Agenda and minutes

            No apologies were reported.

            The minutes of the meeting of 16th and 23rd August were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council, at its meeting on 2nd September, subject to the omission of those matters in respect of which the Council had delegated its powers to the Committee.

            Councillor McDonough-Brown declared an interest in item 2c - Update on Hardship Programme in that his partner worked for Save the Children which was in receipt of funding.

            Councillor Groogan declared an interest in item 2c - Update on Hardship Programme in that her employer was in receipt of funding.

            Councillor Brennan declared an interest in item 2c - Update on Hardship Programmedeclared an interest in item 2c - Update on Hardship Programme in that her employer was in receipt of funding.

            Councillor RM Donnelly declared and interest in item 6b – Shared City Partnership in that her employer was being invited into the next meeting.

            The information contained in the reports associated with the following five items is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

      Resolved – That the Committee agrees to exclude the members of the press and public from the meeting during discussion of the following items as, due to the nature of the items, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

            The Members were also reminded that the content of ‘restricted’ reports and any discussion which took place during closed session must be treated as ‘confidential information’ and that no such information should be disclosed to the public as per Paragraph 4.15 of the Code of Conduct.  

            The Director of Finance submitted for the Committee’s consideration a report which provided an assessment of the key issues which would influence the rate setting process for 2025/26 and the development of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan for 2025/26 - 2028/29.

            The Committee noted the challenges to be taken into consideration as part of the annual and medium-term rate setting and that a further report on progress would be brought to the Committee in October.

            The Director of City Regeneration and Development submitted a report which sought approval for the targeted acquisition of a strategic property in Belfast city centre and provided Members with background to a potential Placemaking Pilot in the wider area.

            The Committee:

                 I.             agreed that the conditional without prejudice offer made to acquire the property referenced in the report be progressed on the basis as outlined in the report and, subject to Council ratification and to the offer being accepted by the vendor, to acquire the property on terms to be agreed by the City Solicitor and the Director of City Regeneration and Development; and noted that completion of the acquisition would be subject to title/legal due diligence; and  

                II.          noted the update on the potential Placemaking Pilot, with further detail to be brought back to the City Growth and Regeneration and Strategic Policy and Resources Committee(s) in due course.

            The Committee considered a report which provided an update to Members on the current position regarding the development of a 2024-25 Hardship Programme to support those vulnerable people impacted by the cost-of-living crisis across the city.

            The Committee:

                    i.        noted the current budget position (£100,773) in relation to the development and delivery of a hardship programme in 2024/25;

                   ii.        noted that if any further funding was secured that options would be brought back to the Members’ Cost-of-Living Working Group and the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee;

                  iii.        agreed that the matter would be raised in the meetings between Party Groups and the Director of Finance to explore what further funding might be available;

                 iv.        noted that an All-Party delegation was scheduled to meet with the Minister for Communities and that funding for hardship would be discussed;

                   v.        noted the planned stakeholder support networking event to be held in City Hall on Tuesday 29 October 2024 and that invites would be issued to Party Group Leaders and the Members’ Cost-of-Living Working Group; and

                 vi.        that a letter be forwarded to the Minister for Communities requesting that further funding be made available.

            The Committee:

i)       Cromac Street Car Park – Licence renewal

-        approved the renewal of a Licence agreement from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) to the Council in relation to the Council operated off-street Car Park at Cromac Street.

ii)     Ormeau Park – Land Reinstatement

-        noted the reinstatement of lands at Ormeau Park following completion of works associated with the Flood Alleviation Project.

iii)    North Foreshore Film Studios – Phase 2a Lease Boundary Adjustments

-        approved adjustments to the site to be demised to Belfast Harbour Commissioners for Phase 2A of their Film Studio extension at the North Foreshore.

            The Committee approved the new operating model and revenue structure for the Belfast Bikes Scheme.

            The Director of Human Resources submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1             To present a draft Council response to the Department for the Economy’s consultation document on the provision of Safe Leave. 

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Review and agree the Council’s response to the Department for the Economy’s consultation document on the provision of Safe Leave.  The response will be submitted subject to ratification at the October Council meeting. 

