Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Attwood and D. Browne.

            The Chief Executive reminded the Members that a Review of Public Administration Workshop had been held for Members of the Transition Committee on Monday, 17th August.  He pointed out that the Members who had been in attendance at the workshop had requested that a road map and timetable in relation to the Transition Programme be produced and accordingly this had been tabled for the information of the Members.  He pointed out that regular decisions would now be required of the Committee in relation to matters such as the transfer of functions and the allocation of resources and that reports in this regard would be submitted to the Committee in due course.

            He reminded the Committee also that the Northern Ireland Local Government Association had a major role to play in relation to the Review of Public Administration implementation process and he stressed the need for the Members of Belfast City Council to engage in decision-making in that regard.  In order to provide clarification in terms of the precise role to be played by the Council, he sought authority for the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and the Party Group Leaders to meet with the Office Bearers of the Association.

            The Committee granted the authority sought.

            The Committee noted the contents of a report which provided details in relation to the timetable for the transfer of Elected Members back to the City Hall.  The Committee noted also that it was aimed to have the political process fully operational within the building as and from Monday, 14th September.  The Committee agreed that a Members’ preview of the coffee shop/exhibition area be held following its completion.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 19th June, it had deferred consideration of a report which had indicated that the Lord Mayor did not wish to accept her personal allowance for 2009/2010 but had sought permission to reallocate an amount equivalent to the Lord Mayor’s personal allowance to the Good Relations Small Grants Scheme. 

            The Head of Committee and Members’ Services reported that the Lord Mayor had indicated that her view had not changed and that she did not wish to accept the personal allowance.  She would still like the Committee to authorise an amount equivalent to the personal allowance - £33,800 – to be allocated to the aforementioned Grants Scheme, which supported the work of local communities throughout the City on a range of Good Relations issues.

            Accordingly, it was recommended that the Committee authorise the reallocation of the Lord Mayor’s Personal Allowance for 2009/2010 to the Good Relations Small Grants Scheme, on the understanding that that would be a one-off measure and would not be taken to create a precedent.

            After discussion, it was

            Moved by Councillor Hendron,

            Seconded by Councillor P. Maskey,

      That the Committee agrees to adopt the recommendation.

            On a vote by show of hands eight Members voted for the proposal and three against and it was accordingly declared carried.

            The Committee granted authority for the commencement of a tendering exercise to invite applications for inclusion on a Select List from which tenders would be invited subsequently for the repair and maintenance of Closed Circuit Television, access control and traffic control systems at an approximate cost of £65,000 per annum for a one-year period, with the option to renew for a further two years. 

            The Committee noted that the tenders would be evaluated using pre?determined criteria.

            The Committee approved the minutes of the Budget and Transformation Panel of 14th August and adopted the following recommendations contained therein:

“Recommendations

1.   Start the Estimates 2010/11 now by carrying out a comprehensive mini budget review which will be completed by a Change Team led by the Advisor to the Budget Panel. The Team will report directly to the Budget Panel and will provide options on the following for Members to consider:

a.   Discretionary spend which may be suspended or re?aligned.

b.   Opportunities for efficiencies.

2.   Immediate actions need to be taken to secure savings for this year’s budget and which will feed into the estimates for next year. As part of this work we recommend that we do a trawl for voluntary redundancies.  Members have rightly insisted that this process of rightsizing is only carried out in full consultation with staff representatives and to high standards of Human Resources management.

3.   We continue the work to put in place the infrastructure required to deliver the recommendations with the Review of the Centre report so that they can be implemented as soon as possible after they have been agreed by Members.

4.   Develop a revised capital financing strategy so that key sources of external funding and the revenue implications of capital spend are identified.

5.   Recognise the role of Strategic Policy and Resources Committee in financial planning, the management of major projects and the capital programme. In particular Members will wish to prioritise the capital schemes emerging from the North, West, South and East conversations currently under way.

