Agenda and decisions

·         Noted the City Growth and Regeneration report;

·         Approved the inclusion of Council land at Little Donegal Street/Stephen Street in the development brief; and

·         Noted that a future report would be tabled in respect of city centre living, housing demand across all tenures and models of delivery.

Noted

Authorised that alongside the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) and other councils, BCC would jointly award a contract to TerraQuest Solutions to provide a replacement regional planning IT system for up to 20 years, as set out in the Full Business Case issued by DFI in March 2020. 

This would be based on a “Commercial Off The Shelf” product with some local configuration for each Planning Authority and would be subject to the following:

• the Department and a minimum of 10 Planning Authorities to agree the award of the contract by June 2020;
• the capital cost to Local Government to be split evenly between councils and operating costs to be split according to fee income (as set out in the Funding Proposal accompanying the Full Business Case) but fixed for at least three years to aid financial planning;
• satisfactory scrutiny of the full costs model by officers;
• a satisfactory Gateway Review providing independent assurance of the project (due to take place the last week in April); and
• BCC to be part of the first wave of councils to implement the new IT system.

·         Agreed the funding allocation based on the recommended levels provided in the report;

·         Noted the offer of an additional £70,400.00 funding from DfC, specifically relating to Welfare Reform Mitigations Extension- Tribunal Representations; and

·         Authorised officers to progress with the funding allocation process and funding agreement with the Belfast Advice Group.

• Approved the next phase of geospatial analysis work by Queen’s University which would support the economic recovery work and the continued work to deliver the Belfast Agenda; and
• Noted that both Council and Queen’s legal teams had scrutinised and agreed the detailed Geospatial Research Agreement.

Noted the award of a three-year Phd researcher within the Strategy, Policy & Partnership unit to support the work of the ongoing collaborative project [i.e. Geospatial Analysis) between staff from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), Centre for Geographic Information Sciences and Geomatics, and Belfast City Council (BCC) Strategic Hub].

·         Noted the update on the capital programme in relation to Covid-19 and that further updates would be brought forward as the situation progressed and implications understood.

Proposed movements

IT Programme:

·         Replacement of the NI Planning Portal system –  agreed that a maximum £995,000 would now be allocated to this project, subject to the Department of Infrastructure and a minimum of 10 Planning Authorities/Council’s agreeing to  award the contract by June 2020, and to the satisfactory scrutiny of the full costs model by officers; and   

·         Financial Replacement System – agreed to move to Stage 2-uncommitted project, with an Outline Business Case to be worked up.

Project Updates

Replacement HR/Payroll/Time and Attendance System – approved the additional allocation as outlined in paragraphs 3.8/3.9 of the report.

i)     Plot 70 Balmoral Estate – Proposed Deed of Variation

-       approved the grant of a Deed of Variation of the current 99 year ground lease to Frederick Jones (Belfast) Ltd in respect of Plot 70 Balmoral Estate to extend the term to 149 years with effect from 1 November 1970, subject to the payment of a premium of £5,000;

ii)    Ballysillan Playing Fields – Proposed disposal and acquisition of land

approved the disposal of C. 0.09 acres of land along with a cable easement and right of way at Ballysillan Playing Fields to Northern Ireland Electricity Ltd (NIE) for the purpose of constructing a replacement electricity substation, subject to a premium of £4,800.

Approved the acquisition of C. 0.08 acres of land which would become surplus to NIE’s requirements at a nominal value, subject to a contribution by NIE of £40,000 to cover costs that the Council would incur integrating this land within the Playing Fields and improving the entrance at this location. In addition to this, approval was granted for a contractor’s compound licence agreement for 18 months to facilitate NIE’s works, subject to a fee of £3,000.

Approved:

• the public advertisement of tenders as per Standing Order 37 (as detailed in Appendix 1);
• the award of STAs in line with Standing Order 55 (exceptions as detailed in Appendix 1).

Approved the recommendations made in respect of applications received up to 10th April 2020, subject to measures that might need to be take in the current circumstances.

Noted the minutes of the meeting of the Active Belfast Board Ltd. Board of 11^th March.