Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Adamson, Attwood, M. Browne, W. Browne and Convery.

            The minutes of the meetings of 7th and 21st August 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 September, subject to:

(i)    the omission of that portion of the minute of the meeting of 7th August under the heading “Consultation on Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill” in so far as it related to the Council’s response to Part 1 of the Bill (Contracts and Compulsory Purchase) which, at the request of Councillor Crozier, had been taken back to the Committee for further consideration;

(ii)    the amendment of the minute of the meeting of 7th August under the heading “Department of the Environment Consultation on Planning Reform” to provide that a meeting of the Council’s Belfast Flooding Members’ Group be convened as a matter of urgency to discuss the recent flooding in the City;

(iii)   the amendment of the minute of the meeting of 7th August under the heading “Policy and Procedures for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults” to provide that consideration be given to the requirement to provide appropriate training for Elected Members and that a report thereon be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee;

(iv)  the amendment of the minute of the meeting under the heading “Request for the use of the City Hall and the Provision of Hospitality” to provide that the Belfast Education and Library Board be granted free use of the City Hall and be provided with civic hospitality up to a maximum of £1,000; and

(v)   the amendment of the minute of the meeting of 21st August under the heading “Options for Reducing Carbonaceous Emissions from the Council’s Vehicle Fleet” to provide that the report to be submitted to the Committee contain details of the financial implications for the Council of any proposals in both the short and longer terms.

            The Committee noted that this matter, which had been referred back by the Council at the request of Councillor Crozier, would be considered at the meeting of the Committee scheduled to be held on 18th September.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      At the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee in August, Members were informed that the financial position of the council had worsened due to factors beyond its control. This would likely lead to a very difficult budget process for 2010/11. In order to manage this position the Committee agreed to conduct a comprehensive mini budget review which would:

·         Identify the likely financial position at the end of the current financial year;

·         Review all budget heads to identify areas where expenditure is unlikely to happen or where underspends are likely;

·         Identify options for political consideration for reducing expenditure both in 2009/10 and 2010/11; and

·         Produce a high level budget strategy and projection for 2010/11.

·         At the same Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting it was also agreed to initiate a trawl for voluntary redundancies so that rightsizing could be considered in the context of the mini budget review.

      The purpose of this report is to:

·         Provide a timeline for the completion of the comprehensive mini budget review.

·         Propose an approach to the implementation of the voluntary redundancy exercise and agree the principles which will apply to the process.

Key Issues

      Budget Review

      A budget review group has been established to complete the comprehensive mini budget review. It is proposed that the work of this group will be reported to the cross party Budget and Transformation Panel in early October and then to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee later the same month. This means that Members will be afforded more time to consider potential options for the setting of the rate for 2010/11. A more detailed timeline is provided at appendix one. It is also recommended that the budget review group is tasked with providing options on how best the financial implications of the voluntary redundancy exercise, which is discussed in the next section of this report, may be addressed.

      In addition to the comprehensive mini budget review, there are a number of efficiency projects happening in the council. The savings emanating from this work need to be agreed in time for these to be considered as part of the estimate setting process for 2010/11. The review of the centre is one of the key efficiency projects which has the potential to generate significant savings. A separate report on this work will be considered at today’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting.

      Voluntary Redundancies

      A key aim of the Review of the Centre report is the need in the current economic climate to provide greater value for money.  One of the key efficiency measures which will have to be considered is staffing costs and the requirement to consider proportionate measures to reduce these costs in the short term without adversely affecting front line service delivery to the public.  In order to rightsize the organisation consideration should be given to voluntary redundancies.

      It is essential that the initiation and implementation of the voluntary redundancy exercise is managed effectively and consistently on agreed principles.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3a

            The Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to the governance of major projects:

“Relevant Background Information

      In an increasingly challenging financial environment, the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee has recognised the need for greater organisational controls over the main financial risks within the Council.  One of the biggest risks is the authorisation of spend on major projects and the governance of the project to ensure it is delivered on time and on budget.

      In November 2008, the Local Government Auditor noted in his Annual Report that the Council had identified the governance of major projects such as Connswater Community Greenway, the new cemetery, Titanic Signature project and large capital builds as a key risk for the organisation.  Such projects run financial risks of millions of pounds, through various factors, such as ill-defined decision making processes and paths, variation control, an aggressively litigious procurement environment as well as the normal risks to physical projects such as contamination, planning delay and so on that result in time, cost and specification underperformance.  The need for Council to work increasingly with partners in delivering potential city-wide projects, e.g. Crusaders/Newington Sports Village, Tommy Patton/Blanchflower development and potential North, South, East and West projects etc., only adds to the above risk and ultimately to the Council’s reputation and credibility.

