Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Hargey and Jones. 

            The minutes of the meeting of 21st March were taken as read and signed correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st April. 

            No declarations of interest were reported. 

            The Chairman reminded the Members that the next meeting of the Committee was scheduled to be held on 18th April which was Good Friday and requested the Committee to consider moving the meeting to the following week. 

            The Committee agreed that the next scheduled meeting of the Committee be rearranged and held at 10.00am on Friday, 25th April.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0  Background

1.1At the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 13th December 2013, Members were updated on the three possible forms of governance available to new councils as provided for in Part 5 of the Local Government Bill: (a) executive arrangements (either cabinet or streamlined committee); (b) a traditional committee system; or (c) prescribed arrangements. 

1.2At the meeting, Members agreed on a process of engagement, to facilitate discussions on potential new political management arrangements for the operation of the new council during the Shadow period (May 2014 – March 2015).

1.3Party Group briefings took place in January 2014, facilitated by Jonathan Huish from the Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise (IESE), at which Members explored the issues associated with each model. Jonathan Huish provided feedback to the Committee at its meeting on 7th February where it was agreed that officers should work with the Governance Steering Panel to develop options for possible committee structures for the Shadow period based on a more streamlined traditional committee system.  These options would then be discussed with party groups before a final report was brought back to SP&R and STC in April.

1.4This report therefore sets out recommendations on the proposed interim governance arrangements for the shadow period June 2014 – March 2015.

2.0Existing Council

2.1In considering arrangements for the Shadow Council, Members firstly discussed the governance structures for the existing council, as both structures will operate simultaneously from June 2014 to March 2015. 

2.2The Annual Meeting of the existing council has been scheduled for Monday 2nd June 2014, where the Council will appoint a Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor and committee membership for the period ending on 31st March 2015.  The current council will have to oversee the work of the departments as laid out in the departmental plans and revenue estimates and it is therefore recommended that the current committee structures remain in place during this period to fulfil this function.  As the year progresses, depending on the volume of business, it may be possible to review the frequency of meetings of these committees to free up members time. 

2.3Members will be aware that the committees are supported by a large number of working groups (details of committee and working group meeting is attached at Appendix 1).  Given the demands on Members’ time in the shadow period it is recommended that a review of the working groups is undertaken with a view to reducing the number where possible.

3.0The Role of The Shadow Council

3.1While the current council will continue to oversee day to day delivery of service the Shadow council will work to prepare the organisation for the adoption of full functions, powers and responsibilities in April 2015.  A consultation document on regulations for the shadow period has been released which sets out the requirements of the Shadow Council up to April 2015.  A summary of key actions is set out below

            The Democratic Services Manager submitted for the Committee’s consideration the under noted report which provided an update in relation the arrangements for the Local Elections to the Shadow Belfast District Council:

“1  Relevant Background Information

      Members will be aware that the Local Elections to the Shadow Belfast District Council will be held on 22nd May, 2014.  The poll will be a joint one with the European Parliamentary Election.

2    Key Issues

      The timetable for the Local Elections has been circulated and sets out the various dates and deadlines which will be of interest to candidates standing for election.

      Members are asked to note that the election will be to the new Belfast District Council and this is the wording that will be required to be used on ballot papers and on election banners etc around the City Hall on the days of the counts.  This is because the names of the 11 new Councils were set out in the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 and in our case the name chosen was Belfast District Council.  It will be a matter for the Shadow Council to determine if it wishes to change the name of the new Council back to a City.

      Nomination Process

      The Notice of Election will be placed in the Belfast Telegraph, Irish News and News Letter newspapers on Monday 14th April.  The delivery of nomination papers must be made between the hours of 10.00am and 4.00pm on 15th, 16th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 28th April and between the hours of 10.00am and 1.00pm on 29th April.  As in previous elections, we will be using the Lavery Room for the receipt of nomination papers.

      Parties are requested to reserve a date and time for the lodging of their papers as the process can take quite some time to complete and this will assist in ensuring that the Deputy Returning Officer (Peter McNaney) or one of the Assistant Returning Officers (Stephen McCrory and Jim Hanna) are available to receive the papers.  It would be of significant assistance if Parties were to submit the papers in draft initially so that the details can be checked and any required amendments made in advance of the formal submission.

