Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting in March, it had received an update on progress to support the development of the Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor including work on the strategy and action plan. The plan aimed to support sustainable economic growth across the region, identifying areas of focus for the partnership to address future opportunities and seeking to address any gaps in existing provision.

            The vision of the strategy was to become a leading economic corridor in Europe, achieving sustainable growth through collaborative research and development, a highly skilled workforce and enabling infrastructure. This included an ambition to be world renowned as a major international centre in growth sectors such as Professional Services, Advanced Manufacturing, ICT and Life and Health Sciences.

            The action plan outlined key pillars to support effective delivery, including ways of working, governance and resourcing, and communication and marketing. Priority actions to date included:

·        Staffing: in line with recommendations under the strategy, two full time staff members, a Programme Manager and Project Officer were recruited in Summer 2023. The staff were based at Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and operate across the partnership;

·        Management and governance: Dates had been agreed until September 2024 for regular meetings of the partnership governance structure, including monthly meetings at Director level, bi-monthly among CEOs and quarterly meetings for elected representatives. A new Collaboration and Funding Agreement had been prepared to further clarify areas of co-operation and partnership working and to confirm the budget profile for 2024;

·        Communications: DBEC was developing a coherent marketing and communications strategy in line with the strategic objectives. The team would work with an external communications partner to support delivery;

·        Engagement: Given that the Partnership now had dedicated resources in place, the team was working on a stakeholder engagement framework that would identify priority linkages, aligned to the action plan. The Team was already engaging in key meetings and this work would continue in order to further shape the programme of activity;

·        Research: The immediate focus on research included a review of existing skills strategies, identifying gaps, barriers and opportunities for co-operation. The DBEC staff had also participated in consultation around research commissioned by the Shared Island Unit in relation to the all-island labour market and were exploring opportunities for engagement in Peace Plus projects in this area of work; and

·        Funding: The Irish Government’s Shared Island initiative aimed to harness the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement to enhance cooperation, connection and mutual understanding on the island and engage with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future. The DBEC Partnership was successful in an application for Shared Island funding to carry out a feasibility study into regional innovation hubs within the partnership area. This work would conclude in early December and relevant findings would be brought back to this committee for information.

            The Committee was reminded that, as part of the governance structure for the partnership, there were 24 councillors on a Political Advisory Group (3 nominees from each council area) and the Council nominees were Councillors Bunting, Hanvey and R. McLaughlin. Nominees were appointed for a two-year period, with a view to participating in quarterly meetings. The most recent meeting of the group took place in September 2023 hosted by Dublin City University. The next meeting was expected to take place at the Ulster University Belfast Campus in December 2023.

            The development of a new Collaboration and Funding Agreement was recommended as part of previous work to strengthen and clarify the governance and management arrangements for the Partnership. A draft document was prepared by the DBEC secretariat and had been reviewed by council officers (Appendix 1).

            He explained that the Agreement sets out the detailed workings of the collaborative partnership between the 8 partner councils and the 2 universities. Newry Mourne and Down District Council had agreed to undertake the role of Lead Council on behalf of and with the agreement of the other Collaborating Members. The Lead Council would continue to administer the DBEC resource team and would request and co-ordinate input from the Collaborating Members as and when required. The Lead Council would also provide accounting and financial management for the partnership and would be responsible for procurement.

            It was reported that the Political Advisory Group (PAG), Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Steering Group and Directors Steering Group would oversee programme delivery and review performance against the DBEC Strategy and the Action Plan.

            The Committee:

·        Noted the progress on the development of the DBEC initiative; and

·        Approved the Collaboration and Funding Agreement as outlined at Appendix 1.