Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that, following a request which had been received from the Lisburn/Castlereagh Transition Committee to meet with the Council to discuss concerns in regard to the Review of Public Administration transition process, the Committee, at its meeting on 19th June, had agreed that an All-Party delegation consisting of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, the Party Group Leaders on the Committee (or their nominees) and the Chief Executive be authorised to meet with the Lisburn/Castlereagh Transition Committee.

            The Chief Executive reported that a meeting in this regard had taken place on 25th August.  At that meeting, which had been very constructive, there had been a clear consensus around a number of common aims in relation to the Review of Public Administration transition process, including:

·         ensuring that the best interests of both the citizen and staff were pursued;

·         ensuring that service continuity was maintained or improved;

·         seeking to moderate potential impact on the rate resulting from the reform process; and

·         ensuring, as far as possible, a seamless Review of Public Administration Transition.

            While there had been a recognition that there still remained some uncertainty around the final decision of the Environment Minister and the Northern Ireland Executive in regard to the new local government boundaries, it was agreed that both Transition Committees needed to work in partnership to consider and plan for those areas of mutual concern so as to ensure a successful and smooth transition from the old to the new Councils.  It was the consensual view that any initial work would not be nugatory.

            General discussions had taken place in relation to some of the key issues which needed to be explored in detail, for example, staffing, convergence, operational/service delivery, aligning financial planning processes, the transfer of assets and liabilities and joint communications.  However, it had been agreed that the inaugural meetings should be very much focused on familiarisation among both Transition Committees and the agreement of a process to enable detailed consideration and discussions around the aforementioned issues to take place in the near future.

            At the meeting, it had been agreed that:

(i)       a further joint meeting be convened in two months time, that is, late October, at which a schedule of future meetings would be agreed;

(ii)      the venue of the meetings to be rotated around the three Council offices, with the next meeting in October to be held in the City Hall, Belfast;

(iii)     the host Transition Committee would chair the joint meeting; and

(iv)     a joint officer team would be tasked with working-up a detailed agenda for the meeting around the key issues for discussion and preparing relevant supporting reports which would set out potential options and any associated consequences.

            There had been recognition of the special circumstances which existed between Lisburn City, Castlereagh Borough and Belfast City Councils in regard to the Review of Public Administration transition/converging process and concerns had been raised in relation to the absence of any clear guidance from the Department of the Environment and the Minister.  It had been suggested that consideration should be given to the possible attendance, as necessary, of senior officials of the Department of the Environment at future joint meetings of the Transition Committees so as to enable them to provide first hand experience/knowledge of the issues of concern and areas which required further clarity.

            Accordingly, it was recommended that the Committee:

(i)       agrees to the continued engagement with the Lisburn/Castlereagh Transition Committee on transition-related matters;

(ii)      reaffirm that the Elected Members on the Belfast Delegation will consist of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and the Party Group Leaders represented on the Transition Committee (or their nominees);

(iii)     agrees that officers engage with their counterparts in Lisburn/Castlereagh to work-up an agreed agenda and relevant briefing papers for the next joint meeting of the Transition Committees;

(iv)     note that the next joint meeting of the Transition Committee would be taking place in late October in the City Hall, Belfast; and

(v)      note also that a detailed report on the issues for discussion with the Lisburn/Castlereagh Transition Committee would be submitted to the Committee for consideration at its meeting on 9th October.

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.