Agenda and minutes

            No apologies for inability to attend were reported.

            The minutes of the meetings of 7th December were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 3rd January.

            Councillor Dudgeon declared an interest in the Item “Request to present to Committee – Belfast City Centre Management” in that, as a representative of the Council, he was a Board Member.

            The Chairperson welcomed Mr. Stephen Wray, Deloitte and Director of Cyber, and Mr. David Crozier, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement in the Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) institute at Queen’s University, to the meeting.

            The Director of Cyber provided the Committee with an overview of what cyber security was and why it was important in terms of city growth.  He advised the Committee that Belfast had emerged as a global hub for cyber security and highlighted that the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen’s University was the largest cyber security centre in Europe and that it was recognised by Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) as academic centre of excellence. 

            He outlined to the Members that, globally, cyber security was a tremendous growth area and that there was a shortage of talent, with 1million open job roles currently in the field, with an average salary of £40,000.  The Members were advised that Belfast was the number one in the world for USA Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in cyber security, with 1,200 new jobs having been created here in recent years by companies including IBM, AlertLogic, Proofpoint, Whitehat, Rapid7 and BlackDuck.  The Committee was advised that both Scotland and Ireland had strategies on cyber security and that, given Northern Ireland had proven itself to have excelled in the subject, it was therefore important to continue to build on that momentum.  Mr. Wray advised the Committee that the Department of the Economy (DoE) had highlighted cyber security as a key priority to drive economic growth in Northern Ireland.

            The representatives provided the Members with a number of high profile examples where companies, such as TalkTalk and the NHS, had been hacked and outlined the hassle and data breaches which were caused.  In response to a Member’s question regarding companies’ responsibilities in protecting personal data, Mr. Wray advised the Committee that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) would come into force in May 2018. He outlined that GDPR were EU privacy and data protection compliance requirements which would require all companies holding personal consumer data to have a certain level of security and would impose fines on companies which did not. He highlighted that this would come into force before the earliest possible Brexit, so UK companies would have to comply with the legislation.

            In response to a further Member’s question in relation to whether training on early digital safety should be incorporated into the early years curricula, Mr. Crozier advised the Members that he sat on a subject advisory panel for a forthcoming ‘digital technology’ GCSE.  He advised the Members that he felt there was always more to do but that Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) were key and it was promising that Northern Ireland had the best results for maths at a primary level in Europe.

            After further discussion, the Chairperson thanked the representatives for their presentation and they retired from the meeting.

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

The Director of City Centre Development reminded the Committee that, at its meeting on 14th September, 2016, it had agreed that aerial photography be carried out for the creation of a 3D model of the city.  She advised the Committee that the necessary flights and photography had now been undertaken and outlined that she was seeking Committee permission to engage with VuCity to develop the next stages of a 3D model of Belfast.  The Members were advised that the next stage of work would include the modelling of the areas which had been photographed, processing and software development, software updates and ongoing support.

            In response to a Member’s question, the Committee noted that this stage of work would cost approximately £36,000.

After discussion, the Committee:

·        noted that the necessary flights / photography had been successfully undertaken;

·        agreed that work would commence on the next stages, namely:

-        modelling of areas photographed at a cost of approximately £500 per square mile: City Core, City Airport, Titanic Quarter, North Foreshore;

-        processing and Software development;

-        software and modelling updates;

-        ongoing support and maintenance;

·        agreed that an appropriate partnership with VuCity be established with a suitable operating model to develop the next stages of the 3D Model; and

·        agreed that the VuCity demonstration video would be made available to the Planning Committee at a future meeting.

            The Committee noted and endorsed the decision taken by the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, that the Council would pursue the potential acquisition of Commission House, on the basis of the Land and Property Services valuation, but subject to the Council obtaining its own independent valuation and undertaking other due diligence, with a further report to be submitted to the Committee prior to any final decisions.

            The Director of City and Neighbourhood Services provided the Committee with an overview of the recommendations which had been made by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) in relation to the Belfast Zoo.

            He outlined to the Members the Action Plan which had been created to execute the recommendations and advised the Committee that EAZA had stated that it was content to receive updates on the progress which had been made and that it did not feel that a follow up visit was required.

            After discussion, the Committee:

·        noted that an acting Zoo Manager had been appointed;

·        noted the progress with the actions on the issues which had been raised by EAZA; and

·        agreed to receive updates on the progress of the action plan.

            The Committee agreed to accede to a request from Belfast City Centre Management to present at the Committee meeting on 8th March, 2017.

            The Committee agreed to receive a presentation from Castlebrook Investments at a future meeting in relation to the development of the former Royal Exchange site.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report

1.1       The purpose of this report is to update Members on the upcoming business tourism event taking place in Belfast in April 2017, the annual Routes Europe Conference.   

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the update on the Routes Europe Conference which will take place in Belfast for the first time on 23-25 April 2017.

3.0       Main report

3.1       In October 2016, the Council agreed to commit £100,000 to support the costs of hosting the 2017 Routes Europe event at Belfast Waterfront.  Routes Europe have indicated that the benefits to a city hosting the event in terms of positive PR coverage, potential new airline routes announcements and additional leisure/business tourism visitors, could be in the region of more than £50million.  This is based on feedback and measurement of Routes Conferences that have been held in other cities.

