Agenda and minutes

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

            The minutes of the meetings of 17th and 24th 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 3rd November.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report which provided an update in relation to the Review of Public Administration:

“1.0       Relevant Background Information

1.1       The Review of Public Administration (RPA) process is now entering into the critical stage of implementation whereby legislation is being drafted, delivery structures established and active consideration being given to the transitional arrangements to be put in place to support local government reform within Northern Ireland. 

1.2       Members will note that there have been a number of developments in regard to the RPA since the last update provided to Committee at its meeting in October 2008.

2.0       Key Issues

2.1       Members will accept that the challenge ahead cannot be underestimated and ensuring that the Council is engaged within the process is paramount to ensuring that the best interests of the citizen, the Council and wider local government sector is pursued throughout the process.

2.2       Legislative Timetable – Critical Path

2.2.1    It is important to recognise that the key driver for the RPA process over the next 6-12 months will be the need to meet the legislative timetable.  The current legislative timetable is as follows:

1.      Local Government (Contracts) Bill             July 2009

2.      Local Government (Modernisation) Bill     January 2010

3.      Local Government (Finance) Bill                 April 2010

4.      Local Government (Re-organisation) Bill  May 2011

Other key milestones in the process are as follows:

§         Final Report of Boundaries

      Commissioner                                                  June 2009

§         Report of District Electoral Area

      Commissioner                                                  July 2010

§         Local Government Elections                         May 2011

2.2.2    A briefing paper (SLB 52/2008) and associated RPA critical path timeline which had been submitted by the joint NILGA/DoE Secretariat for the consideration of the Strategic Leadership Board at its meeting on 7th November has been circulated.

2.3       Update on Policy Development Panels

2.3.1    Members will note that is intended that the initial proposals emerging from the three Policy Development Panels in regard to the necessary Primary (enabling) Legislation will be submitted for the consideration of the RPA Strategic Leadership Board at its meeting in November 2008, and subsequently submitted to the NI Assembly for consideration in advance of the proposals being issued for formal consultation (3 months period) in early 2009. 

2.3.2    Members will note further that subordinate legislation has still to be drafted which will provide greater detail around the emerging proposals and take account of the practical implementation issues.  Accordingly, it will be important that the Council continue to be actively engaged (at both elected Member and Officer level) within the Policy Development Panels and the other RPA implementation structures established (refer to point 2.4 below).

2.3.3    PDP A (Governance, Community Planning, Central-Local Government Relations) has set out its initial proposals in relation to high level governance arrangements for the new Councils, post 2011 (considering issues such as decision-making structures, proportionality, standards, codes of conduct, oversight and transparency); the framework for the council-led community planning process; and has set out the proposed framework for the formalisation of relations between central and local government i.e. establishment of a statute based  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2a

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Members may recall that the Committee, at its meeting on 21st September, 2007, approved a policy to publish Committee reports to the internet at the same time as the publication of the minutes, that is, after the monthly Council Meeting, omitting those reports which could be justifiably excluded.

      However, it is considered that the time is now right to reconsider this policy in light of the need for the tracking of Committee decisions, the Council’s commitment to openness and transparency as part of its customer focus and the anticipated forthcoming changes to Governance arrangements for the new Councils post 2011.

Key Issues

      Governance Arrangements post 2011

      The Committee will be aware of the framework which has been established to prepare for the reduction from 26 to 11 Councils in 2011.  A number of Policy Development Panels have been established by the Department of the Environment to consider different issues and one such Panel is developing protocols and procedures for Governance, Community Planning and Central/Local Relations.

      This Panel has produced a paper setting out its proposals around governance for the new Councils in which there is a clear acceptance of a high level principle of openness and transparency in decision-making.  Although there are not yet formal proposals as to how this principle should be applied to Council and Committee meetings, it seems reasonable to assume that, at the very least, Councils will be required to make their Committee reports available to the public prior to the meetings taking place.

      It is anticipated that the Council will in 2011 be required to make a policy shift to a system of publishing its Committee reports in advance of meetings and it is considered that it would be better for the Council to lead on this matter of its own accord rather than being forced to comply.  In this way, Belfast can again be seen to be leading on policy development and it will place us in a better position to influence the ultimate outcome of the consideration of governance arrangements in the run-up to 2011.

      The Council’s Commitment to Openness and Transparency

      The Strategic Policy & Resources Committee, at its meeting on 23rd May, adopted a set of recommendations of the Audit Panel in relation to a Code of Governance for the Council.  Part of that Code committed the Council to ‘taking informed, transparent decisions which are subject to effective scrutiny…..’  It is certainly the case that the simultaneous publication of Committee reports would be in line with this commitment.

      The Council is also in the process of gathering information in order to review its customer focus.  While not wishing to anticipate the outcome of the review, there would certainly be an expectation that members of the public should be provided with as much information as possible about the Council’s decision-making processes and the simultaneous publication of Committee reports would be consistent with a customer-focussed service delivery.