      As part of the debate on the corporate plan at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee in June 2009, the Chief Executive informed Members that a review of the arrangements in place to deliver major projects had been commissioned to ensure that the role of the Committee in ensuring delivery and budget was assured.

      The purpose of this report is to present to Members the findings of this review and to make a number of recommendations for improvement.  The review was carried out by a leading firm in this field – Drivers Jonas. 

Key Issues

      The review examined the current arrangements in the council for managing major projects.  Major projects were defined at the outset as those projects which significantly affect the Council’s budget, reputation and/or operation.

      The key findings of the review are a follows:

·         The current governance arrangements for major projects are fragmented across the council and this is due to the responsibility for projects resting across difference departments and committees.

·         The skills which the organisation need to bring together to make significant projects work currently sits across at least three departments.

·         The role of Strategic Policy and Resource Committee in relation to cost control and oversight of project governance needs to be clarified and strengthened.

·         The officer with whom overall responsibility rests for a particular project is not always clear.

·         There is a lack of coherence in dealing with external parties.

·         New governance arrangements are needed to ensure the most effective use of limited resources.

·         Clearer roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for major projects need to be established.

      Drivers Jonas have made a number of recommendations which are in line with the recommended government best practice guidance which is known as, ‘Office  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4a

            (At this point in the meeting all officers present, with the exception of the Chief Executive, the Director of Legal Services and the Head of Human Resources, left the room whilst this item was discussed.)

            The Chief Executive submitted for the Committee’s consideration the undernoted report in relation to the Review of the Centre of the Organisation:

“Relevant Background Information

1.     Members will recall receiving a report at their meeting on 19 June 2009 in relation to the review of the centre of the organisation.  A copy of this report is attached at Appendix 1.  As this report made clear, the aim of the review is to set at a high level the creation of an effective corporate centre that fully supports the Council’s requirements whilst at the same time providing value for money.

2.     In essence the review of the centre is a rolling programme of reviews involving those parts of the organisation that provide support to frontline services.  This includes Corporate Services, including HR, ISB, Audit, Risk and Governance, and Business Improvement; the Council Improvement Unit; Legal Services; and Members’ Services.

3.  The most urgent priority for the review is to establish a programme of work which seeks to provide solutions in relation to:

§         How savings can be delivered at the centre of the organisation with a minimal effect on frontline service provision which will aid the Council’s financial ability to maintain a low rate and provide resources to fund its capital programme aspirations.

§         Providing the Council with an organisational structure at senior officer level to support implementation arrangements for the Review of Public Administration and ensuring that the organisation is fit to deliver post RPA.

Key Issues

4.     At present the Chief Officers’ Management Team is in transition with a newly appointed Director of Finance and Resources due to take up her post on 1 November 2009 and a recruitment exercise underway for a new Director of Development following the present Director’s resignation.  In addition, the Director of Health and Environmental Services will be eligible to retire from Christmas onwards and finally two of the present Directors are employed on an interim basis with one of them responsible for an interim departmental structure.

       In addition, the human resource impacts of the Review of Public Administration are about to take real effect.  Negotiations are presently underway at a regional level on the arrangements for moving Councils from their present staffing structure to the staffing structures which will need to be put in place for the new Councils post 2011.  Whilst Belfast City Council is not merging with another Council, there is a real risk that Council staff will be encouraged to apply for new posts in the new Councils given that they will be larger organisations with bigger budgets.  It is therefore vital that the Council establishes as early as possible permanent positions for its senior staff to ensure continuity of delivery and leadership up to May 2011.

5.   The Committee also considered the implementation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

            The Committee was advised that, following the recent Review of Public Administration Workshop which had been held for the Members of the Committee on 17th August and the subsequent circulation of a roadmap/timetable, a more detailed management implementation plan had been developed.  It was intended that the initial plan would form the basis of a Forward Work Plan for the Committee, setting out those important Review of Public Administration related issues which needed to be taken forward.

