.  

Addition

Update on Contracts

      At the request of Councillor McCann, the Council agreed to award Belfast

Pride Festival 2023, the sum of £500 towards catering costs for its launch event. 

Amendment

            Belfast 2024

            Moved by Councillor R. McLaughlin,

            Seconded by Councillor McCabe, and

      Resolved:That the decision of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 26th June, under the heading “Belfast 2024”, be amended to provide that the Council agrees to proceed to progress the Partnership with the Eden Project but that all other matters be deferred to enable Party Group briefings to be held.

Amendment

Revision to the Scheme of Allowances

Moved by Councillor Nelson,

Seconded by Councillor Hanvey,

      That the decision of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 26th June, under the heading “Revision to the Scheme of Allowances” be amended to provide that the Council agrees that a review of all roles under the special responsibility allowances be undertaken.

            On a vote, eighteen Members voted for the amendment, thirty-seven against and it was declared lost.

            Update on Contracts (Provision of temporary agency workers)

            At the request of Councillor Collins, the Council agreed that a report would be submitted to a future meeting which would consider the terms and conditions of temporary agency workers.

Adoption of Minutes

      Subject to the foregoing additions and amendments, the minutes of the proceedings of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 16th and 26th June were thereupon approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor Murray,

Seconded by Councillor M. Donnelly,

      That the minutes of the proceedings of the People and Communities Committee of 13th and 26th June, be approved and adopted.

Additions

Dual Language Street Signs

      At the request of the Chairperson, Councillor Murray, the Chief Executive agreed to submit a report to a future meeting providing guidance to the Members whilst considering requests to receive deputations to Committee.

Air Quality Detailed Assessment

      At the request of Councillor de Faoite, the Council agreed that a letter be forwarded to DAERA seeking Air Quality Monitoring stations to be erected around Primary Schools.

Adoption of Minutes

      Subject to the foregoing additions, the minutes of the proceedings of the People and Communities Committee of 13th and 26th June were thereupon approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor Nic Bhranair,

Seconded by Councillor Duffy, and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee of 14th and 28th June be approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor McKeown,

Seconded by Councillor McCabe, and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the Licensing Committee of 21st June, omitting matters in respect of which the Council has delegated its powers to the Committee, be approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor Garrett,

Seconded by Councillor Verner, and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the Planning Committee of 20th June, omitting matters in respect of which the Council has delegated its powers to the Committee, be approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor Bower,

Seconded by Councillor Maghie, and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Hall Ltd. Shareholders’ Committee of 19th June be approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor R-M Donnelly,

Seconded by Councillor M. Donnelly, and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the Climate and City Resilience Committee of 15th June be approved and adopted.

            Moved by Alderman Copeland,

            Seconded by Councillor Long and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the Standards and Business Committee of 27th June, 2023, omitting matters in respect of which the Council has delegated its powers to the Committee, be approved and adopted.