Agenda item

            The Director of Health and Environmental Services submitted for the Committee’s consideration the undernoted report:

 

“1    Relevant Background Information

 

1.1Members will be aware of the heavy rain on the night of Wednesday 27 June 2012 which caused severe flooding across the city. Officers first became aware of the situation when they started to take calls of flooding in west and east Belfast at 7.30pm. The Emergency Coordination Officer opened the emergency room in the city hall and the Council’s emergency plan was activated at 8.10pm.  This was used as the coordination centre for planning how agencies should respond to the problems throughout the city.

 

1.2Agencies worked well together in the emergency room and on the conference calls held throughout the event.

 

1.3Detailed advice and information was placed on the Council website on the Wednesday night and further information was provided via press releases which were issued throughout the night and into the following week.

 

1.4A Council emergency call centre with a freephone number was opened at 9.00am on Thursday 28 June. Any vulnerable people identified via the call centre were referred to Red Cross and to Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

 

1.5As a result of the flooding incident, the Council received 1,463 requests for service and made payments under the Department of the Environment (DOE) financial assistance scheme to over 720 households.

 

1.6Inspections of flooded properties began on the Thursday morning and involved providing information packs, assessing houses for financial assistance, organising cleanup, electrical checks and the provision of dehumidifiers. Cleansing Services began cleaning debris from flooded streets from early morning, bulky waste collections started and sandbag deliveries continued. The Council delivered 7,000 sandbags in total. The first cheques issued under the DOE scheme of financial assistance were available for collection on 29 June.

1.7A major flooding incident of this type causes widespread devastation and distress to residents and businesses in the city; it is important therefore to ensure that everything that can be done is being done to prevent properties flooding in the future. It was in this context that the Lord Mayor, party group leaders and the Chief Executive held a meeting with the agencies involved in the response on 4 July to discuss a number of key learning points relating to communication, coordination, sandbag distribution and flood alleviation measures; and to agree actions in moving forward.

 

1.8This is an interim report, pending a full review/debriefs which will include Councillors, staff and other agencies.

 

1.9It should be noted that the NI Executive have requested the Performance and Efficiency Unit of DFP to review the performance of the responding agencies to this flooding, with a report due by the end of August.

 

2    Key Issues

 

2.1Coordination and Communication

 

      The Council activated its plan quickly and assumed an initial coordinating role. Agencies were invited into the emergency coordination centre at an early stage and those that attended on the night of 27 June included the Police, Ambulance and Fire and Rescue Services, Northern Ireland Water, the Housing Executive, Belfast Health and social Care Trust, NIE, Roads Service, and the eastern area councils’ Emergency Planning Coordination Officer. Contact was made with Rivers Agency, Met Office, Flooding Incident Line, central government and others by conference call.

 

2.2In the early stages of a flooding response, identifying areas of the city that have been affected requires rapid sharing of information across agencies.  This is difficult to do in a short time period, and a review of sharing data across the various systems and call centres is needed to improve the process in future.

 

2.3The conference calls and the presence of liaison officers in the emergency room helped communication but it was agreed at the meeting that further work needs to be done to improve initial communication and coordination of information during flooding emergencies. Agencies agreed, where possible, to be represented at an appropriate senior level in the Belfast City Council Emergency Coordination Centre during emergencies coordinated by the Council.

 

2.4The Belfast Flood Plan will be reviewed and further developed by the existing multi agency flood group to incorporate improved coordination and communication arrangements.

 

      Communication with the public

 

2.5The initial point of contact for members of the public in a flooding emergency is the Flooding Incident line, which is operated by the Department of Finance and Personnel. The Flooding Incident line did not appear to operate effectively during the recent flooding event as it was not staffed up quickly enough. This resulted in the Council receiving many repeat calls from irate residents who had been directed to the Flooding Incident line but were unable to get a response. The Health and Environmental Services out of hours duty officer received more than 45 calls in less than an hour on 27 June and many more were received by City Hall Control Room staff.

 

2.6The Council was able to get information onto its website very quickly on the night of the flooding and keep the public updated using social media. However it was agreed at the meeting that there is a need for better communication with the public in terms of the help available when flooding takes place. A number of short term actions are being considered, for example including the existing wallet sized fold up flooding information leaflet in the June and November editions of City Matters every year; wider and more proactive distribution of the Household Emergency Lifesaving Plan (HELP); a copy of which has been circulated. In the longer term, Belfast Resilience is working on developing a mechanism for warning and informing the public in advance of and during a major emergency and the Council will ensure the learning from the June flooding incident is fed into this process. The Council, in conjunction with Belfast Resilience, is also supporting communities to develop specific local area emergency plans and will ensure that information on access to the help available during flooding is incorporated within these plans.