      In agreeing with the conclusions and recommendations discussed, Members stressed the seriousness of the current situation and the importance of the processes now outlined and recommended for immediate action. There was unanimous agreement on the need to move this process forward as a matter of urgency.

      The recommendations were approved and Members asked the Chief Executive to bring forward further reports on progress on a regular basis.”

            The Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to operational changes to the Security Unit:

“Relevant Background Information

      Members will be aware that, in October 2006, a special meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee considered a report setting out a number of potential options for the future size, role and cost of the in-house Security unit. After some debate, it was agreed that the unit should continue to provide services at the agreed locations on a 24/7 basis and that permanent staffing numbers should be enhanced, but that the cost of overtime must be reduced and that the necessary operational changes in order to achieve this must be identified and pursued.

      However in early 2007 the closure of the City Hall for refurbishment was announced and so, following discussions with the various trades unions, it was agreed that the implementation of these operational changes be deferred until the City Hall was once again available for occupation. In the interim, the trades unions agreed to initiate a number of changes on an interim basis, including agreement to rotate around all of the various premises and the operation of a system of ‘pool’ cover (which ensures that the first 4 occurrences of leave or sickness absence on any given day are covered in normal time at no additional cost to the unit). In return for these changes, the management side agreed to postpone dealing with a number of related issues, most notably the categorization of the posts and the removal of contractual and ‘compulsory’ overtime.

      Members will be aware that overtime is woven into the fabric of the rosters and working practices of the Security unit for a number of increasingly irrelevant historical reasons. Currently the cost of overtime annually for the unit is approaching £300,000, and 51% of this is due solely to the existence of 3 hours contractual overtime per week and the existence within the rotas of between 8 and 12 days per employee of what is referred to as ‘compulsory’ overtime on Saturdays and Sundays. All of this is in place because the unit apparently chose - for whatever reasons – not to move staff from a 40-hour working week to a standard 37?hour week in 2001, when this was introduced for the rest of the organization on foot of the national Single Status agreement. More recently, of course, the Single Status agreement negotiated by the council with the trades unions in 2007 identifies 37 hours as the agreed standard working week, and it is perfectly possible to cover the various premises on the basis of standard 37-hour shifts without the need for built-in overtime.

      Now that the re-opening of the City Hall is imminent it is necessary, in line with the agreement made with the trades unions in 2007, to finalise a package of operational and financial changes in order to regularise the position within the Security unit and bring its costs and operations – most notably in respect of overtime – under closer control.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

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

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Members will be aware that the Council’s contribution to a Safer City is achieved through its leadership role in both the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) and District Policing Partnership (DPP) as well as through the delivery of services by a number of departments.  Members have previously expressed concerns that there is considerable duplication between the work of both partnerships and consider that there should be a more integrated approach.

      Earlier this year, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Minister, Paul Goggins, consulted key stakeholders requesting views on the future delivery of the functions of both partnerships.

      The current roles of each partnership are described below:

·         The Belfast District Policing Partnership

The District Policing Partnership (DPP) consists of a Principal DPP and four geographically based sub groups.  The DPP, which is made up of both Elected and Independent Members, has statutory responsibility for community engagement on policing issues, gaining the co-operation of the public with the police in preventing crime and in monitoring the performance of the police against the targets included in the Annual and Local Policing Plans. The Northern Ireland Policing Board provides for 75% of approved expenditure incurred by the DPP which consists mostly of Members’ allowances and staff salaries.  There is also provision for the advertising and holding of a significant number of public meetings to monitor police performance and a small amount to support local initiatives.  In the 2008/09 financial year, the total contribution from the Policing Board was £383,000.

·         The Community Safety Partnership

The Belfast Community Safety Partnership (CSP) brings together representatives from various agencies and sectors to work collectively on the delivery of programmes to help make communities safer.  Each of the political parties is represented.  The CSP is working to an agreed Safer Belfast Plan for 2009–2011, which prioritises four main themes: tackling anti-social behaviour; reducing alcohol fuelled violent crime; dealing with hate crime; and helping Belfast feel safer.  The Council receives some funding from the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) on behalf of the CSP which currently includes £380,000 for programme work and £123,000 for staff per year (secured until end of March 2011). Partner agencies also make some contributions to particular programmes.