      Nomination papers, consent to nomination papers etc are contained within the Guide to Candidates document which may be obtained from the Electoral Office website at http://www.eoni.org.uk/getmedia/29aa50ee-c6fb-49e3-bb91-8161c1aebd3e/Local-Council-Election-22-May-2014-Guide-for-Candidates-(final).  For convenience, copies of the forms are attached as Appendices to the report or may be obtained from the Democratic Services offices in the City Hall upon request.

      Members are reminded that no cameras will be permitted within the Lavery Room during the nomination process.

      Date of Poll

      The poll will be taken between the hours of 7.00am and 10.00pm on Thursday, 22nd May, 2014.  Members are reminded that this will be a joint poll with the election to the European Parliament.

      Overnight Verification of Unused Ballot Papers

      Following the close of poll on 22nd May, the ballot boxes for the 10 District  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

            The Director of Property and Projects sought the Committees authority to seek tenders and award contracts for the following:

            The Committee granted approval to seek tenders for the above categories using pre-determined evaluation criteria which would include both quality and cost.  The Committee noted that the Director of Property and Projects, in accordance with the authority delegated to him, would be awarding the contracts to the most advantageous tenders received. 

            The Committee was reminded that the public building hotspots strand of the super-connected Belfast programme had been allocated £2.35million to fund the installation of wireless/Wi-Fi equipment into buildings regularly visited by members of the public.  The funding covered broadband connections to the building, equipment, wiring and the cost of installation.  The Director of Finance and Resources reported that, in order to facilitate an EU procurement for the hotspot strand, the results of the site surveys were required to form part of the Council’s specification requirements which were due to be submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport based on an agreed project plan for the week commencing 12th May, 2014.  The site surveys would document physical building layouts, unique building features and electric and network cabling requirements.  Market research based on feedback from several supplies had indicated that the value of the survey work would be less than the £30,000 tender threshold and a quotation exercise had been undertaken.  However, only two of the six parties invited to quote had responded, with the cost of both submissions coming in over the threshold. 

            He explained that, following advice from the Council’s procurement service, the Committee now had two options:

(i)   As the value of the contract was over the tender threshold of £30,000, authority could be sought to undertake a new tender exercise (that would take a minimum of 4 weeks, which was the time currently allocated for the site surveys to be completed); or

(ii)  The Committee could approve an exception to standing orders and choose a successful supplier from the original quotation. 

            The Committee agreed to adopt option 2 and authorised the completion of the original site survey procurement without the requirement to re-tender.

            (With the exception of the Assistant Chief Executive/Head of Human Resources and the Senior Democratic Services Officer, all other officers left the meeting whilst this item was under discussion.)

            The Assistant Chief Executive/Head of Human Resources submitted for the Committees’ consideration a report in relation to the appointment of the new Chief Executive for the new Council and the hand-over period and release date for the current Chief Executive.  That portion of the report as far as it related to the early release date is set out hereunder:

“2.2        Hand-over Period and early release date for current Chief Executive

2.2.1       The current Chief Executive has indicated that he is happy to be flexible on his early release date to suit the needs of the organisation.

2.2.3       Members have already agreed at SP&R on 22 November 2013 that Belfast City Council is in a significantly different position to all the other councils who are merging with at least one other council while Belfast is merely extending its boundaries to take in parts of the current Lisburn and Castlereagh Council areas.

2.2.4       Members agreed that the appointment of another Chief Executive, running alongside the existing Chief Executive up until March 2015, has real potential to cause confusion and disrupt the management of the organisation at a time of significant change and considered options on this matter at its meeting in September 2013.

2.2.5       Given the ‘one off’ circumstances in Belfast City Council where we will have two Chief Executives in post in one organisation a flexible approach is required to reduce the overlap period of two Chief Executives being in post at the same time and thus alleviating confusion or organisational disruption in the run up to the new Council coming into place.  It was therefore agreed by Committee in November 2013 that this should operate as follows:

·        Members agree with the current Chief Executive a release date before 31 March 2015 (the release date would be dependent on the start date of the newly appointed Chief Executive and an effective hand-over period) and make early payment of his pension along with redundancy entitlements as set out in The RPA Scheme, which has been recommended for adoption in councils by the LGRJF.