3.2       The bid for Belfast involves financial contributions from a range of partners.  These include: 

·        Approximately £348,000 agreed by Invest NI. (In addition, they have spent £137,000 securing the Routes Conference for Belfast City)

·        Tourism Ireland (TIL) - £20,000 

·        Tourism NI (TNI) - £165,000

·        Visit Belfast - £20,000

·        BWUH Ltd - £10,000

·        Local airports - approximately £100,000 each

3.3       In addition to these funding contributions, all partners are also making additional contributions in-kind in order to ensure the success of the event. 

3.4       Routes Europe is a particularly attractive Conference due to the economic impact that it will have, particularly on potential new air routes.  It is the largest regional gathering for all aviation-based companies operating in Europe.  This major international event brings together decision makers from airlines, airports and tourism authorities to negotiate and build relationships that will shape the world’s future air route networks. Routes events occupy a unique position, both in the field of aviation and as an economic development catalyst. Air transport is one of the means of regional economic development and Routes delivers to the event – and the host city – the key decision makers within the industry. 

3.5       Routes Europe is an annual event which takes place in major European cities over a three day period.  Following the successful bid by Belfast, the Routes Europe 2017 event will take place in the city on 23-25 April 2017. The delegates are considered to be ‘guests’ of Routes and therefore of the host city, which will provide Belfast with a rare opportunity to bring influential decision makers into the city, make them welcome, build a relationship with them and seek future partnerships.

3.6       It is estimated that the event will attract around 1,000 delegates representing more than 100 global airlines, airports and tourism promotion agencies.  In addition to the significant financial impact of the delegate spend – estimated at around £1.3million – the event presents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the economic and tourism potential of the city of Belfast to a range of decision-makers, focusing on the key messaging identified within the emerging city  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6a

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report

1.1       The purpose of this report is to present the proposed direction of travel regarding the Council’s support for Business Start-Up, Business Growth, Job Creation, Skills Development and Investment in order to meet the ambitions set out in the Belfast Agenda. 

1.2       The Belfast Agenda has recently been issued for consultation, with ambitious targets to grow the Belfast economy through supporting small businesses, attracting investment, creating jobs and developing skills.   Whilst Belfast City Council has been involved in the development and delivery of support services to small businesses for almost 20 years, a significant step-change is now required in the services and programmes provided within the Development Department.  The transfer of enterprise powers, alongside the Community Planning powers, provides a clear opportunity for the Council to take a much more significant leadership role in this regard. 

1.3       This report sets out the current thinking on significantly enhancing the small business and investment services and aligning this with the planned employability and skills programmes.

1.4       It should be noted that further reports will be brought back to Committee as specific business propositions are developed. However it is vital that there is additional investment in 2017/18 under the Belfast Agenda budget line to enable this preparatory and developmental work to be undertaken.  

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note and approve the direction of travel for Council support for business Start, business growth, job creation, skills development and Investment, as set out in 3.10-3.18

·        Agree to receive update reports setting out full details of the new programme activity at a future meeting of the Committee

·        Agree that a tender exercise can be undertaken at this point for a Small Business Procurement Support Programme to begin in 2017/2018. 

3.0       Main report

3.1       Belfast Agenda Targets

            Members will be aware that inclusive economic growth is a central theme of the Belfast Agenda.  Over the next five years the draft Belfast Agenda commits the Council to lead on:

·        The creation of 15,000 new jobs;

·        Support for 4,000 small business start-ups; and

·        Attracting £1 billion of private sector Foreign Direct Investment.

3.2       Current Challenges

            Low Business Start-up rates. Members will be aware that the business start-up rate in the City lags significantly behind other locations across Northern Ireland and is also lower than other comparator cities in UK and Ireland.  The recent Centre for Cities Outlook Report indicated that Business Start-up rates in Belfast were the lowest of all 63 cities considered as part of the analysis, at less than 30 people per 10,000 of population starting a business in the city.  This compares to 100 in London and 56 in Bristol. 

3.3       Low Productivity Levels. The secondary challenge is that the productivity levels in Belfast are much lower than other cities.  This has an impact on wage levels and overall city competitiveness.  The deficit can be illustrated by looking at levels of innovation in the economy, as measured by the number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7a

            The Director of City Centre Development advised the Committee that, in August 2016, the Chief Officers had undertaken a comprehensive risk review and had identified sixteen corporate risks.  She reported that the ‘failure to deliver the City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy (CCRIS)’ had been identified as a key risk.

            She advised the Committee that there were both internal and external factors which could impact upon the delivery of the programme. These included:

·        market failure / economic downturn;

·        lack of buy-in / financial support from key external stakeholders;

·        lack of clear land use policy;

·        insufficient or ineffective use of resources;

·        failure to comply with legal regulations e.g. State Aid;

·        reputational damage due to lack of good governance; and

·        failure to properly define or measure outcomes.

            She outlined to the Members the action plan which had been created to manage the risks and how the actions would lower the overall risk rating from high to significant.

            The Director reported that a number of controls were already in place to manage the risks, including an approved strategy which set out a clear direction of travel, a robust governance structure, a monthly Programme Board chaired by the Chief Executive, as well as legal and policy processes around procurement and economic appraisals.

            The Members were also advised that there were a number of sources of assurance, including economic data, external stakeholder groups and Project Boards and programme and project plans with milestones and financial assessments.

            The Committee noted:

·        the key risks which could impact on the delivery of the CCRIS, the controls that had recently been put in place and the additional risk actions that were required; and

·        that the risk management plan would be implemented over the next four months, with an update on delivery submitted to the Committee in May, 2017.