3.0       Main report

3.1       Domestic abuse is a traumatic and horrendous experience for those subjected to it. It occurs amongst people of all genders, ethnicities, sexualities, ages, disabilities, immigration status, religions or beliefs, and socio-economic backgrounds.

3.2       Employers are increasingly recognising the importance of supporting employees who are experiencing domestic abuse and members will be aware that the Council has had in place for some years a policy to provide support for employees who are affected by domestic violence.  The policy encourages managers and supervisors to provide a sympathetic response to requests for special paid or unpaid leave; flexible working and other work-life balance arrangements as a result of domestic violence and abuse for example flexibility in working hours or time off when required to enable the employee to seek protection, go to court, look for new housing, enter counselling, arrange childcare etc.

3.3       Having access to safe leave can give employees the chance to seek support and space to deal with issues related to domestic abuse. Having access to paid leave means that employees are not at a financial detriment when they need to be away from work for this purpose. 

            Key Issues

3.4       The Assembly passed the Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Act (NI) in 2022 although this has not yet been implemented. This progressive legislation will give employees and workers who are the victims of domestic abuse up to 10 days paid safe leave for the purpose of dealing with issues related to that abuse.

3.5       The Domestic Abuse Safe Leave consultation was launched by the Department for the Economy   in July 2024  and seeks to inform the public about the department’s intention to introduce regulations, under and in accordance with provisions of the Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Act (NI) 2022, to entitle employees and workers, who are victims of domestic abuse, up to 10 days paid safe leave in each leave year for the purpose of dealing with issues related to that abuse.

3.6       Many aspects of the safe leave framework have already been determined by the Act. Both employees and workers are entitled to safe leave. They will be able to access the right from their first day of employment. The cost of the paid leave is met by the employer. These are important cornerstones of the framework. There are, however, still some practical and implementation measures that the Department must determine. The consultation invites views on some specific aspects of the regulations so that we can implement the provisions of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3a

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       To present a draft Council response to the Department for the Economy’s consultation document on the ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Rights Bill. 

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Review and agree the Council’s response to the Department for the Economy’s consultation document on the ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Rights Bill. The response will be submitted subject to ratification at the October Council meeting. 

3.0       Main report

3.1       In July 2024, Economy Minister Conor Murphy, released the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill consultation. 

3.2       The consultation is open for responses from 1 July to 30 September 2024.

3.3       The aim of the consultation is to gain an insight into the opinions of the public, stakeholders and other parties involved in various employment rights with a view to enhancing the Employment Law framework in Northern Ireland to ensure it is fit for purpose.

3.4       Key objectives of the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill consultation include replacing zero-hour contracts with a more flexible option and protecting workers’ rights and removing unfair barriers for trade unions, specifically in low-paying sectors. In addition, the consultation will gather views on a broader range of potential employment law enhancements to boost terms of employment, voice, and representation, pay and benefits, and a healthy work-life balance.

3.5       The consultation seeks views on four aspects of a Good Job, as defined by the Carnegie Trust, namely: Terms of Employment; Pay and Benefits; Voice and Representation; and Work-life Balance. Appendix 1 sets out a brief outline of the topics under consideration.

3.6       The consultation responses will be summarised and placed on the Department for the Economy website. This will include a list of organisations that responded but will not include personal data.

3.7       In formulating the Council’s response to the consultation document, the views of each council department, Legal Services, and Audit Governance and Risk Services have been sought.

            There are a number of sections contained in the consultation document that do not apply to the Council as an employer. Where this is the case, the following sections have not been completed.

