Agenda and minutes

            In the absence of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, it was agreed that Councillor Rodway take the Chair.

(Councillor Rodway in the Chair.)

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from the Chairman (Councillor D. Dodds) and the Deputy Chairman (Councillor McCann).

            The minutes of the meeting of 24th 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 5th May, subject to:

(i)     the rejection of the minute under the heading “Armed Forces Day”; the Council agreed that, in accordance with existing Council policy, the request to fly the Armed Forces Flag at the City Hall be acceded to but that the approval be for one day only;

(ii)    the rejection of the minute under the heading “Request for Funding – Common Purpose Belfast (Bursaries)”; the Council agreed to provide financial assistance of £2,000 to enable one part-fee bursary to be funded.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to a consultation document in respect of the establishment of Transition Committees in Statute:

“1.0   Relevant Background Information

1.1Members will be aware that the Environment Minister, Sammy Wilson has already accepted that Belfast City Council manages its own transition process and that the Council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee has been designated as the Transition Committee to oversee this process.

1.2The role of the Council’s Transition Committee will evolve over the coming months as it starts to lay the foundations in preparation for the new Council post May 2011. In order to do this it must have the statutory powers to make the decisions necessary to move the process forward.

1.3Accordingly, the Department of the Environment recently issued a consultation document which provides the voluntary Transition Committees with a statutory basis and sets out the proposed roles and responsibilities of this statutory committee.

1.4Members will note that, in compiling the draft Council response to the consultation document, discussions have taken place with the Director of Legal Services and Committee and Members’ Services with regards to the legal and operational implications of the proposals put forward. The deadline for the submission of responses to the consultation document is 31st May 2009.

2.0Key Issues

2.1Clearly Belfast is in a different position to its local government counterparts as it will not be merging within another Council but rather merely assimilating relatively small geographical areas of Castlereagh and Lisburn within its boundary and, therefore, many of the proposals contained within the consultation document should not apply to Belfast.  The special circumstances of BelfastCity Council are referred to within the consultation document.

2.2The release of this consultation document is very timely given the fact that the Transition Committees and the Transition Management Teams have been established and, in many instances, are in the process of developing a programme of work to support the RPA transition process which should take account of the evolving role of the Transition Committee.   

2.3The consultation document sets out proposals in regard to:

§         roles and responsibilities of the Statutory Transition Committee;

§         the size and membership of the Transition Committees;

§         mechanisms to ensure proportionality in terms of membership;

§         governance arrangements including the appointment of Chairs and Vice-Chairs;

§         mechanisms to enable decisions to be ‘called-in’;

§         code of conduct for Members on the Transition Committee;

§         meetings of the Transition Committee to be open to the public;

§         future role of the Local Government Staff Commission in supporting RPA transition;

§         transition Committees having a power of approval over budgets of constituent Councils in the year preceding the coming into operation of the new Council so as to ensure that constituent Councils do not act in a manner which would have an adverse impact on the incoming new Council; and

§         the provision of a Power of Direction to the Department to step in where a Transition Committee is failing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2a

            (Mrs. S. Wylie, Head of Environmental Health, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      The Committee will recall that a number of measures are being put in place to bring about better integration of the Council’s contribution to the SaferCity Agenda. This includes closer working between the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) and District Policing Partnership (DPP) as well as a more joined up approach to the delivery of services by a number of departments. 

      At its meeting of 24th April 2009, the Committee was provided with information on the outcome of the safer city workshop for Members held on 6th April 2009.  The actions arising from this workshop included bringing together DPP and CSP staff under one Service and management structure, putting in place a single point of contact within the Council and developing mechanisms for better aligning the work of the DPP and CSP in terms of planning, engagement, monitoring and delivery.   Further reports are to be brought back to the Committee as each of these elements is developed further.

      The Committee also agreed at this meeting to provide an interim response to the NIO’s recent consultation document ‘Local Partnership Working on Policing and Community Safety: a way forward’, stating that it is in agreement with the principle of creating fully integrated partnerships in the longer term and on taking steps as soon as possible to more closely align the work and approaches of CSPs and DPPs.