      Technical Considerations

      It should be remembered that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3a

            The Committee was advised that the undernoted requests for the use of the City Hall and the provision of hospitality had been received:

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.

            The Committee was advised that a request for financial assistance had been received from the Be Your Best Foundation in respect of the Belfast Rock Challenge, a drug and crime prevention event, which was scheduled to be held in the Belfast Waterfront Hall in 2009.

            The Committee was advised that legal opinion had been sought and the Council could, if it so wished, use Section 115 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 to make financial contributions of this nature.  Accordingly, it was recommended that funding in the sum of £3,000 be awarded to the Be Your Best Foundation.

            The Committee adopted the recommendation and

      Resolved – That funding of £3,000 be approved in respect of the aforementioned event under Section 115 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, it being the opinion of the Committee that the expenditure would be in the interest of, and would bring direct benefit to the District, and inhabitants of the District, with the Committee being satisfied that the direct benefits so accruing would be commensurate with the payments to be made.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to the Programme of Efficiencies for 2009/10:

“Purpose

      Policy and Resources Committee agreed that the Council will make £3.0 million efficiency savings over the period 2006/07 – 2008/09. Over this period the Director of Corporate Services has reported cash savings amounting to £3.87m. In November 2007, Strategic Policy and Resources Committee agreed a further efficiency target of £1.0m per annum for the period 2009/10-2011/12.

      The purpose of this report is to discuss the efficiency programme for 2009/10.

Relevant Background Information

      Capturing of Savings

      It is important to note that the £1,762,873 savings are cash savings. This means that they will be captured as part of the rate setting process which ensures that they are directly passed on to the ratepayer.

      Efficiency Programme 2009/10

      The table below summarises the efficiency programme for 2009/10.

      A brief description of each efficiency area is provided below.

      Insurances

      Insurance costs have been reduced from £1,552,000 in 2008/09 to £1,070,000 for 2009/10 – giving a cash saving of £482,000. This has been achieved by tendering the insurance broker services and several of the Council’s insurance policies.  This resulted in reduced broker and premium costs.

      Procurement

      The Procurement Unit carried out two reverse auctions for stationery and personal computers. A reverse auction is where suppliers bid on a real time basis for a contract. These auctions are most effective where a detailed specification can be put together in terms of volume and quality. The savings achieved for these two auctions amount to £128,723 for stationery and £105,839 for personal computers.

      Departmental Contributions

      Four departments have provided estimates for 2009/10 which in real terms show net expenditure savings. These are:

Health & Environmental Services - £770,000. These savings have been produced in the budget areas of employee costs, activity-based modelling of landfill contract costs, segregated waste and compensation claims.

CIT - £200,000. These savings have been achieved through increased rental income following rent reviews on a number of units in the Council’s industrial estates and a reduction in employee costs.

Development - £76,311 employee cost savings.

      Rates income from vacant property

      A new contribution to the efficiency programme is the work the Council has been doing to ensure that collectable rate income is maximised. Each year the Council loses millions from vacant properties. In the case of domestic properties, where a property is currently vacant no rates are paid and for non-domestic properties half the rates are paid. It is therefore in the interest of the Council to ensure that all properties defined as vacant are actually vacant. The Council’s Building Control Unit inspected around 12,000 vacant properties and found that 51% were in fact occupied. This information was passed to LPS so that rates bills could be issued. This work resulted in an additional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4b

            It was reported that, in accordance with Standing Order 55 and the authority delegated to him, the Director of Corporate Services had authorised the appointment of a number of persons who were related to existing officers of the Council.

            The Committee noted the appointments.

            (Ms. S. McCay, Head of Economic Initiatives, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 24th March, 2006, it had granted authority for the installation in the grounds of the City Hall at Donegall Square East of the 60 metre high Belfast Wheel, with a further extension for the use of the grounds for the Wheel having been agreed by the Committee on 14th December, 2007.

            The Head of Economic Initiatives advised the Members that, to date, the Wheel had been popular with visitors and attracted positive media attention.  Due to the considerable success of the project, the operators of the Belfast Wheel, World Tourist Attractions, had requested that the Council consider a further extension from the end of December, 2008 until August, 2009.  She pointed out that this would require not only Council approval but an extension to the current planning consent which would be sought from the Northern Ireland Planning Service.  There would be no additional cost to the Council.  However, the operator had agreed to pay to the Council £4,166 plus VAT per month from January to August, 2009.

            After discussion, the Committee determined that it would offer no objection to an extension until August, 2009 and agreed that further negotiations be undertaken in relation to the fees to be paid.

