Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Ekin and Lavery.

            The minutes of the meetings of 11th and 20th 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 1st September, subject to the omission of the minute of 11th August under the heading “Creative Industries – Blick Shared Studios” which, at the request of Councillor Stoker, had been taken back for further consideration.

            The Chairman, on behalf of the Members, welcomed Councillor Bostock to her first meeting of the Committee.

            The Chairman reminded the Committee that, as part of the Belfast Music Week, it had agreed to hold a special reception to honour Sir James Galway and mark his 70th Birthday.  The event was due to be held later that evening from 7.30 p.m. till 9.00 p.m. in the Group Space, Ulster Hall.

Noted.

To consider further the minute of the meeting of 11^th August which, at the request of Councillor Stoker, was taken back to the Committee for further consideration by the Council at its meeting on 1^st September (extract of minute and additional report herewith)

            The Committee considered further the undernoted minute of the meeting of 11th August, together with an additional report in relation to the “Creative Industries – Blick Shared Studios”:

      “The Committee was reminded that, since 2005, the Council had invested in the Creative Industries as part of its programme of support for the local economy.  One of the projects in which the Council had invested previously was Blick Shared Studios, which was a business incubation project for the creative sector.  The business was based on the Malone Road in a property which has been let by the private sector at favourable rates.  The building currently housed twelve companies across a range of disciplines, including fashion, textiles, graphic/web design, jewellery, television production, photography, game development, motion graphics, magazine production and feature film development.  The company had developed a structured programme of business growth for its tenant companies which comprised of a number of elements:

·         a year long mentoring programme for tenant companies which linked them with industry experts;

·         monthly business growth events – this incorporated networking sessions, workshops and seminars and the topics to be covered were likely to include intellectual property, copyright, patenting, product development and procurement;

·         quarterly business growth clinics – those would be full?day/half-day workshops relevant to creative businesses on a range of topics such as public relations, sales and marketing, accessing funding and legal issues.

      The Head of Economic Initiatives stated that the aim of the programme was to enhance the business skills of participating companies and subsequently support them in improving their productivity and competitiveness.  She advised the Members that Blick Shared Studios had submitted a request for funding of £30,000 to support the work.  She pointed out that match funding of £15,000 was available from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment under the European Unions Structural Funds programme. 

      The Committee agreed to allocate £30,000 for the delivery of the project, of which £15,000 would be made available from the Council’s funds and £15,000 of grant?aid which had been secured from the European Unions Structural Funds Programme.”

            Councillor Stoker, at whose request the minute had been taken back to the Committee, stated that he was content with the additional information which had been contained in the updated report.

            Accordingly, the Committee agreed to affirm its decision of 11th August to allocate £30,000 for the delivery of the project, of which £15,000 would be made available from the Council’s funds and £15,000 grant-aid which had been secured from the European Union’s Structural Funds Programme.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of a report in respect of the Legacy Trust and Land of Giants project to enable a further detailed report in relation to the proposal to be submitted to the next scheduled meeting of the Committee.

            The Committee was reminded that the Support for Sport scheme had, for the past seven years, funded clubs and organisations throughout the City.  The scheme had four main elements, that is, Development Grants, Large Development Grants and Hospitality funding, which were allocated by the Parks and Leisure Committee, and Events Funding, which was allocated by the Events Unit through the Development Committee.

            The Head of Civic Events and Venues reminded the Members that currently the Events Unit provided two publicly advertised and promoted opportunities each year for groups to apply for funding for the Support for Sport Scheme Event funding.  Those tranches provided funding for two distinct periods, mainly, spring/summer and autumn/winter.  In the current financial year the budget allocated to sports events being organised in Belfast in 2010/2011 was £97,500.

            It was reported that, following a public notice in January, 2010, a large number of Events Funding applications had been received, which referred to events taking place during the period from 1st April till 30th September, 2010.  The applications had been assessed by officers using the pre-agreed criteria which had been approved by the Committee in March, 2008.  The Head of City Events and Venues pointed out that, due to the unprecedented number of applications, a situation arose whereby, using the same criteria to judge the applications as had been the case in previous years, almost all of the £97,500 available would have been exhausted during the first tranche.  To avoid that position and in order to ensure the integrity of the judging criteria, the Committee had agreed that the funding during that period would be subject to a 30% reduction (after assessment).  That was to ensure that there would be sufficient funding available for the second tranche of events which were taking place between 1st October, 2010 and 31st March, 2011.

            The Head of City Events and Venues explained that, although that process had been approved fully, some Members at that time had expressed concerns that some groups might be disadvantaged by the revised process.  Taking those concerns into account in considering an appropriate process for the forthcoming year, 2011/2012, the Committee was now being requested to consider the introduction of a single annual public call from applicants seeking events funding.  That concept would eradicate the previous predicament as the scheme would be advertised and processed only once each year.  All applicants, organising an event over the course of one year from 1st April, 2011 till 31st March, 2012 and subsequent years thereafter, would apply to meet the one deadline.  Ideally, that advertising process would take place in late November each year with applications being assessed and approved well before the earliest of the events taking place in the new financial year commencing 1st April, 2011 onwards.

            The Committee agreed to amend the Support for Sport – Event Funding Scheme with effect from 1st April, 2011 to provide that the call for applications for events funding take place once per annum only.

            The Committee agreed that a special meeting, to which all Members of Council would be invited, be held to receive from representatives of the World Police and Firefighter Games 2013 Stakeholder Group a presentation on the current status of the organisation and governance arrangements for the games.  The Committee agreed also that a composite report on all events to be held in 2012 and associated funding be submitted to the special meeting.