      At its meeting of 24th April 2009, the Committee agreed an interim response to the NIO consultation, which stated that it is in agreement with the principle of creating fully integrated partnerships post 2011 and on taking steps as soon as possible to more closely align the work and approaches of CSPs and DPPs.   Subsequently, on 22nd May, it agreed its more detailed response.

      In addition, a Safer City workshop was held for Members on 6th April 2009 at which a discussion took place on the steps which could be taken to more closely align the work of the two partnerships prior to 2011. There was general consensus around the following issues:

·         The CSP/DPP staff should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5b

            (Ms. J. Minne, Head of Human Resources, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee was advised that the Council’s Pandemic Plan Working Group had been working with Departments to ensure that essential Council services had robust plans in place to ensure business continuity in the event of a flu pandemic.  Mechanisms had been put in place for ongoing consultation and communication with all relevant stakeholders, including staff and trade unions.

            The main impact of the pandemic on the Council would be the absence of staff.  It would therefore be vital to ensure that the absence was managed appropriately so that its impact on the provision of vital services could be minimised.  Business continuity plans had been developed for essential services and the Council now needed to consider the way in which absence related to the Swine Flu Pandemic was managed and reported.

            Following consultation with other local Councils through the Local Government Emergency Management Group and research with the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the following was proposed:

            Reporting of Absence

            Swine Flu absence would be reported and categorised separately to all other reasons for absence.

            Management of Absence

            An absence period of up to seven calendar days due to Swine Flu or Swine Flu?like symptoms would not be taken into account for the issuing of warnings under the Council’s Absence Policy.

            It was likely also that there would be a demand for leave from staff to look after sick dependants and relatives.  The Council had a policy which made provision for special unpaid leave to enable care and responsibilities to be discharged if employees were unable to meet those responsibilities using their annual and/or flexi time leave.  It was proposed that that policy would be used in relation to staff who needed to look after dependants as a result of the pandemic.  In addition, line managers, in conjunction with Human Resources staff, could give consideration to measures which might assist by, for example, allowing adjustments to flexi-time or to annual leave provision to enable staff to draw leave from another period and explore ways to mitigate the impact of financial loss.

            The Committee approved the proposed arrangements for the reporting and management of absence related to pandemic flu and agreed that the Head of Human Resources could advise the Council’s trade unions and issue guidelines to staff managers in that regard.

            (Ms. J. Minne, Head of Human Resources, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee was advised that absenteeism for the period from April till June, 2009 was showing an average of 2.72 days lost per employee, which represented a decrease of 0.07 days per employee when compared to the same period in the previous year, when the figure had been 2.79 days.  This represented a reduction also of 0.30 days over quarter four in the previous year, which meant that the Council was on target to reduce overall sickness absence to 10.50 days by 2010/11.  It was pointed out that 75.35% of staff had had no absence during quarter one, with the number of staff with long-term sickness absence having reduced from 5.29% at the same time last year to 5.19% this year.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided.

            In accordance with Standing Order 60, the Committee was advised that the Parks and Leisure Committee, at its meeting on 12th February, had agreed to the disposal to members of the public of three portions of land at different locations across the City.  The Committee was advised that officers had been in contact with all three prospective purchasers and in respect of the land adjoining 702 Antrim Road, agreement had been reached on the terms of disposal which were as follows:

(i)      the area for disposal comprised of approximately 131 square metres;

(ii)     use of the land would be restricted to open space and to garden use in particular;

(iii)    the disposal price had been agreed at £11,250; and

(iv)    the purchasers would relocate the boundary fence at their own expense.

            The Committee approved the terms outlined.