Ø  Understanding Employment Status and addressing bogus self employment

Ø  Employment Agency Inspectorate Information Sharing - Call for Information

Ø  EAI Enforcement Powers: Labour Market Enforcement Undertakings & Labour Market Enforcement Orders

Ø  Pay and Benefits

Ø  Working Time Regulations: Record Keeping Requirements – Call for information

Ø  Working Time Regulations: Right to Disconnect – Call for information

Ø  Collective Bargaining: Recognition – Call for Information

Ø  Information and Consultation Definitions – Call for Information

Ø  Information and Consultation Thresholds – Call for Information

3.8       In addition, the Committee will note that the Council offers favourable terms and conditions of employment and policies and procedures which make it an employer of choice, and which exceed current statutory requirements. That being the case, it should be noted that the consultation document sets out a number of proposals that the Council already applies, for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3b

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 27th August 2024, it had received an update on Planning Performance. At that meeting and previously, the Committee had sought a regular update on Major applications and applications that had been determined by the Planning Committee, especially those where a Decision Notice had yet to be issued.

            As set out in the previous report, all Major applications must be determined by the Planning Committee. The Key Performance Indicator (given in weeks) is calculated from when an application is considered to be valid to when the Decision Notice (“Green Form”) is issued. That means that any delays either pre- or post- committee would impact on the KPI. The target for determining a Major application was 30 weeks.

            Appendix 1 to the report here sets out the Major applications that were currently with the Council to determine. Details are given on the location, proposal, the validation date and target date for determination (using the 30-week target set out in the Key Performance Indicator) as well as a status update.

            In addition, Appendix 2 here sets out the applications that had been determined by the Committee since February 2022 which are yet to be issues. For completeness, information was also given on those applications determined by Committee which had had their Decision Notice issued. Details are given on the time taken (in weeks) to bring the applications before Committee and where decisions are yet to be issued, information was given relating to the main reason for the delay.

            Reports on Major applications and applications determined by the Planning Committee would be brought to each Planning Committee meeting for information. It was proposed that the same reports would also be brought on a quarterly basis to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee. Should members have any questions on Major planning applications in the intervening period, they are able to contact the Director of Planning and Building Control.

            The Committee:

1.      Noted the report; and

2.      Agreed that reports would be brought before the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on a quarterly basis.

            The Committee was reminded that Common Purpose was a non-for-profit leadership development organisation which supported people and communities from all backgrounds, beliefs and experiences. In recent years (October 2021 and January 2024) the Council had worked with Common Purpose and provided funding to support the delivery of their NI Legacy Programme in Belfast, alongside a range of other organisations, including Allstate Northern Ireland, Belfast Charitable Society, Belfast Met, Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland and Power NI.

            The most recent NI Legacy Programme which was delivered in January 2024 attracted 77 participants aged 18-25 from across Northern Ireland. The two-day programme encouraged young people to think bigger, get new perspectives, be challenged to think differently to shape the future of Northern Ireland. The Council hosted day 2 of the programme at the City Hall and also directly supported the delivery of the programme with The Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Ryan Murphy, delivering a keynote speech and facilitating a Q&A session with participants. Other activity included immersion visits with local organisations, including Another World Belfast, Translink and NOW Group to name a few. Café conversations were also facilitated by senior leaders across the city and the participants were challenged to deliver presentations to a panel of experts which enabled young people to reflect on their key priorities for change in Northern Ireland.

            The programme delivered considerable impact for those involved with the majority of participants reflecting positive change as summarised below:

·        92% have greater confidence in their role as a leader

·        96% feel better prepared to work with people who are different from them

·        89% feel better able to make a positive impact

·        96% will be more open to diverse perspectives

·        86% feel more willing and able to impact their city’s future

            Common Purpose produced a video which summarises the 2024 NI Legacy Programme here.

            The Director of City and Organisational Strategy advised the Committee that, following the success of the previous two programmes in 2021 and 2024, Common Purpose planned to bring forward a further programme to deliver in Belfast in January 2025. The new programme would engage new participants aged 18-25 with a renewed focus on engaging young people within inclusive growth cohorts across the city.

            He reported that Common Purpose had approached the Council and other partners across the city to seek sponsorship of £10,000 to support the delivery of the programme. Funding would help to support the organisation to offer the programme free of charge to young people across the city and engage up to 100 participants. This would help also to remove barriers to participation and ensure that all those who wish to participate can do so.

