Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       This report provides a quarterly update on the Notices of Motion that City Growth & Regeneration are responsible for, in line with the agreement at SP&R Committee that all Standing Committees will receive a quarterly update.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       It is recommended that the Committee:

-       Notes the updates to all Notices of Motion that this Committee is responsible for as referenced in Appendix 1; and

-       Agrees to the closure of a number of Notices of Motion, as referenced in Appendix 1 and noted in paragraph 3.5 below.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Key Issues

            At SP&R Committee on 25th October 2019, the following Notice of Motion was agreed:

            ‘That this Council notes that other Councils produce a monthly status report in relation to Notices of Motion; and agrees Belfast City Council adopts a similar practice and produces a monthly Notice of Motion Update which will be brought to each full Council Meeting, detailing the following:

1.     Date received

2.     Notice of motion title

3.     Submitted by which Councillor

4.     Council meeting date

5.     Committee motion is referred to

6.     Outcome of committee where Notice of Motion will be debated

7.     Month it will be reported back to committee

8.     Other action to be taken.’

3.2       Following Committee’s consideration of the report on the quarterly update of Notices of Motion in August 2021, it was agreed to close 4 Notices of Motion.  All subsequent Notices have been added to the database in Appendix 1 which shows 11 active Notices of Motion and Issues Raised in Advance for which this Committee is responsible.

3.3       Notice of Motion Updates

            As previously noted by Committee, given the current pressures in responding to the pandemic, it has been difficult to afford the usual time towards progressing Notices of Motion.  Nevertheless, there has been progress in a number of notices of motion.  Members will also note that work on the database continues to be developed. 

3.4       Closure of Notices of Motion and Issues Raised in Advance

            At SP&R Committee on 20th November, it was agreed that Notices of Motion could be closed for one of two reasons:

-       Category 1 - Notices of Motion which contained an action that has been completed.  All Notices of Motion within this category contained a specific task that has since been completed.  It is worth noting that, when Committee agree to action a Notice of Motion, there are sometimes additional actions agreed alongside the Notice of Motion.  As these are not technically part of the Notice of Motion, they are taken forward through normal committee decision making processes.  The Notice of Motion can therefore be closed, but additional actions related to it will continue to be progressed and reported to the committee.  These additional actions are not contained in this report but will be noted in the live database moving forward.

-       Category 2 - Notices of Motion have become Council policy or absorbed into a strategic programme of work.  These Notices of Motion did not contain a specific task that could be complete.  Instead, they were more strategic in nature and required changes in Council policy and/ or strategy for long term outcomes.  Those listed within this category have all been agreed by Committee and are now either Council policy or are currently being implemented through a Council strategy that is managed by a Standing Committee through the corporate planning process. 

3.5       CG&R Committee are asked to note and agree that the following 2 Notices of Motion are now closed:

            Category 1 Recommended Closures:

-       Closure of Donegal Street for Belfast Pride (Ref 190) - Request / events plan has not been received from the organisation to enable examination of the proposal for the road closure for Belfast Pride this year. As per the August Committee report, future proposals can be considered on submission of an events plan/formal request.

-       York Street Interchange Project (Ref 207) – a letter was issued to the Minister for Infrastructure on 14th October 2021 inviting the Minister to consider the motion.

3.6       Additional information in relation to these Notices of Motion and Issues Raised in Advance are available in Appendix 1.

3.7       Financial and Resource Implications

            There are no additional financial implications attached to this report.  Finance and resource implications are considered by Committee when taking decisions on the specific Notices of Motion and Issues Raised by Members.

3.8       Equality or Good Relations Implications/

            Rural Needs Assessment

            There are no equality, good relations or rural needs implications contained in this report. Implications are considered when taking forward the specific Notices of Motion and Issues Raised by Members.”

            The Committee noted the update and agreed to the closure of a number of Notices of Motion.