Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“Relevant Background Information

 

      Members will recall that at its meeting on 26 February the Committee agreed to defer consideration of the relocation of the emergency room to enable a report providing details on how the Health and Environmental Services Department proposed to finance the proposal to be submitted.

 

      The matter was discussed by the Health & Environmental Services Committee at its meeting on 5 March when it was decided to refer the matter to this meeting of the Strategic Policy & Resources Committee, to which the members of the Health & Environmental Services Committee have been invited, to enable further information to be provided.

 

      Members of the Health and Environmental Services Committee asked for the following information to be considered further:

 

·         rationale for the emergency room proposal;

·         cost estimate analysis;

·         history of funding applications;

·         examination of potential financial support from other emergency services.

 

Key Issues

 

      A fully functional multi-agency emergency control centre is needed to enable the Council to fulfil the co-ordination role expected of it in the Civil Contingencies Framework.  The need for such a facility was highlighted during the response to the flooding in June 2007.

 

      Rationale

 

      There is a strong case to be made for the provision of a much more functional emergency management centre in the City Hall which will enable the Council to more effectively perform its responsibilities in co-ordinating  both planning for emergencies and the response of a range of agencies in actual emergency situations, such as happened during the flooding in Belfast in June 2007.

 

      The current emergency management arrangements in the City Hall consist of a very small room in the basement which can accommodate a maximum of around 8 people at any one time.  This means that once the Emergency Management Team (Chief Officers and Emergency Planning staff) are in the room along with some support staff to log all decisions and to receive and make telephone calls, email and faxes, the room is extremely crowded and noisy.  There is also no room for any other agencies to attend and provide a link back to their organisations.  The City Hall basement itself is also susceptible to flooding.

 

      The current facilities are far below the standard of those provided in some much smaller local authorities in Great Britain and, as demonstrated in the recent flooding response, would not be able to be used for a prolonged period should the Council face a much more protracted emergency with a more widespread recovery operation to support local residents and communities.

 

      In addition, best practice would show that emergency responses are most effectively co-ordinated when there is co?location of a liaison person from some of the other key responding agencies, most notably, the Police.  This then would enable linkages with the control rooms and response teams of other agencies .  The PSNI has been asked to provide £100,000 funding as a contribution to ensure that this room can provide facilities for their organisation and the necessary secure communication linkages which would allow this to happen (agreement is subject to confirmation from the NIO).

 

      There is now an opportunity to include the development of a new multi-agency control centre in the redevelopment of the City Hall.  A business case is attached at Appendix A which gives a full rationale for providing the centre and details the facilities needed, the proposed layout and estimated costs.  It should be noted that the advantage of such a facility being located in the City Hall was borne out during the flooding in that the Chief Officers, Heads of Service and other responding staff could access this quickly at various crucial times, leaving a core to direct, make decisions and communicate both internally and externally. It will also be possible to use some of these spaces for meeting rooms, conference and training facilities at times when they are not being used for emergency response or exercises.

 

      Cost estimate analysis

 

      The estimated cost for the provision of the emergency room, based on the outline proposals included in the Business Case, is:

 

Building works                                           £215,000

Mechanical Services installation              £95,000

Electrical Services installation                  £70,000

Audio/visual and communications

equipment / furniture                                  £70,000

Total estimate                                            £450,000

 

      History of Funding Applications

 

      Earlier in 2007, a group of agencies came together to identify ways of accessing potential NIO capital funding which was thought to be available from the sale of government property, to fund some much needed public safety projects such as this.  However this money was later earmarked by the Treasury for other larger capital schemes.

 

      An application for £100,000 towards the cost of the project has now been made to the NIO via the PSNI.  This money would cover additional works needed for police secure communications, equipment, etc. The PSNI has been working in partnership with the Council on this proposal and final agreement is expected during this month.

 

      The DOE Local Government Division has, since 2006, provided limited funding to district councils to carry out emergency planning activities. This funding amounted to £60,000 last year and was used to support salaries, training and provision of some equipment for the back up facility at Duncrue.  Indications are that similar levels of funding will be available in the incoming financial year for these ongoing costs, but that no additional money will be available for capital work.

 

      Examination of Potential Financial Support from

      other Emergency Services

 

      Discussion with other Emergency Services is ongoing and a verbal update on this aspect will be provided at the meeting.

 

Resource Implications

 

      Financial

 

      The Health and Environmental Services Department is currently forecasting a revenue under-spend of £350,000 in two main areas of expenditure.

 

      As the opening of Park Road Recycling Centre had been planned for April 2007, a full year’s running costs for the centre had been included in the 2007/08 revenue estimates.  However, as the opening of the centre did not occur until August 2007, only 8 months running costs will have actually been incurred during 2007/08 and there is therefore a forecast under-spend of £100,000 in the revenue budget for the centre for the 2007/08 financial year.  The full annual running costs of the centre were included in the 2008/09 revenue estimates.

 

      The review and utilisation of the Vehicle Fleet by Cleansing Services and Fleet Management resulted in planned savings being included in the 2007/08 efficiency programme.  This review work continued after the 2007/08 revenue estimates were prepared and has resulted in further unplanned savings resulting in an under?spend of £250,000 in transport costs being forecast for the end of 2007/08.  The impact of these savings has been taken into account when preparing the 2008/09 revenue estimates.

 

      It is proposed that the £350,000 under-spend be vired to partly finance the proposed Emergency Co-ordination Room works in the City Hall which will provide a direct benefit for Council in its emergency co-ordination role.  The balance of £100,000 of funding for the Emergency Co-ordination Room is to be secured from the PSNI.

 

      The proposal to vire the revenue expenditure is subject to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee agreeing the variation to the City Hall contract.

 

Recommendations

 

      It is recommended that the Committee considers the information provided within this report with a view to granting permission:

 

1.   to vire £350,000 of revenue expenditure from the 2007/08 Health and Environmental Services revenue estimates to fund the additional Emergency Co-ordination Room works in the City Hall; and

 

2.   to incorporate the additional Emergency Co-ordination Room works as a variation to the City Hall Major Works contract.”

 

            The Chief Executive explained that the proposal to develop an Emergency Co?ordination Room had been based on the belief that funding would be provided by the Northern Ireland Office through capital raised by way of the sale of Government property.  However, that organisation had since indicated that the monies raised would be used to finance larger capital schemes and therefore it would not be in a position to provide funding for the Emergency Room.  The Director of Corporate Services explained that the Council had a statutory responsibility to co-ordinate the response to emergencies, such as the flooding which had taken place in Belfast the previous year, and stated that, if the Committee was minded to adopt the recommendations, the Council would continue to attempt to obtain funding from other sources.

 

            After further discussion, the Committee agreed:

 

(i)     to vire £350,000 of revenue expenditure from the 2007/08 Health and Environmental Services Revenue Estimates to fund the additional Emergency Co-Ordination Room works in the City Hall and that these works be incorporated as a variation to the City Hall Major Works Contract; and

 

(ii)    that a letter be forwarded by the Chairman (Councillor D. Dodds), on behalf of the Committee, to the Northern Ireland Office indicating that the Council had commissioned the work on the basis that funding for an Emergency Co-ordinating Room would be provided by that organisation and expressing the Council’s disappoinment that the funding had since been withdrawn.