            The Committee was reminded that the Council, as part of the City Investment Strategy, had agreed to coordinate 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 would have to 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 land owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive located at Clarawood, Bloomfield Parade and Ladas Walk had been identified as being required to complete the Greenway route and associated landscaping.  Council officers had agreed, subject to Committee approval, to purchase a 10,000 year lease from the Executive for each of the three areas of land for the sum of £5 each.

            The Committed granted approval for the purchase of the lands.

            The Committee was reminded that the North Foreshore Closure Plan discharged the Council’s statutory responsibilities in respect of the former landfill site at Dargan Road and included:

·         the execution of capping works to contain landfill gas discharge;

·         the installation of landfill gas extraction and collection wells and pipework (from which the gas was delivered as fuel for the Council’s electricity generation facility now on the site); and

·         associated civil engineering works.

            Those works were being carried out in various sections of the site under a planned, rolling programme of separate contracts with Phase 1 of the capping works and Phase 6 of the gas extraction and collection installations underway currently.  The Members were advised that for previous phases numerous reports had been submitted to the Committee for approval on an individual contract by contract basis.  However, since the content of each contract was decided on civil engineering technical assessments in the overall programmed area, it was considered that it would be more appropriate for a report to be submitted on an annual basis seeking broad approval to proceed to tender for the planned programme of works for the coming year.

            Further phases of work were planned for progression following completion of the current phases, commencing in the Autumn with Phase J Capping and Phase 7 Gas Extraction and Collection, which were required to proceed to tender immediately.  Some drainage and gas migration prevention works, which were needed to maintain the integrity of the capping, would also be required.  Contracts for each tender would be awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous offer received in terms of cost and quality and in accordance with the Council’s procurement procedures.

            The Capital Programme included the North Foreshore Closure Plan as a “Committed Project” and allowances of £5,550,000 and £6,000,000 had been made for planned capital expenditure during the 2009/10 and 2010/11 financial years.

            Accordingly, it was recommended that the Committee approve the invitation of tenders for:

(i)      the execution of capping works to contain landfill gas discharge;

(ii)     the installation of landfill gas extraction and collection wells and pipework; and

(iii)    associated civil engineering works.

            Those tenders would be required over the ensuing year as necessitated by statutory and civil engineering requirements in order to discharge the Council’s obligations.

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.

            The Committee was advised that the Sport Northern Ireland Places for Sport programme provided funding for local projects which either built new or upgraded playing surfaces.  In the first year of the funding package, proposed projects had to be in a high “state of readiness” with all relevant approvals in place in order to complete project spend by 31st March, 2010.  The programme provided up to £245,000 for capital works, to which Local Authorities had to make a contribution of approximately 25% towards the costs of the work, as well as all the design costs.

            The Park and Leisure Committee, at its meeting on 11th June, had approved the submission of an application under the fund for the upgrade of the sports hall floor at the Shankill Leisure Centre.  The Council’s application had been successful at Stage 1 of the assessment process and, accordingly, the Council had been invited to submit pre-tender information to be assessed at Stage 2.

            At its meeting on 13th August, the Parks and Leisure Committee had approved the preparation and management of a tender for the refurbishment of the sports hall and had authorised the Director of Parks and Leisure to invite applications for inclusion on a select list and appoint a contractor therefrom to undertake the project.

            A proposal for the replacement of the sports hall at the Shankill Leisure Centre had previously been submitted to the Capital Programme but had remained “uncommitted” due to the continuing uncertainty as to the affordability of capital funding.  The floor was in a poor condition and if it were not replaced in the near future it would become unusable and the main hall would have to be closed.  The timescale which had been set by Sport Northern Ireland meant that the proposal had not been through any prioritisation mechanism.  However, the later stages of the Council’s Gateway process would be applied throughout the development and delivery of the project. 

