Agenda and minutes

            Apologies were reported from Aldermen Browne and Campbell, together with Councillor Corr.

            The minutes of the meeting of 12th December were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 5th January.

            No declarations of interest were reported.

            (Mrs. C. Reynolds, Estates Manager, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of a report regarding the costs associated with disposal of land at Slievegallion Drive to enable Council officials to host a further meeting with local residents in respect of the proposed development.

            The Committee agreed to hold a short meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on Friday, 13th February, to consider any urgent issues which might arise and that a meeting of the Shadow Strategic Policy and Resources Committee would take place at 11.00 a.m. that morning to consider a number of matters pertaining to the new Council.

            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 agreed to recommend to the Council that it confer on Michael Longley the Freedom of the City and that a special meeting of the Council for that purpose would take place on Monday, 2nd March, to be followed immediately by the monthly meeting.  

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Panel of 13thJanuary.

            The Committee noted the minutes of the meeting of the Budget and Transformation Panel of 12th January.

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

Noted.

            In accordance with Standing Order 46, the Committee adopted the following recommendations:

·        The Waterworks Parks – Licence Agreement

      The Committee granted approval to ‘Grow’ to carry out minor site works within the Community Garden at the Waterworks Park. The proposed works would include the installation of drainage, paths, seating and the undertaking of a tree survey. That decision was in accordance with the recommendation of the Parks and Leisure Committee of 15th January.

·        Shaftesbury Recreation Centre – Rent Review

      The Committee approved a revised rent of £36,700 per annum, which would be backdated to 3rd February, 2014, in relation to the Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group’s lease of the Shaftesbury Recreation Centre, as recommended by the Development Committee at its meeting on 16th December. 

·        Smithfield Market – Future Lettings

      The Committee agreed to delegate functional responsibility for the letting of units at the Smithfield Market to the Director of Property and Projects, subject to such decisions being reported retrospectively to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee. 

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Good Relations Partnership of 12th January.

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1       Relevant Background Information

1.1    Members will be aware that Belfast has been impacted by a number of serious flooding incidents since 2005, in particular in 2012, and the Council had identified a number of flooding areas of particular concern.  Following the serious flooding in June 2012 Members agreed that work be commissioned to allow the Council to develop a better understanding on the most significant flood risk areas in the city and to identify what additional measures would be needed to alleviate those risks. It was agreed that this work would be undertaken by the Council in conjunction with the three main drainage agencies; DRD Roads Service (now Transport NI), Northern Ireland Water and DARD Rivers Agency.

1.2    There has been considerable progress in addressing flood alleviation in the city since June 2012 and the purpose of this report to Committee is to highlight some of the main improvements (including those which are planned but not yet completed) and the outstanding issues mentioned in the research report, including the lack of progress in establishing a scheme for individual property protection.

1.3    Members will recall that Rivers Agency drafted a business case for such a scheme almost a year ago and the Chair of this Committee wrote to both DARD and DFP in February 2014 seeking clarification on the proposals, finance, timeframes and administrative arrangements for the scheme and welcoming early discussions on the implications of the proposed scheme for councils.  The scheme is still under consideration by the Department of Finance and Personnel.

2       Key Issues

2.1    Flood Alleviation Measures

         The number of government departments and agencies with responsibilities for flood alleviation makes it difficult to establish a single process that covers all the issues involved in improving the flood resilience of the city. However since the URS Report and a number of other reports published following the June 2012 flooding there has been considerable investment and much work done to alleviate flooding in Belfast. For example, phase one of the Connswater Community Greenway project and the flood defences at Victoria Park have been completed. This ensured that the Orangefield and Sandhill areas did not flood during recent flooding events. Phase two of the project is underway and will provide additional protection around the other culverts feeding into the Connswater and Loop rivers. A number of other significant schemes for Finaghy, Greystown and the Upper Malone area have also been launched and are due to commence next spring. These schemes will use a number of the mechanisms suggested in the report to deliver integrated solutions to flooding.