 

      Distribution of Sandbags

 

2.7Many Councillors were contacted by members of the public who were in desperation trying to get hold of sandbags to prevent water entering their properties. It was evident that there needs to be a much more joined up approach to sandbag distribution across agencies and the Council.  On 27 June the Council brought in a contractor to deliver whatever sandbags it was able to acquire from the drainage agencies to identified areas which were severely affected by flooding. Over the following days the Council secured more sandbags from the Rivers Agency and in the end delivered approximately 7,000 to 443 properties.  Other agencies also

 

       delivered sandbags.  It was agreed at the meeting on 4 July that the Council would draft a temporary protocol on the coordination of the distribution of sandbags to the public during future emergency situations. This was done and a copy has been circulated; the eastern area councils have also signed up to the protocol. It will be further developed if necessary following the multi agency and internal reviews of the June flooding being carried out this month.

 

      Flood alleviation measures

 

2.8It was agreed at the meeting that the Council would convene a working group to identify the main areas in the city prone to repeated flooding; to consider the causes of the flooding and establish if work is planned (direct or indirect) to alleviate it and in what time frame. Carrying out this type of mapping across the city in a collaborative, coordinated and systematic way will help to develop a better understanding of the priority areas and to identify if there are opportunities to bring forward improvement projects or implement interim flood alleviation arrangements, similar to, for example, the arrangements being considered in the Connswater, Sydenham area.

 

2.9Bespoke flood defence mechanisms for individual properties were also discussed at the meeting. Rivers Agency has commissioned a report on the effectiveness of such devices and has agreed to share this information with the Council. If such mechanisms are shown to be effective the Council will consider whether it can contribute in some way to the provision of such devices to homes under threat of flooding. Council officers have also raised the issue of the provision of individual flood defence equipment with the Department of the Environment and the Department of Finance and Personnel, recommending that they be considered at a regional level.

 

2.10     Future work

 

      Following the ongoing multiagency and internal reviews taking place this month, a flooding incident report will be produced with recommendations and actions for the Council to take forward over the incoming months. The report will be presented to this Committee in due course.

 

2.11     The learning points, recommendations and actions identified by this process are also being shared with DFP to inform its review on behalf of the NI Executive.

 

 

3    Resource Implications

 

3.1The resource implications of the emergency response will be highlighted in the flooding incident report.  Many of the actions taken by the Council which are over and above normal duties are costed and will be included in a claim to the DOE under its Scheme of Financial Assistance.

 

4    Recommendations

 

4.1Members are asked to note the Council’s effective response to, and recovery from, the severe flooding which occurred in the city on 27 June and the volume of work that it generated.

 

      Members are also asked to note the temporary sandbag protocol and the high level actions arising from the meeting on 4 July between the Lord Mayor, party group leaders, the Chief Executive and a number of key agencies involved in the response.”

 

            During discussion in the matter, the Members made the following points:

 

·         communication with the public needed to be proactive and co-ordinated;

 

·         the need for drains and gullies in high risk areas to be cleaned more regularly;

·         the need for research to be undertaken regarding the level of insurance held by residents in ‘hotspot’ areas;

 

·         the Flood Alleviation Scheme at Orangefield being progressed as a matter of urgency; and

 

·         the requirement to have a single point of accountability in respect of the various agencies and departments involved during incidents.

 

            In response, the Director of Property and Projects indicated that Ministers were confident that funding would be made available for the Flood Alleviation Scheme at Orangefield and he was in the process of drawing up a contract to enable urgent works to be undertaken.

 

            The Director of Health and Environmental Services stated many of the issues raised raised by the Members would be considered as part of the final flooding incident report which would be submitted to the Committee in due course.  In addition, she assured Members that the issues raised had also been fed into the review of agency responses which had been commissioned by the Northern Ireland Executive.

 

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided and agreed that a letter be forwarded to the Northern Ireland Executive requesting that consideration be given to appointing one person to oversee all the Departments and Agencies involved in flooding incidents to ensure there was single point accountability.  It addition, it was agreed that an event should be held in the Autumn, hosted by the Lord Mayor and with representation from all parties, for the Council and other Agencies to feed back on the report and its recommendations.