            Whilst approval by the Committee would be setting aside the agreed process for the approval of capital projects, the potential grant aid presented an opportunity to proceed with the proposal at a significantly reduced cost to the Council of approximately £50,000 against the overall anticipated cost of £163,000.  The Parks and Leisure Department had confirmed that the expenditure would be met from reallocations within the existing revenue budget and consequently no capital expenditure would be required.  However, a requirement of the grant was that the expenditure was required to be authorised by the Council’s Transition Committee, since expenditure would occur in 2010/11.

            The Committee approved the decision of the Parks and Leisure Committee to proceed with the replacement of the sports hall floor at the Shankill Leisure Centre and approved also the invitation of tenders for the works, subject to the award of grant aid from the Sport Northern Ireland Places for Sport fund, and to any contract being awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous offer in terms of cost and quality in accordance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6d

            (Mrs. H. Francey, Good Relations Manager, attended in connection with these items.)

            The Committee approved the minutes of the meeting of the Good Relations Partnership of 14th August and adopted the recommendations contained therein, including:

            Peace III Small Grants Second Call

            The approval of the reallocation of funding into the small grants fund and the issue of Letters of Offer of funding up to a maximum of £25,000 to those groups which had achieved the necessary minimum score, subject to the satisfactory completion of pre-contractual checks and a site visit and the agreement of the budget with the Peace III Programme staff.

            Peace III Procurement of a Mediation

            CapacityBuilding Programme

            The Committee approved the acceptance of a tender which had been received from Mediation Northern Ireland in the sum of £199,263 for the procurement of a mediation capacity building programme under the theme of Transforming Contested Spaces in the Belfast Peace and Reconciliation Plan.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to the use of memorabilia in the City Hall:

“Relevant Background Information

      At its meeting of June 2009, the Committee reviewed the minutes of the Commemorations and Memorabilia Working Group, and resolved that ‘the Committee noted the minutes of the meeting of the Working Group of 20th May and agreed that the Working Group be advised that no recommendations would be adopted by the Council until such times as a report on all the actions which had been agreed in relation to the location of memorabilia in the City Hall had been submitted to the Committee for consideration, thereby providing the Members with an overall view of the proposals’.

      The purpose of this report is therefore to outline the decisions already taken with regard to this matter and to provide some additional detail as requested by the Committee.

      Members will recall that, in October 2008, a report was tabled by the Head of Facilities Management in respect of the revised approach to tours and the associated impact on the proposed uses of art, artefacts and other memorabilia held by the Council. That report recommended the creation of seven principal themes, namely:-

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.      a display of civic gifts received by the city (located in the East Entrance area).

      On foot of these themes a number of items were to be used in different ways. The principal changes recommended in the report were as follows:-

·         the Covenant table will remain in the Council Chamber but would be supplemented with archive photographs of the signing of the covenant in 1912, new signage and additional historical material while tours are in progress;

·         the civic regalia including maces, chains of office and robes currently stored in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour would be moved to public view in the Robing Room;

·         the Seaman Maginess portrait would be moved from the Robing Room to the Rotunda;

·         a number of items connected with the Freedom of the City including caskets and scrolls currently in the Reception Hall and crystal in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour and silver keys currently in storage would be brought together in a display on the Rotunda;

·         the ‘No Mean City’ display (suitably updated) which was previously located on the ground floor west corridor would be moved to the Reception Hall to form the central part of a Belfast Citizens exhibit (note: location now changed to be adjacent to the new exhibition area) ;

·         a number of items connected with the history of the City Hall including the black and white photographs in the Robing Room and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7b

            Arising out of discussion in the previous item, the Committee agreed that a report in relation to the display of the portraits of the former Lord Mayors of Belfast be submitted in due course.

            The Committee was reminded that a number of years previously an Advisory Panel of external experts had been established to examine ways of achieving a more favourable balance of artworks and artefacts within the City Hall.  The Panel had made a number of recommendations and some work had been undertaken and progress had been made, including the renaming of the Committee Rooms and the commissioning of the Mary Ann McCracken bust.  More recently, the development of the coffee bar area and exhibition space had also been helpful in that respect since it focused on the contribution of the workers of Belfast and its industrial past.  However, there still remained a need for some action to be taken to try to redress the overall balance.