            The programme would bring together a diverse group of young people: some in employment, some not; some studying, some volunteering whilst some would be passionate activists and others would be finding their own causes. It would focus on supporting the human capital, social capital and civic capital for those involved:

·        Human capital - individual learning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3d

            The Strategic Director of Place and Economy submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1       Eurocities Culture Forum is taking place in Belfast 24-28 September 2024. We are expecting around 120 participants.  The programme will be centred around showcasing our cultural strategy, local cultural sector and projects such as 2 Royal Avenue, Vacant to Vibrant, Hub-In, Belfast Stories and the Belfast 2024 programme.  We are working with ten partner cities to include their case studies in the programme.

1.2       The four day programme will include one official dinner, and one welcome reception, both of which exceed the limits for small scale hospitality due to the number of delegates, and therefore require committee approval.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Approve hospitality spend above small scale hospitality threshold: Welcome Reception £1,200 and Official Dinner £3,848.

3.0       Main Report

            Context

3.1       At City Growth & Regeneration Committee meeting on 9 August 2023 Members were given an update on key Eurocities membership activity, including Belfast hosting Eurocities Culture Forum in September 2024.

3.2       At City Growth & Regeneration Committee on 8 May 2024 members were presented with a further update on the Eurocities Culture Forum 24-28 September 2024 including an outline of the programme.

3.3       Being chosen to host the event recognises the value of Belfast as a cultural capital and presents an opportunity to position and promote the city during Belfast 2024. This presents a great opportunity to shine a light on the city and on the rich cultural and artistic talent, and responds to A City Imagining cultural strategy and Belfast Agenda ambitions to showcase our city to the world.

3.4       For Eurocities Culture Forum 2024, 120 delegates are now registered from over 70 cities across Europe and the UK. 

            Proposal

            Welcome Reception

3.5       Cost to host the welcome reception at 2 Royal Avenue on Wednesday 25 September is using Yallaa (a community interest company based at 2 Royal Avenue) is estimated at £1,200.  High Sheriff will undertake civic dignitary role to welcome the delegates to Belfast.

            Official Dinner

3.6       Cost to host the official dinner at The Academy training restaurant (part of Ulster University) is at an agreed rate of £35 per head for set menu designed by UU students, (total estimated cost £3,848).

            Financial and Resource Implications

3.7       Approval is requested for hospitality for the events noted above, taking place during Eurocities Culture Forum. Costs to deliver the overall Forum event are within existing budgets.

            Equality or Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Assessment

3.8       There are no equality or good relations implications.”

            After discussion, it was

            Moved by Councillor Long,

            Seconded by Councillor de Faoite,

      That the Committee agrees to adopt the recommendation as set out in paragraph 2.1 of the report.

            On a vote, twelve Members voted for the proposal and none against, with eight no votes, and it was declared carried.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report

1.1       The purpose of this report is to update the Committee on a funding opportunity through the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) and to get agreement on a number of priority activities for inclusion in the funding application. 

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the proposal by UK Government to make an allocation of £9.85million to councils under the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF), for spend to take place by 31 March 2025

·        Note that there will be a ring-fenced allocation of £1,787,615 for Belfast City Council

·        Agree the indicative list of priority activities for inclusion in the funding application.

3.0       Main report

3.1       In 2022, the UK Government’s DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) confirmed that Shared Prosperity Fund resources of around £127million would be available in Northern Ireland over the financial years 2022/23; 2023/24 and 2024/25).  The funding was structured around three priority areas, namely:

·        Supporting Local Business – funding stream under which the Northern Ireland Enterprise Support Service “Go Succeed” is funded – (£17million budget) as well as targeted support for key growth sectors and female enterprise to be led by Invest NI

·        People and Skills – funding allocated via an open call for projects, with 18 projects receiving funding totalling £58million as well as additional funding for numeracy skills (“Multiply”) of around £6million to be distributed through the Labour Market Partnerships

·        Communities and Place – initial funding of £1million allocated to 11 councils for expenditure by March 2023.

3.2       At the April meeting of the Northern Ireland SPF Partnership Group (the overall steering group for the SPF funding), DLUHC advised that they were considering plans for the allocation of remaining funding of £9.85million and sought views on a number of options.  Their preferred option was to allocate all resources to councils under the “Communities and Place” theme via a ring-fenced call for projects.   

