Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0       Purpose of Report

1.1       The purpose of this report is to update Members on the outcome of the ballot for the Belfast One Business Improvement District (BID) and identify the implications of the decision in the context of existing funding commitments and priority actions arising from the City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy.

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       It is recommended that Members:

-     Note the outcome of the Belfast One BID ballot, announced on 30 October 2015

-     Note the potential implications of the BID decision on the Council’s wider ambitions to support the development of the city centre

-     Agree to receive a report on the potential implications for BCCM at the next meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee, in the context of the issues raised in section 3.4 of this report. 

3.0       Main report

3.1       Members may be aware that the Belfast One Business Improvement District (BID) Ballot declared a yes vote on 30^th October 2015.  The turnout for the vote was around 29% (a 25% turnout was required) and around 84% of those voting in the ballot voted in favour of the BID (at least 50% of voters required to vote yes). 

3.2       The BID estimates that it will have around £1.1million available for spending on a range of city centre activities each year.  At present, the draft business plan indicates that the expenditure breakdown will be as follows:

-     Marketing and promotion – 45% of budget (around £500,000 per annum)

-     Enhancing service delivery – 35% of budget (just under £400,000 per annum)

-     Business support activity – 20% of budget (over £200,000  per annum)

3.3       Legally, the BID team was not in a position to finalise its business plan until the yes vote was secured.  Now that this has happened, the team will be working towards the development of an agreed business plan for the year.  The BID will become operational from 1st April 2016.

3.4       This now presents the Council with a range of operational and strategic decisions that it needs to consider.  These include:

-     Dealing with existing funding arrangements with a number of organisations (particularly Belfast City Centre Management (BCCM) and Visit Belfast) and the impact of the additional resources available through the BID on the activities previously undertaken by these organisations

-     Operational commitments of the council with regard to the BID, particularly around the issue of levy collection (which is the responsibility of the council, according to the legislation)

-     Potential for the Council to be represented on the BID Board

-     Engagement mechanisms with city centre businesses – given that the BID area represents a significant proportion of the city centre core

-     How the council can deal with businesses currently located outside of the BIDs area but still within the city centre core

-     How the council should prepare for the possible introduction of another BID in the Cathedral Quarter area – with further BIDs likely to follow in coming years (e.g. in Linen Quarter and in Dublin Road/University Road area)

-     How the work of the BID can sit alongside the work on City Positioning, focusing on how to ensure consistency of message while avoiding duplication of activity.

            Key Issues

3.5       Members should note that the BID exists to fund additional activity, i.e. those activities which are beyond the statutory services, and basic level of resourcing required to ensure that the city centre functions and that core services are delivered.  While some work has been undertaken to look at the baselines for frontline services (e.g. cleansing, waste management), there is much more work required to look at the current baseline for services such as city promotion, festival and events.

3.6       The Belfast One area covers many but not all of the businesses currently located within the Belfast City Centre Management boundary.  The council currently provides core funding to that organisation for delivery of a range of services, as set out in its annual business plan.  Consideration will need to be given to the implications for BCCM, given that the BID will now be responsible for many of the services that it currently provides to a significant proportion of city centre businesses.  Currently, BCCM receives £190,000 from the council (and around £170,000 from DSD). The organisation has indicated that it will need funding from the council, DSD and other partners in order to secure its future.  The funding will be used to maintain BCCM and to undertake additional work such as BID development activity outside the Belfast One boundary and support for business liaison services outside the Belfast One area.  A report on the implications for BCCM – along with details of the funding request and an outline of proposed services – will be presented to the next meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee for decision. 

3.7       Likewise, the council supports Visit Belfast to attract visitors to the city.  A significant amount of the annual budget provided by the council to Visit Belfast is used on marketing and promotional activity.  Given the potential for overlap with the work of the BID – as well as the significant opportunity for collaboration – it will be important to look at roles and resources, identify areas of synergy and avoid duplication.  This work will also need to take account of the emerging City Positioning work.  It will be critical to get buy-in from the BID to the work that is underway and to support its implementation – particularly given the focus on the investment and tourism markets, where there should be significant alignment between the City Positioning work and the activity of the BID. 

3.8       Although the BID is led by the private sector, it is likely that the council will be asked to have representation – at both officer and elected member level.  Consideration will need to be given to whether this is appropriate and, if so, who the relevant representatives should be from the council, taking account of the wide range of council activities impacting on the work of the BID. 

3.9       Members will also be aware that, following the success of this BID, there is another BID application that is at an advanced stage, namely the BID for Cathedral Quarter (‘Destination CQ’).  The planned date for the CQ ballot is April 2015 and, if successful, the BID will become operational from late 2016.  Although the business plan development work is under way at present, it is anticipated that there will be a number of similar themes to those identified in the Belfast One area.  The Destination CQ BID is expected to raise around £300,000 annually.  In addition, BCCM have identified that they plan to progress a number of new BIDs in the coming year, namely in Linen Quarter and in Dublin Road/University Road area.  At present, indications suggest that BCCM is likely to undertake the back office support services for the Belfast One BID and it considers that it could provide a similar support service to future BIDs. 

            Resource Implications

3.10     It is estimated that the Belfast One BID may raise £1.1 million per year while the Destination CQ BID is likely to raise £300,000 each year. 

            Equality and Good Relations Implications

3.11     No specific equality or good relations implications.”

            After discussion, the Committee adopted the recommendations.