            The Chief Executive pointed out that, inevitably, the level of Review of Public Administration related activity would grow in intensity and scope throughout the transition period and that its management and delivery must be adequately resourced and co-ordinated.  The Chief Officers were committed to supporting the Transition Committee in its role in driving forward the transition process and ensuring that appropriate implementation structures were in place.  It was important to recognise that within every change process there would be uncertainty and unforeseen circumstances would inevitably arise.  Planning was a process of constant review, re-prioritisation and the refining and refocusing of effort and resources in line with shifting demands and needs.  Whilst Council officers would plan ahead in terms of what was needed, the Transition Plan should be viewed as a live document which would be updated continually to enable changes to be managed in the external programme of work or to take account of important ad-hoc issues as they arose.

            The Chief Executive explained that monthly progress update reports would be submitted for the consideration of the Committee, with an assessment against targets which would be illustrated through the use of the traffic light (red, amber, green) performance model.  That would provide Members with a clear indication of the degree of progress of each key strand of work and would flag up any issues/areas of concern.

            Key Milestones

            Some of the short-term indicative milestones in the Review of Public Administration process were as follows:

            September, 2009

·         a draft communications and engagement plan would be submitted to the Committee for consideration;

·         a draft response to the reform of the Northern Ireland Planning System would be submitted also;

·         a Belfast public consultation event entitled “Reform of the Northern Ireland Planning System” was scheduled to be held on 11th September;

·         final Ministerial agreement around the transfer of functions and the reconfiguration of local government boundaries; and

·         consultation on the draft Local Government (Reorganisation) Bill, which would dictate significantly the future shape and operation of Councils post-Review of Public Administration;

October, 2009

·         a staff vacancy control system would be introduced which would impact upon the filling of new posts within the existing 26 Councils; and

·         a draft response to the Local Government (Finance) Bill would be submitted to the Committee.

November, 2009

·         the development and role-out of the Council’s Capacity Building Programme for staff and Elected Members; and

·         a draft response to the Local Government (Reorganisation) Bill would be produced.

January/February, 2010

·         the Voluntary Transition Committees would become Statutory;

·         a Members’ Severance Scheme would be agreed; and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6a

            The Committee was reminded that, following a request which had been received from the Lisburn/Castlereagh Transition Committee to meet with the Council to discuss concerns in regard to the Review of Public Administration transition process, the Committee, at its meeting on 19th June, had agreed that an All-Party delegation consisting of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, the Party Group Leaders on the Committee (or their nominees) and the Chief Executive be authorised to meet with the Lisburn/Castlereagh Transition Committee.

            The Chief Executive reported that a meeting in this regard had taken place on 25th August.  At that meeting, which had been very constructive, there had been a clear consensus around a number of common aims in relation to the Review of Public Administration transition process, including:

·         ensuring that the best interests of both the citizen and staff were pursued;

·         ensuring that service continuity was maintained or improved;

·         seeking to moderate potential impact on the rate resulting from the reform process; and

·         ensuring, as far as possible, a seamless Review of Public Administration Transition.

            While there had been a recognition that there still remained some uncertainty around the final decision of the Environment Minister and the Northern Ireland Executive in regard to the new local government boundaries, it was agreed that both Transition Committees needed to work in partnership to consider and plan for those areas of mutual concern so as to ensure a successful and smooth transition from the old to the new Councils.  It was the consensual view that any initial work would not be nugatory.

            General discussions had taken place in relation to some of the key issues which needed to be explored in detail, for example, staffing, convergence, operational/service delivery, aligning financial planning processes, the transfer of assets and liabilities and joint communications.  However, it had been agreed that the inaugural meetings should be very much focused on familiarisation among both Transition Committees and the agreement of a process to enable detailed consideration and discussions around the aforementioned issues to take place in the near future.

            At the meeting, it had been agreed that:

(i)       a further joint meeting be convened in two months time, that is, late October, at which a schedule of future meetings would be agreed;

(ii)      the venue of the meetings to be rotated around the three Council offices, with the next meeting in October to be held in the City Hall, Belfast;

(iii)     the host Transition Committee would chair the joint meeting; and

(iv)     a joint officer team would be tasked with working-up a detailed agenda for the meeting around the key issues for discussion and preparing relevant supporting reports which would set out potential options and any associated consequences.

            There had been recognition of the special circumstances which existed between Lisburn City, Castlereagh Borough and Belfast City Councils in regard to the Review of Public Administration transition/converging process and concerns had been raised in relation to the absence of any clear guidance from the Department of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6b

            The Chief Executive advised the Members that correspondence had been received from the Minister of the Environment seeking the views of the Transition Committees on the proposed names for the eleven new local government districts before the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner’s Final Report was considered by the Executive in the Autumn.

            The Committee agreed that the Minister be advised that the Council wished to retain its current name, that is, Belfast City Council.