3.3       Following that meeting, DLUHC officials presented this advice to Ministers.  However given the election announcement at the end of May, this proposal was not signed off for some time.  On 23 August 2024, all councils received correspondence confirming the UK Government’s intention to proceed with the ring-fenced call for funding, open to the 11 local authorities.

3.4       Subsequently, information on the proposed approach, timelines and level of funding available under the fund have been shared.  Funding has been allocated on a per capita basis.  For Belfast, this means that there is a budget of £1,787,615.  SPF runs until end March 2025 so all expenditure must be incurred by this point.  However the SPF management team have advised that they will accept eligible expenditure from 1 April 2024 – meaning that we can use this funding for activities that are already under way (and therefore use council resources on other schemes).  Eligible activities can include:

·        Funding for improvements to town centres and high streets, including improved accessibility for those with disabilities

·        Funding for new, or improvements to existing,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3f

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       The purpose of this report is to provide members with an update on the work undertaken in regard to Corporate Performance Improvement and to present the draft Performance Improvement Self-Assessment 2023-24 for Committee approval and publication.  

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

i.     approve the draft Performance Improvement Self-Assessment 2023-24 (Appendix 1) and;

ii.   authorise its publication on the council’s website by the statutory deadline of 30 September 2024, subject to formal ratification by the full council on the 1 October 2024.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Background

            Part 12 of the Local Government (NI) Act requires councils to agree improvement objectives on an annual basis and publish these in the form of a Performance Improvement Plan, to be published by 30 June. The Act also requires that progress is regularly monitored against the improvement objectives and reported in an annual Self-Assessment of performance, to be published by 30 September.  

            In 2021-22, the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) recommended that we should consider ways to ensure that ‘Self-Assessment reports’ provide a comprehensive and useful overview of how the council has performed across its wider corporate activities’.

3.2       Performance Improvement Self-Assessment 2023-24

            Committee will note that Appendix 1 fulfils both requirements above providing a holistic review of performance and assessing the council’s performance against five agreed performance improvement objectives. A series of improvement milestones and indicators had been set out against each objective to enable success to be measured.  A summary of the assessment is set out below.

·        All 5 improvement objectives have been achieved.

·        Milestones – all 66 milestones have either been achieved (85%) or partially achieved (15%).

·        In total there are 28 performance indicators – 8 statutory and 20 self-imposed indicators.

·        Of the 28 performance indicators:

o   75% (21) of performance indicators were on target or exceeded target (within 1% or better);

o   7% (2) were slightly adrift of target (between 1% and 5%) and these are:

§  Number of adult and junior leisure centre monthly prepaid memberships (including swim school); and

§  Amount (tonnage) of council collected municipal waste arisings (reduce).

o   18% (5) were adrift of target (5% or more) and these are:

§  Percentage of corporate complaints resolved within timeframe;

§  Number of participants or businesses supported;

§  One Million Trees Programme - number of trees planted per annum;

§  Average (weeks) processing time for major planning applications; and

§  Average (weeks) processing time for local planning applications.

·        Of the 28 performance indicators:

o   57% (16) showed a positive change from previous years.

o   25% (7) showed no significant change or maintained a similar level of performance as previous years, and these are:

§  Number of parks and green spaces with green flag accreditation;          

§  Number of jobs promoted through the ‘Go For It’ programme [statutory performance indicator];

§  Number of participants or businesses supported;

§  Carbon disclosure project (CDP) score;

§  Northern Ireland environmental benchmarking survey  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3g

            The Committee noted that this item had been withdrawn from the agenda.

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meetings of North Area Working Group of 27th August, South Area Working Group of 19th August, Area Working Group of 29th August and East Area Working Group of 5th September 2024; and agreed to the recommendation of the East AWG that the Container Storage Facility (ELIF31), previously agreed for the use of Glentoran Youth Football Club, be reprofiled and allocated for use by Dundela Football Club.

            The Director of Finance submitted for the Committee’s consideration the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       The purpose of this report is to present to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, the Statement of Accounts of the Council, including the Annual Governance Statement, for the period ending 31 March 2024.