      This report provides Members with an update on the steps taken to improve the internal co-ordination of those services which contribute to making Belfast Safer.  These Services include:

·         Community Safety,

·         Cleansing Services,

·         Good Relations,

·         Community Services,

·         Parks & Leisure Services,

·         Noise Team,

·         Dog Wardens, and

·         Building Control (licensing).

      The Council also plays a lead role in a range of multi-agency forums with a direct link to community safety, which in addition to the CSP and DPP includes the Good Relations Partnership, the Healthy Aging Strategic Partnership, the Young Peoples Steering Group, the Get Home Safe Partnership, the Holyland Interagency Steering Group, etc. 

      An internal senior officer group, known as the Safer City Group has been set up to ensure co-ordination across these services and partnerships.  The Group has developed a Safer City Framework and action plan to assist it in bringing about a ‘one council’ approach and to ensure that resources devoted to community safety are better co-ordinated and used to best effect.

Key Issues

      The Safer City Framework and action plan will allow the Council to rationalise, oversee and lead the co-ordination of resources, project delivery and the performance and management of the safer city agenda.  Implementing the Framework will also ensure clear linkages between the above partnership structures, bringing about synergies between them and avoiding duplication. The document is appended to this report.

      The 2009/2010 Safer City Plan (which is internal to BCC) will focus on a number of key areas, with an emphasis on putting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3a

            (Mrs. S. Wylie, Head of Environmental Health, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to the pilot fuel stamp scheme:

“Relevant Background Information

      The officer group facilitating the All Party Reference Group on older people has developed an action plan around the delivery of council services to older people. The plan is designed to facilitate a one council approach by both building on existing services and, where possible, identifying new or innovative ways of meeting the needs of older people.

      One of the principal areas of concern is around fuel poverty and the impact that it has on older people in particular, which is obviously made more likely by the current economic downturn.  A household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain an acceptable level of temperature throughout the home, the occupants would have to spend more than 10% of their income on all household fuel use.

      The officer group therefore suggested that the Council could operate a savings scheme for fuel oil similar to ones that were already operating in certain other district councils. The principle of such a scheme is a relatively simple procedure whereby members of the public are given a card, on request, by a participating retailer or other outlet and they can buy stamps, at £5 each, which they then place on the card and are able to build up credit that will be accepted by specific participating oil companies towards their fuel bills.

      It was recognised however that a fuel stamps scheme operating across the whole of the BelfastCity Council area would be of significantly greater magnitude than any of the existing council schemes. In order therefore to measure its feasibility and the potential resource implications of a comprehensive scheme it was suggested that it should be piloted, in the first instance, in a defined area of the city. 

      At its meeting of 24th October 2008 the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee recommended ‘…the piloting of a “Fuel Stamps” scheme by the Council, in partnership with NEA, with a view to rolling it out across the city and that it approves expenditure on this project under section 115 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972’.

      The Committee also noted that a review of the pilot scheme would be undertaken after the winter period.

      A pilot scheme has now been operating in an area of North Belfast since 8th January 2009. A small team continues to project manage the scheme and has carried out an evaluation of the first 3 months from January to March 2009.

      The evaluation report is now available and provides detail on the delivery of the project, operational issues, stakeholder surveys and resources.

Key Issues

      It is estimated that over 38% of households in Belfast are currently in fuel poverty.  To help people, particularly older people, budget for expensive winter oil bills, a pilot fuel stamps scheme has been operating successfully in North Belfast since 8th  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3b

            (Mr. W. Francey, Director of Health and Environmental Services, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Following the recent emergence of a new strain of Influenza A (H1N1) in Mexico the World Health Organisation (WHO) is co?ordinating the global response and monitoring the threat of an influenza pandemic.  WHO has categorised the prevailing circumstances as being at alert level 5 on a 6 point scale.  This does not indicate that progression to a full pandemic is inevitable although this appears increasingly likely.

      At national level the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) has been activated and meetings are being held daily to co?ordinate the national response.  These meetings are chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and attended by Minister McGimpsey and his counterparts from Wales and Scotland.

      The purpose of this report is to inform Members of the steps already taken to prepare the Council to cope with the situation where there is a risk of major disruption in circumstances such as a pandemic and of the ongoing review of these arrangements. 