·        Given the Chief Executive has the right to stay in post until 31 March 2015 this date would be used for the calculation of payments under that scheme and remuneration purposes.

·        The Council is essentially required to remunerate the existing Chief Executive to 31 March 2015 (and then make pension and redundancy entitlements payments as set out in The RPA Scheme)

·        The Chief Executive should be compensated for the personal financial detriment that he would incur every month if he were to retire early in advance of his statutory right to remain until 31 March 2015 i.e. £5,370 gross per month (the difference between his current salary and his future pension; the early release arrangement for the current Chief Executive which would reduce the overlap period of two Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11a

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1  Relevant Background Information

1.1Members will be aware that the council recognises four trade unions for negotiating and bargaining purposes - GMB, NIPSA, SIPTU and UNITE.

1.2The council has an agreed industrial relations structure to enable trade unions and management to work together on a range of issues affecting employees through negotiations and consultations within recognised industrial relations forums.

1.3Following recommendations as a result of an independent report in 2008, a review of the council’s industrial relations framework was undertaken. This work was facilitated by the Labour Relations Agency (LRA). As an outcome of this detailed review, in 2012, the existing JCC was replaced with the Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee (JNCC).  In addition, a full review of the council’s Trade Union Facilities Agreement (TUFA) started in October 2012. The TUFA sets out how and when trade union representatives can request time off to undertake trade union activities and clarifies the nature of the trade union representative’s role. Clarification on these issues is essential to ensure that industrial relations within the council are effective.

2    Key Issues

2.1A revised TUFA has now been confirmed with three out of the four Trade Unions, (attached at Appendix One)  NIPSA raised objections to two elements to the revised Agreement, addressing:

(a)   the process to be followed when requesting paid time off for TU duties, and

(b)   provisions outlining when and how it would be appropriate for a shop steward in one department to represent an employee working in a different department.

2.2In reference to point 2.1a), management responded to NIPSA requesting clarification of why it would be unreasonable to ask trade union representatives to follow a defined process, including filling in a form, when requesting paid time off to complete TU duties. NIPSA did not provide this clarification, but continued to object to the requirement to follow a process. Management does not consider this objection to be reasonable. Management also notes that the process for requesting time off was contained within the existing TUFA which was agreed with the trade unions in 2006.

2.3In reference to point 2.1b), management asked  NIPSA to clarify the nature of the objections raised regarding provisions outlining when and how it would be appropriate for a shop steward in one department to represent an employee working in a different department (cross sectional representation). This was contained within the existing TUFA which was agreed with the trade unions in 2006. NIPSA objects to this provision on the basis that employees should have unfettered choice of representation, which management does not dispute.

2.4Notwithstanding the right of employees within disciplinary and grievance hearings to choose a representative, the legislative framework requires employers to permit trade union representatives to be granted ‘reasonable’ time off for the completion of trade union duties. Management has outlined to NIPSA that, in this context, the existing council provisions are reasonable. The TUFA stipulates that ‘trade union representatives will normally only undertake representational  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1       Relevant Background Information

1.1      The ‘Breastfeeding welcome here’ scheme aims to make it easier for breastfeeding mothers to recognise places where they can breastfeed their baby when they are out and about. Creating supportive environments for breastfeeding is one of 4 key strategic outcomes of ‘Breastfeeding – A Great Start’ a Strategy for Northern Ireland (DHSSPS 2013). The scheme is supported and facilitated by the Public Health Agency (PHA).

1.2      Businesses which are open to the general public, for example coffee shops, restaurants, shops, supermarkets, leisure centres and hairdressers, are eligible to join the scheme, provided the business meets the following membership criteria:

·        Breastfeeding is acceptable in all areas of the business premises that are open to the general public.

·        A mother who is breastfeeding in an area of the business premises open to the general public will not be asked to move to another area or stop breastfeeding.

·        All staff members are made aware that the business is a member of the scheme and are therefore supportive of the needs of breastfeeding mothers.

·       The public are made aware that the business is a member of the scheme and supports breastfeeding through the display of the scheme's window sticker and certificate on the business premises.