1.2       The Statement of Accounts are an important element of the council’s overall corporate governance framework as they provide assurance to Members and ratepayers on the stewardship of the council’s finances and its financial position.

1.3       The Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024, as attached, have been prepared in line with the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2023/24 based on International Financial Reporting Standards and the Department for Communities Accounts Direction, Circular LG 05/24 dated 16 January 2024.

1.4       The Chief Executive in his role as Chief Financial Officer can confirm that the Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 has been prepared in the form directed by the Department for Communities and in his opinion the Statement of Accounts give a true and fair view of the income and expenditure and cash flows for the financial year and the financial position as at the end of the financial year.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

i.       approve the Council’s Statement of Accounts and incorporated Annual Governance Statement for the year ended 31 March 2024, and

ii.      agree that this paper should not be subject to call-in (as indicated above) because it would cause an unreasonable delay which would be prejudicial to the Council’s and the public’s interests given that the statement of accounts must be published by 30 September 2024.

3.0       Main report

            Key Issues

            Normal Approval Process

3.1       The Committee will be aware that the normal approval process allows for the Statement of Accounts to be presented to the Audit and Risk Panel to allow them to review the annual statement of accounts. Specifically, to consider whether appropriate accounting policies have been followed and whether there are concerns arising from the financial statements or from the audit that need to be brought to the attention of the council prior to this report going to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.

3.2       The Audit and Risk Panel was presented with the Statement of Accounts at the meeting on 16th September and a verbal update on the status of the audit and the draft Report to those charged with Governance (RTTCWG) for 2023/24 was provided at this meeting by Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO).  The draft RTTCWG will be circulated to the Audit and Risk

            panel members for consideration when issued by NIAO.  NIAO have indicated that there are  currently seven audit recommendations, however the audit is still ongoing. 

            The Panel reviewed the annual Statement of Accounts and, subject to receipt of the draft RTTCWG, did not identify any concerns arising from the Statement of Accounts that needed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

            The Committee:

·        Approved the public advertisement of tenders as per Standing Order 37a detailed in Appendix 1 (Table 1);

·        Approved the modification of the contract as per Standing Order 37a detailed in Appendix 1 (Table 2); and

·        Noted the award of retrospective STAs in line with Standing Order 55 exceptions as detailed in Appendix 1 (Table 3):

Table 1: Competitive Tenders

Table 2: Modification to Contract

Table 3: Retrospective Single Tender Actions

            The Committee was advised that a request for funding for a cyclocross event was considered at the meeting of the People and Communities Committee on 10th September.

            Given that this was a request for financial support and no budget was available, that Committee had agreed to refer this matter to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for its consideration.

            The Committee was advised that the request for funding of up to £8,795 for the Falls Park – which would be held on 5th and 6th October - was not included in any revenue budgets and there was no allocation in the People and Communities budget to support ad hoc requests. 

            Accordingly, the Committee was asked to consider the request.

            In response to a question, the Director of Finance advised the Committee that, if it were minded to support the request, funding could be made available from the current year’s underspend.

            After discussion, it was

            Moved by Councillor R. McLaughlin,

            Seconded by Councillor Black,

      That the Committee agrees to accede to the request for funding with a caveat that funding would not be made available by this means in the future but that the organisation would have to make application to the appropriate Council grants schemes which provided funding for such events.

            On a vote, fifteen Members voted for the proposal and five against and it was declared carried.

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of report or summary of main issues

1.1       The purpose of this report is to advise Committee of the outcome of the consultation on the draft Equality Impact Assessment carried out in relation to the erection of bilingual Irish/English signage at Olympia Leisure Centre.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the contents of this report;

·        Note the contents of the Consultation Report at Appendix 1;

·        Note and approve the contents and findings of the Equality Impact Assessment Draft Final Decision Report at Appendix 2;

·        Determine whether it wishes to proceed with the erection of bilingual signage at Olympia Leisure Centre.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Background

            Belfast City Council carried out a consultation into the proposed erection of bilingual or multilingual external naming and internal directional signage at its four city wide leisure centres (Andersonstown, Olympia, Lisnasharragh and Templemore) in 2019 / 2020.