Key Issues

      Since 2007 the council has had in place a specific corporate contingency plan (Strategic Pandemic Plan) to cope with a pandemic situation.  This overall plan provides a framework and addresses issues such as:

·         The external groups necessary to ensure that infrastructure and resources were in place to provide services.

·         Action to be taken by the council at each of the 6 alert levels.

·         The critical services necessary in a pandemic.

      This strategic plan is supported by individual pandemic contingency plans for critical public services such as refuse collection, cemeteries and some environmental health functions.  All Services also have more general business continuity plans.  All of these are subject to regular review and appropriate desk?top testing.

      A meeting at which all Council departments were represented on 28 April initiated an immediate review of these plans to ensure that they can be implemented at short notice.  This was to include revisiting the actions at each level, considering any current resource or training needs and also ensuring that stated actions within the plans are still relevant in line with the officially recommended best practice.  In addition, the strategic plan itself was to be reviewed to ensure that it meets current best practice.  Two further meetings have taken place to oversee the review of the Strategic Pandemic Plan and, in parallel with this, a communications group has been established to ensure that relevant advice issued by central Government is communicated effectively across the organisation.  This group is also ensuring that arrangements are in place to meet the requirements of Members to be kept informed, especially in circumstances where there is potential service disruption.

      The initial focus of internal staff communications has been on providing reassurance that the council has been preparing for such events for some time.  General advice on personal, preventive measures has been issued by email with links to information on Interlink and has  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3c

            The Committee considered a report in relation to the location for the holding of the Council’s Annual General Meeting on 1st June and agreed, due to the ongoing works and refurbishment of the City Hall, that the meeting take place in the Council Chamber, Third Floor Adelaide Exchange, Adelaide Street.

            The Committee was advised that it had been the practice for the Entertainment and Personal Allowances paid to the Lord Mayor, the Deputy Lord Mayor and the High Sheriff to be reviewed annually.  The Lord Mayor’s Personal and Entertainment Allowances for the year 2008/2009 were £33,200 and £24,700 respectively.  The Deputy Lord Mayor’s and the High Sheriff’s Entertainment Allowances had each been £700 and the Personal Allowance of both Office Bearers was £5,000.

            The Personal and Entertainment Allowances should take into account increases in the cost of living and it was recommended that the Committee approve the increasing of the Lord Mayor’s Personal and Entertainment Allowances and the Deputy Lord Mayor’s and the High Sheriff’s Personal and Entertainment Allowances in accordance with the Consumer Price Index as at 1st June, 2009.

            The Committee adopted the recommendation.

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Panel of 28th April.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 24th April, it had considered a report in relation to the establishment of a term agreement (“call?off contract”) for the maintenance and erection of alleygates.  At that meeting, certain concerns had been raised by a number of Members in relation to the proposal and, following advice having been given by the Director of Legal Services, the Committee had agreed that consideration of the award of the contract be deferred to permit a further report to be submitted concerning the processes which had been followed in relation to the tendering exercise.

            The Director of Legal Services reported that he had since met with the relevant officers in order to review the processes which had been undertaken in relation to the tender exercise.  During the review, it had become apparent that there had been an oversight in the process in so far as a report had been submitted to the Committee only at the stage following the invitation and scoring of tenders, rather than, as would be the usual case, prior to tenders being advertised.  The oversight had been due to human error.  However, the Director had reviewed the procedure which had been undertaken in relation to the assessment of the tenders which had been received and he was satisfied that the process had been undertaken in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner and therefore complied with best practice in terms of procurement procedures.  In addition, there was nothing in the scoring exercise which would give any rise for concern on that particular aspect.  The tender which had been submitted by the Red Sky Group had been evaluated as the most economically advantageous submission, on the basis of price and quality, and Red Sky had, in fact, a good performance record with the Council, including work which had been undertaken in relation to previous alleygating schemes for the Council.

            Accordingly, from the review of the exercise relating to the scoring of the tenders, there had been nothing to suggest that there were any grounds for reviewing the recommendation to establish a term contract with Red Sky.  He stressed however, that in the event that the successful tenderer should at some stage in future perform unsatisfactorily, the term contract agreement allowed for the Council to decide not to award any further work to that contractor.

            The Committee was recommended to note the information which had been provided and to enter into the recommended term agreement with the Red Sky Group, subject to the completion of the formal legal documentation.