2.2    Coastal flood plans are well progressed and NIE, BT and NIW have taken action to protect their infrastructure in flood risk areas. In particular there has been considerable work to improve the resilience of the NIW pumping station at Sydenham. There is also a proposal to upgrade this pumping station to increase its capacity; and a further proposal to rebuild it in a new  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15a

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1     Relevant Background Information

1.1    Following on from discussions at both the Health and Environmental Services Committee meeting and that of the Budget Panel in December 2014, a report for information was requested in relation to;

·        On-going work regarding Homelessness in the City,

·        The Council’s engagement with the relevant agencies,

·        How the Council could co-ordinate initiatives with other public bodies and private sector businesses in the City to provide short term support and longer term assistance in tackling homelessness in the City

1.2    According to the Northern Ireland Housing Statistics Department for Social Development, 18,862 households presented themselves as homeless in 2013/2014 in NI.

1.3    More specifically, from 1st April 2014 to 6th January 2015:

·        Across the Greater Belfast Area (including East Belfast Housing, Homeless Services Unit*, North Belfast, Shankill, South Belfast and West Belfast), the number of households presenting as homeless to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was 4,056

·        Across the outlying areas (Castlereagh, Lisburn Antrim Street and Lisburn Dairy Farm) the number of households presenting as homeless to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was 1,712

         * The Homelessness Services Unit is located in Belfast.  They will normally deal with clients who present in Belfast but do not have a fixed address in the Belfast area, e.g., no fixed abode, people from outside NI etc.  People who are homeless from a previous Belfast address will normally present to the District in which their former home was situated.

1.4    The Northern Ireland Housing Executive Homelessness Strategy for Northern Ireland, 2012 -2017 states:

·        Homelessness continues to be a significant challenge in Northern Ireland and a problem that afflicts the lives of many of our citizens.

·        There are numerous reasons for homelessness; family dispute, breakdown in living arrangements, addiction, mental ill heath, debt and tenancy breakdown and so on.

·        The effect of homelessness impacts on individual lives for years and this influence goes beyond the immediate lack of accommodation.

·        It impedes an individual’s health, financial and social well being. For this reason, no one organisation or agency can address these issues in isolation.

·        There is now a greater need than ever to respond to homelessness in a coordinated multi agency approach as required in the legislation** and for each partner to contribute their expertise and resources to promote social inclusion.

·         

         ** The Housing (NI) Order 1988 (as amended)

1.5    The Lord Mayor, Councillor Nichola Mallon, has established and chaired a multi-agency planning group with key organisations, statutory and voluntary representatives, which had its first meeting on 30^th October 2014 to discuss her priorities for her term regarding homelessness. This was the first of its kind. Her priorities included the delivery of two events for homeless individuals:

1.   A Christmas Lunch for single adults

2.   A Shrove Tuesday event for families

1.6    The organisations involved in the events include: Council for the Homeless Northern Ireland, The Northern Ireland Housing Executive, DePaul, Welcome Organisation, Extern, The Salvation Army and The Simon Community. They have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15b

            The Committee was advised that there remained a number of operational requirements to be carried out in respect of the ‘winding-up’ of the existing Council.  Those requirements included the arrangements for the final meeting of the existing Council, the approval of the final minutes and the preparation of the final statement of accounts.

            The Chief Executive informed the Members that the requirements for the final meeting of the Council were set out under Regulation 10 of the Local Government (Transitional, Supplementary, Incidental Provisions and Modifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014.  She pointed out that, following the final meeting of the Council, those minutes would be sent to all Members who were present inviting representations to be made within seven days.  At the end of that period, the Chairperson would consider any representations made and, if necessary, alter and then sign the minutes accordingly.

            In addition, the legislation stipulated that the new Council must designate an officer with responsibility for the winding-up of the former Council. That officer, as stipulated under the legislation, would be the Chief Financial Officer who would have overall responsibility for that process.  The Chief Financial Officer would be responsible also for ensuring the preparation of the final statement of accounts for the former Council.

            The Chief Executive outlined also the plans which had been formulated to mark the ending of the former Belfast City Council.  She indicated that two events would take place to acknowledge the contributions which had been made by both Elected Members and staff since 1973.  Those events are set out as follows:

·        an event for Elected Members which would take place on Thursday, 12th March, between 12 noon and 2.00 p.m.  All former Lord Mayors since 1973 would be invited to attend with Members of the current and Shadow Council; and

·        an event for staff which would take place on Monday, 30th March, between 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m., to which all Elected Members from the current and Shadow Council would be invited to attend also.

The Committee noted the contents of the report and authorised the holding of the two events as outlined, financial provision for which had been included within the budget allocated for Local Government Reform.