 The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“1         Relevant Background Information

 

1.1       A request has been received via Invest NI to permit the filming of a number of sequences of a ‘Bollywood’ movie in the City Hall during September 2012.

 

1.2       Members may be aware that India is the largest film producing country in the world, making over 1100 films every year (Hollywood averages 700). The industry’s value is estimated at $4 billion as compared with Hollywood’s $10 billion. The song-dance sequence ­ shot in picturesque international locales - is recognized as the crux of Indian commercial cinema, and the revenue that it generates has resulted in a wide range of international destinations supporting the industry, most recently Venice, the Seychelles, Amsterdam, Macau, London, Havana, Berlin and Geneva.

 

1.3       The movie project is entitled ‘David’ and the team intend to be filming some of the UK scenes in Belfast for a period of 9 days between 5th–14th September 2012.  They will be shooting in a number of locations around the city, and have requested the use of the City Hall for at least one full day’s filming in the Great Hall and the main staircase area.

 

1.4       There are a number of potential economic benefits to the city, most notably that a crew of 45 people are travelling to NI for the duration of the shot, that local talent will be recruited to assist the crew, that around 500 extras will be needed and that some equipment will be hired locally for the shoot.

 

1.5       In terms of the movie itself the production company has provided the following précis:

            ‘30-year-old David has served the Ghani family for almost a decade. Ghani, a devout Muslim is a local Gang Lord and is extremely possessive of his community. The nature of Ghani's work became quite clear to David very early in his life, when his father who was an accountant to the family died in a shootout saving Ghani’s life. David looks up to Ghani as a father figure and will happily give up his life to save his. Due to Ghani’s involvement in the funding of terrorist activities, the Indian government authorizes a covert operation to execute Ghani. A team is sent to UK to assassinate him. The team find themselves working with one of Ghani's strong rivals. David, who is fiercely loyal to Ghani, decides to join them after discovering a terrible secret from Ghani’s past.

            Will David let Ghani - his mentor and father figure - get killed?’

 

1.6       This movie project is partly the result of work done by InvestNI both locally and from their office in Bangalore, India, and a local company, Northern Ireland Screen, are assisting in the NI production and filming.

 

1.7       Members will also be aware that the Economic Initiatives unit of the Development Department is actively seeking to support the creative sector in order to assist in sector growth and overall economic development and regeneration activities within the City. The unit has made us aware that it is seeking to organise a major symposium in 2013 for the 6 key Indian film production companies to visit Belfast as this is a new market for them and will help to showcase the city as a competitive location, and being able to facilitate the project ‘David’ request would obviously assist in this work.

1.8       A meeting between the movie producers, Invest NI, NI Screen and the council’s Facilities staff took place on 3rd August 2012 on-site in City Hall to discuss the modalities and logistics of the request, and we have concluded from this that we can offer the access needed to the Great Hall and other areas during the period of filming and also that the request can be accommodated from a technical perspective, if members are minded to approve it.

 

2          Key Issues

 

2.1       The key issue is whether or not the Committee feels that this is an appropriate use of the City Hall. A number of precedents exist for the use of City Hall for filming for both TV and film, and the request can be accommodated from a practical perspective if members are so minded

 

2.2       There are clearly a number of economic benefits to the city (although these will accrue in any event as the team intend to be in NI to film whether or not the City Hall is available) and there is also the wider potential benefit of enhancing the city’s image and reputation internationally as a viable and welcoming location for creative projects.

 

3          Resource Implications

 

3.1       In addition to the exclusive access to the Great Hall and main staircase/Rotunda, the film-makers will need a large area (probably the Banqueting Hall or Reception Room) adjacent to the Great Hall capable of holding 50-60 extras at any one time, an area set aside for changing etc, exclusive use of the East car-park area for generators, cars, vans and other equipment and access to a catering facility.

 

3.2       There will be no cost to the council and nor will any additional staff resources be required. The organisers would, of course, have to comply with the usual conditions of use, including the provision of the necessary indemnities and insurance cover etc.

 

4          Recommendations

 

It is recommended that the Committee approve the use of the City Hall for the filming of this project, subject only to the receipt by the Director of Property & Projects of all necessary indemnities etc from the production company.”

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations and noted that the dates in relation to the period of film were still to be confirmed with the Director of Property and Projects.