            The Committee adopted the recommendation.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 23rd January, it had approved a recommendation to initiate a recruitment process to fill on a permanent basis the vacant post of Head of Human Resources.  The post had been publicly advertised in March, 2009 and the process managed, on behalf of the Council, by the Local Government Staff Commission for Northern Ireland.

            The Chief Executive reported that eleven applications had been received and, following shortlisting, nine applicants had been invited to attend an Assessment Centre.  As a result, two applicants had been invited to attend for final interview.  Following the interviews, the selection panel had recommended unanimously the appointment of Mrs. Jill Minne on the appropriate point of the salary band therefor.

            The Committee adopted the recommendation and approved the appointment of Mrs. Jill Minne to the post of Head of Human Resources with effect from 1st June, 2009.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to the Shaftesbury Community and Recreation Centre:

“Purpose of the Report

      To advise the Committee of a situation which has developed in relation to the carrying out of extension works at the Shaftesbury Recreation Centre (SRC) and steps which have been taken by the Director of Legal Services in order to protect the Council’s legal interests. 

Relevant Background Information

      The land upon which the SRC is situated was acquired by the City Council in 1980.  At that time there were old industrial buildings on the site which were subsequently, apparently, bulldozed into the ground as part of the demolition exercise.  It now appears that the material which was crushed into the ground included an old corrugated asbestos roof, comprising of white asbestos material, which is relatively low risk but is nevertheless required to be dealt with under current legislation as a hazardous material.

      In October 2000, the Recreation Centre and adjoining ground was leased for a ten year term to the Lower Ormeau and Markets Community Forum, with the building being managed as a community/recreation centre by the Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group (LORAG).  LORAG subsequently approached the Council seeking a longer lease in order to allow it to carry out a major scheme of alteration and extension works to the centre and the Council agreed to grant an extended lease of twenty-five years, running from February 2009, for the purpose of facilitating the scheme.  The cost of the scheme is approximately £1.7M plus fees and VAT, and LORAG applied for and received a suite of funding from Sport NI (SNI) and DSD/BRO.

      When the construction works commenced in January 2009, fragments of the white asbestos material (the presence of which was hitherto unknown) were discovered in the course of the excavations for the ground beams at the rear of the site. 

      The consultants involved in the project were then tasked with costing the excavation, testing and removal of the contaminants from the site and the costings which they have produced currently amount to £96,500, although this figure does not include VAT and fees, so that the gross additional cost could potentially amount to a sum of approximately £120,000. 

      The main difficulty which has arisen as a result of the discovery of the contaminants has been in relation to the funding viability of the scheme, given budgetary constraints which SNI and DSD/BRO are operating under and, at one stage, the entire scheme was under clear threat of having to be closed down.

      However, discussions then ensued between the statutory agencies, namely the Council, SNI and DSD/BRO in an endeavour to ensure that the works could proceed at the minimum additional cost and on the basis that all parties agreed to work together in order to find a solution to dealing with the question of the additional costs.

      A proposal has now been tentatively agreed that, as between SNI/DSD on the one hand and BCC on the other hand, it is agreed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7a

            The Committee was reminded that the Council, as part of its City Investment Strategy, had agreed to co-ordinate the acquisition of lands to enable the Connswater Community Greenway Programme to proceed.  The Council would secure rights over the land needed for the Greenway and would be responsible for the management and maintenance of that land and any assets on it.  The Greenway must be accessible for 40 years to comply with the Big Lottery Fund letter of offer, although the intention was to secure rights for longer if possible.

            It was reported that an area of 44.48 square metres immediately south of the Mersey StreetBridge had been identified as being required to provide the Greenway route along that part of the Connswater River.  Council officers had agreed, subject to Committee approval, to purchase the freehold interest in the land from the Neill family for £750.  The land which was being acquired from the Neill family formed a critical link from the Mersey StreetBridge to existing Council-owned open space and would enable the construction of a three-metre-wide path along that part of the Connswater River.

            The Committee granted approval to the purchase of the land at a cost of £750 plus legal fees.  The Committee noted that the land purchase cost for the Connswater Community Greenway budget had been included in the City Investment Fund and therefore there would be no additional costs to the Council.