1.3      All businesses that are part of the scheme are given recognition through ongoing promotion and awareness-raising. Businesses in the scheme are listed on www.breastfedbabies.org.

1.4      An Act of the Scottish Parliament was made in 2003 which protects breastfeeding in public. Similar legislation is likely to be proposed in Northern Ireland by 2016.

2         Key Issues

2.1      The Council’s Women’s Steering Group has proposed that the Council considers membership of the ‘Breastfeeding welcome here’ scheme.

2.2      Joining the scheme would contribute to the council’s strategic theme of providing leadership of the City and, specifically to the corporate objective of tackling health inequality.

2.3      In order to join the scheme, the following process must be followed:

·          A senior member of the Council would be asked to sign a written agreement which states that the Council will adhere to the membership criteria.

·          The signed agreement is then returned to the Public Health Agency (PHA).

·          The PHA will issue the 'Breastfeeding welcome here' certificate and window sticker once the signed agreement is received.

·          After an initial monitoring assessment, post three to four weeks of signing up to the scheme, the Council buildings would be added to a list of businesses participating in the scheme and published online on the www.breastfedbabies.org website

·          Ongoing monitoring will then be undertaken by the PHA and mothers from local breastfeeding support groups to ensure that businesses which have signed up to the scheme are adhering to the criteria.

2.4      The Women’s Steering Group proposes that membership to the scheme could be introduced on a phased basis, initially at City Hall, The Waterfront and Ulster Halls, leisure centres, community centres and the zoo. The introduction of this scheme would be with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12a

            The Committee was reminded that, as part of the Council’s Corporate Land Bank, the former Maysfield Leisure Centre had previously been identified as a potential disposal within the context of the City Investment Framework.  The Members had stressed the need for the use of Development Briefs to control the delivery of a development which would be acceptable to both Members and local residents in any such surplus asset disposals.  At its meeting on 23rd August, 2013 the Committee had approved the preparation and marketing on the open market of a Development Brief for a portion of the Maysfield site.  Use of a Development Brief as opposed to a conventional sale would enable the Council to retain control over the nature, use, timing and other factors considered relevant in any given disposal.  In terms of the Maysfield site, the Committee had been advised of an interest in returning the site to immediate economic use with the creation of a significant number of jobs in the IT sector which resonated with the Council’s Investment Programme. 

            The Direction of Property and Projects reported that a Development Brief had been issued in December, 2013 by agents appointed by the Council, which offered the site as a mixed use development/refurbishment opportunity seeking submissions on that basis with an option to either purchase or lease.  The submissions were, along with other relevant information, required to include details of the development proposals, programme of delivery, financial offer, outline of the economic benefits secured by the proposal and an estimate of the number and type of jobs promoted.  Following selection of a preferred proposal, an Agreement for Lease would detail the contractual agreement with the Council whilst an interim Building Licence would enable a scheme to proceed until satisfactory completion of the development, when title to the property would transfer. 

            He reported that, by the closing date for the receipt of submissions, a total of 6 had been received.  Evaluation of the submissions had been undertaken by a panel from the Council’s Estate Management Unit/Legal Services and had included the appointed disposal agent from GVA.  The submissions had been equally split between 3 redevelopment and 3 refurbishment proposals and had varied from speculative office to owner occupation office; social/affordable housing, private housing; mixed use – residential/offices/retail; film/TV studios and had reflected both capital and rental financial bids.  The prime objective in providing the development opportunity had been to secure a quality urban regeneration project which returned the vacant premises to a viable and sustainable economic use with an appropriate redevelopment scheme that supported job creation within a satisfactory timescale.  In order that the Council’s requirements and objectives in offering that development opportunity were understood, the selection criteria had been detailed in the Development Brief. 

            The Director indicated that the Council was obligated to achieve the Best Price in any property asset disposal under Section 96(5) of the Local Government Act 1972 –and that all but except one of the submissions financial bids had passed that criteria.  Of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

            The Committee noted the contents of a report which provided an update in relation the Council’s Corporate Accommodation Strategy and, in light of the failure to secure the preferred site for a new build, agreed that a further city centre site search be now implemented to review all alternative options available and that the existing Economic Appraisal be updated accordingly, with a further report to be submitted to the Committee to advise of any revised options.