            The Memorabilia Working Group had discussed recently a number of possibilities and had agreed to recommend that the Committee commission two pieces of artwork, to be located in the newly refurbished East Entrance area, to improve the overall balance within the City Hall.  These were to be on the themes of:

·         boxing, which was always regarded as a cross-community sport; and

·         young people and contemporary life in Belfast.

            Discussions with groups from the Irish language community in Belfast and a possible artwork to represent the contribution of that community were continuing.

            The Good Relations Manager reported that funding was available from the Peace III Budget towards the cost of the exhibition space within the City Hall as the Peace Plan included provision for such expenditure.  This would enable the main City Hall budget to be used to commission appropriate artworks at a sum not exceeding £15,000.

            The Committee approved the recommendation of the Memorabilia Working Group to commission two pieces of artwork representing boxing and young people in the City at a cost not to exceed £15,000.

            The Committee agreed also that the Memorabilia Working Group give consideration to the means by which other sports could be represented in the City Hall.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      At the Council meeting of 2nd March, 2009, Councillor Mullaghan proposed the following Notice of Motion relating to options for reducing carbonaceous emissions from the Council’s vehicle fleet, ‘As a contribution to its climate change agenda, Belfast city Council commits to a review of the options for reducing carbon emissions from its vehicle fleet, with a view to adopting a strategy with defined targets, the report on the review to be submitted to the Council within six months.’

      The Committee, at its meeting on 20th March, adopted the Director of Health and Environmental Service’s recommendation to authorise the preparation of a preliminary high-level review of options for reducing carbonaceous emissions from the vehicle fleet.

      Vehicle Fleet background Information

      During 2008, the Council’s vehicle fleet consumed approximately 1,000,000 litres of diesel resulting in the generation of around 2,630 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).  Council has recently approved replacement of the fuel station at the main fuel storage facilities at Duncrue.  It is anticipated that the new fuel management system will enable development of fuel consumption and CO2 emission benchmarks

      Manufacturer Reporting of Vehicle Carbon Dioxide Emissions

      There is currently little European legislation requiring vehicle manufacturers to publish CO2 emission factors for commercial vehicles.  Preliminary communications suggest that the EU may adopt light commercial fleet average targets of 175g CO2/km by 2012 and 160g CO2/km by 2015.  No comparable legislation is proposed however, for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) at this time.  It should be noted however, that CO2 emissions are proportional to the amount of fuel consumed and are generally lower in modern vehicles and in those with smaller engine displacements.  In comparison to petrol, diesel vehicles have significantly lower CO2 emissions per kilometre travelled due to the higher engine efficiency.

      Governmental approach to reducing carbon dioxide emissions

      With regard to minimising CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, government has promoted a three step hierarchical approach of assessing emissions, reducing avoidable emissions and counter balancing non-avoidable emissions through offsetting.

      Council fleet vehicle emission characteristics

In the case of private and light goods vehicles, the Council operates a range of relatively low emitting diesel vehicles, generating around 140g CO2/km travelled. This emission rate is below the EU’s proposed LCV targets and also compares favourably, for example, with the ‘benchmark’ Toyota Prius, which emits 104g CO2/km travelled.

      In terms of larger box vans, the Council predominantly operates a range of vehicles with typical emissions of around 210g CO2/km travelled.

      With regard to cleansing and refuse collection vehicles, some emit around 300g CO2/km travelled whereas fully laden refuse collection vehicles could emit in excess of 600g CO2/km travelled. The majority of Council fleet vehicles are less than 5 years old.

Key Issues

      In terms of reducing CO₂ emissions from its vehicles, there is a range of measures, direct and indirect, that the Council could take as summarised below:- 

      The potential to introduce biofuels

      Biofuels deliver carbon savings as the CO  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8a