            (Mr. G. Wright, Head of Facilities Management, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant background information

      Members will be aware that the City Hall is one of the principal tourist destinations in Belfast, and that tour numbers have been increasing significantly in recent years. By way of illustration, in the year ended 31st March 2007 a total of 56,200 visitors took public tours of the building, up by 30% from the 43,070 visitors who took tours in the previous year.

      It is clearly important to maintain and indeed enhance the City Hall’s position as one of the premier tourist attractions in the city, however a number of factors militate against this which the current closure provides opportunities to address. The main problems are:-

·         many areas of the building are in use during the tours and consequently the art & artefacts located in these areas can’t be viewed by visitors (86% of tours could not access all areas in a recent survey);

·         the current tour route provides a somewhat disjointed view of the building;

·         the various items of historical and cultural significance are distributed throughout the building, rather than being drawn together in meaningful themes; and

·         some items would benefit by being on permanent public display.

      Consequently the Facilities Management tours staff have been working on proposals to improve the situation during the closure. In doing so they have been guided by the recommendations of the Advisory Panel on City Hall Memorabilia, approved by the Committee in February 2003.

      This Panel’s recommendations included the following:-

·         as the signing of the Covenant in 1912 was one of the most significant events in the history of Northern Ireland the Covenant table should be located in a prominent location and highlighted with appropriate signage;

·         the setting up of a ‘Freemen of the City’ exhibit. An interesting display to make history come alive should be centred around a few personalities who have been awarded the honour;

·         the Robing Room (which was considered by the Panel to be a very ‘bland’ area) should be used for displaying art & artefacts currently in storage or not in the public view; and

·         developing a photographic display or collages depicting contemporary significant figures or local achievers: the display would be of particular interest to the younger people in the city.

      While many of the short-term recommendations made by the Panel have already been implemented the above issues remain outstanding, and clearly the closure represents the best opportunity to take them forward. It is therefore proposed that the following themed areas be created within the building:

1.   the history of the City Hall (located in the marble area);

2.   our ‘Freedom of the City’ recipients (located in the Rotunda area);

3.   Belfast in the 2 World Wars (located in the Rotunda area);

4.   notable Belfast citizens (located in the Reception Hall);

5.   the Titanic & Belfast’s Lord Mayors (located in the Banqueting Hall);

6.   the civic regalia (located in the Robing Room); and

7.   display  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6b

            Northern Ireland Electricity Cable

            at Duncrue Industrial Estate

            The Members were advised that the Council was committed to the installation of an electricity cable to service the development of the North Foreshore.  The cable would link that site with the Northern Ireland Electricity Sub-Station on Skegoneill Street in order to provide and facilitate the export of electricity from the landfill gas generating plant to the national grid.  Several potential cable routes had been considered and it had been established that the most efficient and cost effective route for the Council would be predominantly over public roads.

            However, there was one location where Northern Ireland Electricity would require an easement over privately held lands.  This was in the Duncrue Industrial Estate where a plot of land in the ownership of the Council had been leased to Action Mental Health.  Under the Council’s cable provision agreement with Northern Ireland Electricity in respect of the North Foreshore the Council was liable for the cost of obtaining the easement and, following negotiations with Action Mental Health’s estate agent, compensation had been agreed in the sum of £15,000 plus reasonable agent’s and legal costs which had still to be agreed.  This would be more than compensated for by the income which was expected from the electricity which would be generated from landfill gas at the North Foreshore.

            The Committee granted approval to the Northern Ireland cable easement at Duncrue Estate.

            Acquisition of Additional Land at McCrory Park

            In accordance with Standing Order 60, the Committee was notified that the Parks and Leisure Committee, at its meeting on 14th February, had agreed to the acquisition of an additional portion of land of approximately 0.16 acres at McCrory Park at nil cost to the Council.

            Proposed Wayleave at the Waterworks

            The Committee was reminded that the former Parks and Cemeteries Services Sub-Committee, at its meeting on 7th November, 2006, had approved a number of arrangements with Cliftonville Football Club and its contractor to allow access across Council-owned lands in connection with the construction and subsequent use of a new spectators’ stand at Cliftonville Football ground.  The Council had been approached by the Club recently with a new request to provide a sewer wayleave across Council lands within the Waterworks site.  The sewers would be installed as part of the new stand development at the football ground.  The installation of the sewer across Council-owned land had been selected by the Club on the basis that it would have been more expensive for them to lay the sewer in the opposite direction through their own land and out onto a public street.  On that basis, the Estates Management Unit had negotiated a payment of £3,000 from the Club.  Installation of the proposed sewers would involve fencing the immediate surrounding area for a period of approximately two weeks.  Appropriate reinstatement of the lands would be a requirement of any agreement reached with Cliftonville Football Club.

            The Committee approved the installation at the Waterworks of a combined foul and storm  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6c

            The Committee approved the minutes of the Good Relations Partnership of 7th November.