            On  24th January, 2020Agenda for Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on Friday, 24th January, 2020, 9.30 am - Belfast City Council (www.internalminutes)the Council’s Strategic Planning and Resources Committee agreed to erect bilingual external naming and internal directional signage in Andersonstown Leisure Centre.

3.2       At a subsequent meeting on 24 September 2021, Agenda for Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on Friday, 24th September, 2021, 9.30 am - Belfast City Council (www.internalminutes) the Committee considered agenda item 2(f) ‘consultation on signage – Andersonstown, Lisnasharragh, Olympia and Templemore Leisure Centres – Options Paper.’ Committee agreed to the erection of bilingual signage at Olympia Leisure Centre but did not take any decision on the erection of bilingual signage at Lisnasharragh or Templemore leisure centres, instead agreeing for a report on linguistic accessibility at those centres to be presented to Committee in the future.

            The decision with respect to Olympia was subsequently called in and a barrister’s opinion was obtained on 8 December 2021, which found merit in respect of Ground 41(1) (b) of the Local Government Act (2014) – that ‘the decision would disproportionately affect adversely any section of the inhabitants of the district’.

            Committee will be aware that this opinion was given in the absence of an Equality Impact Assessment.

3.3       Following receipt of the barristers opinion, the ‘called in’ decision of the Committee of 24 September 2021 to erect bilingual signage at Olympia was placed on the agenda of the next available Council meeting on 10 Jan 2022, in accordance with standing orders, where the taking of any such decision would have required the support of a qualified majority vote of 80% of the Members present and voting.  At the Council meeting, Members took a decision to refer the matter back to the Committee and the original decision to erect the signage did not proceed to a vote. 

            Committee agreed at its meeting on 21 January 2022 to proceed with an Equality Impact Assessment on the erection of bilingual external naming and internal directional signage at Olympia Leisure Centre.

3.4       Key Issues

            A consultation on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6a

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes and recommendations from the Shared City Partnership Meeting held on 9th September 2024, including:

Presentation from Cross Departmental Working Group

·        To note the contents of the verbal presentation detailed in the minutes.

Education Authority on School Safety and anti-racist Bullying Prevention

·        To note the contents of the verbal presentation detailed in the minutes.

Shared City Partnership Workshop and Executive Office MOU re: Refugee Integration.

The Shared City Partnership recommended to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee that it:

·        notes the contents of the report; and

·        agrees the Memorandum of Understanding in respect of Refugee Integration Funding and the approach detailed in the report and grants the Director of City and Neighbourhood Services delegated authority to progress this support initiative.

PEACE IV – Secretariat Update 

·        The Partnership recommends to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee that it notes the contents of the report.

PEACEPLUS Local Community Action Plan – Update

·          The Partnership recommends to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee that it notes the contents of the report

            The Committee was advised that the Council was required, under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, to provide the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland with an annual report on the progress of the implementation of its Equality Scheme, as well as an update on the delivery of its Disability Action Plan.

            Accordingly, the Interim City Solicitor/Director of Legal and Civic Services submitted for the Committee’s approval the annual report for 2023/24.

            The Committee approved the annual report and noted that it would be submitted to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland following Council ratification.

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Party Group Leaders’ Consultative Forum of 12th September.

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Panel of 16th September.

The Committee approved the recommendations as set out below:

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the meeting of the Cost-of-Living Working Group of 11th September.

            In accordance with notice on the agenda, Councillor Nelson proposed:

      That a report be submitted to a future meeting outlining how the Council could plan and deliver a pilot Sunday trading scheme that provides earlier Sunday trading hours for a period of six weeks. That the pilot scheme be accompanied by a public awareness campaign and aligned to family friendly town centre animation.

            The proposal was seconded by Councillor Long.

            At the request of Councillor de Faoite, the proposed and seconder agreed to the inclusion of the following:

That the Council examine how it can emulate projects like Open Botanic in other parts of the city through the Car Free Sunday’s model.

            On a vote, nineteen Members vote for the proposal and one against and it was declared carried.