Agenda item

            The Head of Committee and Members’ Services reminded the Committee that, at its meeting on 24th October, 2008, it had approved a Policy for Staff Attending Events.  The Policy had been developed to ensure that the approval and control processes for staff attending training events, conferences, study visits, etc., were robust and that attendance at such events provided value for money for the ratepayers of Belfast.  However, when approving the Policy, the Committee had agreed to the inclusion of the following at paragraph 2.7:

·         Any event which is also to be attended by a Councillor must have Committee and Council approval prior to the event.

This had caused difficulties in recent months in that on a number of occasions Chief Officers had been unable to recommend the attendance of Members at conferences/awards ceremonies since notification of the events had not been received in sufficient time for both Committee approval and Council ratification to be obtained.

            The Council, at its meeting on 2nd November, had agreed that, since the current Policy governing the attendance of Members at Conferences could in certain circumstances prove unduly restrictive, the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee be requested to review that Policy at an early date.

            The Head of Committee and Members’ Services pointed out that, whilst it was the intention to devise a robust Policy governing the attendance of staff at events, it was the Elected Members who had been curtailed in their attendance at events.  He pointed out that, if a Chief Officer received an invitation at short notice to attend a ceremony at which a Council Service was due to receive an award and there was insufficient time for both Committee and Council approval to be obtained for the attendance of Elected Members and appropriate officers, the Policy still permitted the Chief Officer to authorise the attendance at the event of up to three officers.  It was frequently the case that awards ceremonies, by their very nature, involved the judging of entries and decisions being reached at a late stage and therefore there might not always be time to comply with the current terms of the Policy as set out in point 2.7.  It would be inappropriate in the circumstances for the Council not to be represented by the Elected Members who authorised and oversaw all work carried out by the Council, which was an anomaly which he suggested should be rectified.  He reminded the Members that, prior to the introduction of the new Policy, the Council had delegated authority to both the Chief Executive, in consultation with the appropriate Committee Chairman, and to all Committees to approve attendance at certain events.

            Following discussion, the Committee agreed that, with effect from 2nd December, authority be delegated to:

(i)   the Chief Executive, in consultation with the appropriate Committee Chairman, to approve the attendance of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman (or their nominees) at any conference, seminar or similar events held in Northern Ireland where there was insufficient time for Committee approval to be obtained; and

(ii)  all Committees to approve attendances at conferences, seminars or similar events in the United Kingdom and Ireland where there was not time for formal Council ratification to be obtained.