            The Committee noted the contents of a report which provided a quarterly update on the Development Departmental Plan 2010/2011 and noted that the monitoring process and format of the Departmental Plan update would change from the next quarter due to the Council’s new Corporate Monitoring System being put in place.

            (Mrs. J. Thompson, Head of Finance and Resources, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      It was agreed at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 18 June 2010 that financial reporting packs would be produced for the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee and each Standing Committee on a quarterly basis and following discussion, that the first reports for the quarter ended June 2010 would be available for Committees in September. Monthly financial updates were also agreed to be provided to the Budget and Transformation Panel, if there were any significant issues to report.

      The reporting pack contains a summary dashboard of the financial indicators and an executive summary explaining the financial performance of Development Committee in the context of the financial performance of the overall Council (Appendix 1). It also provides a more detailed explanation of each of the relevant indicators covering the year to date and forecast financial position.

      As was advised in the 18 June 2010 Strategic Policy and Resources Committee report, the reporting pack should be viewed as still under development and the style and information in the reports will continue to evolve, in liaison with Members.

      The information within these financial reporting packs has been developed through collaboration between central finance and departmental management teams. The information for Standing Committees has therefore been reviewed and endorsed by central finance. As was outlined in the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee report of 18 June 2010, a number of practical issues have been resolved in the development of the reports. In particular, Members are asked to note the following:

(i)      the original 2010/11 rates setting exercise included a budget for a pay rise of 1.5%. The pay position of the council is determined by national negotiations and currently no pay rise has been offered for 2010/11, which is causing significant trade union concern. The budget of £1.1m has therefore been removed from departmental budgets, for reporting purposes, so that the true departmental variances can be identified. The current unutilised pay rise budget underspend has been logged centrally;

(ii)     demand led internal charges have also been removed from the budgets and expenditure of service users and applied to the budgets of service providers (eg ISB, facilities management etc) for reporting purposes which keeps the budgetary treatment for 2010/11 in line with that agreed by Members on 18 June 2010 for 2011/12.

(iii)    capital charges are non cash items which have been removed from departmental budgets so that accurate variances can be identified.

Key Issues

      A.  Current and Forecast Financial Position 2010/11

      The current year to date financial position for Development Committee is an underspend of some £0.3m (5%) with a forecast end of year underspend of some £0.5m (3%). The reasons for this underspend relate to underspends in Community Services and Directorate Support. The financial reporting pack contains more detail on both the overall council position and the financial performance in each of the Services  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

            The Community Development Manager reminded the Committee that, at its meeting on 13th January, it had agreed that funding for community-organised summer play schemes be allocated to qualifying community groups in the voluntary sector following assessment based on the agreed criteria.  She pointed out that such grants were awarded at amounts of either £1,000, £1,800 or £3,000.

            The Committee was advised that a total of 86 applications had been received and that funding had been awarded to the undernoted 82 groups which had met the criteria:

            In addition, the following four groups had not been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

            The Committee noted the contents of a report which had provided information on the current status of the Community and Playcentre Committees.

            The Committee was reminded that the Department for Social Development’s Voluntary and Community Unit was seeking responses to its review of the Regional Infrastructure Programme for the Community and Voluntary Sectors.  The consultation was running until 30th September, 2010, with the new framework for the programme to be finalised in November.  The aims of the review were:

·         That the programme remained relevant to Government objectives and the needs of the Department for Social Development;

·         Priorities for support to the voluntary and community sectors were clearly identified and prioritised;

·         That criteria for the programme were clearly stated; and

·         Regional support was geared to help the voluntary and community sector improve its relationship with public bodies and maximise its public life in Northern Ireland.

            The Programme had been running for twenty years and the current recipients of funding were:

      Advice NI

      Churches Community Work Alliance

      Citizen’s Advice

      CO3 – Chief Officers Third Sector

      Community Change

      Community Evaluation NI

      Law Centre NI

      NI Council for Voluntary Action

      Volunteer Now

      Women’s Centres Regional Partnership

            As part of the Council’s consultation process on the review, a briefing session for the Development Committee had been held on 30th August, the consultation document had been forwarded to Council Departments via the Policy Officer Group and Community Services had held a workshop for staff.  Feedback from those consultation activities had been used to create a draft response.

            Accordingly, the Committee approved the undernoted comments as the Council’s response to the consultation document:

“Belfast City Council’s response to the consultation on the

Review of the Regional Infrastructure Programme

            The Committee was reminded that the East Belfast Neighbourhood Office had been established by the Council in order to address the absence of Council Community Centre provision in the Pottinger Electoral Area and to stimulate community development activity.

            The Community Development Manager explained that the office, which was situated on the Beersbridge Road, was leased currently on a month to month basis and was staffed by a Community Development Worker.  As a consequence of limited passing footfall and the need to close the premises when the officer was away on business, usage of the premises had been low.  The Community Development Worker had, however, worked across the area and had contributed to an increase in the number and the capacity of the voluntary community organisations which had been established.  Those included the Willowfield Parish Community Association, Lower Woodstock Community Association, Lower Castlereagh Community Group and Mountpottinger Presbyterian Youth Outreach.

            She explained further that the Council had agreed to the restructuring of Community Services which would see the creation of specific Units to support community facilities and area development.  Within that new structure, staff had been allocated accommodation in line with their new duties and within community centre premises.  That new approach meant that there was no further service need for the East Belfast Neighbourhood Office premises.  Those groups which regularly used the office could be accommodated within the Council’s Dee Street Community Centre.  In addition, the community development work in support of the Pottinger Electoral area would be subsumed into the role of the Community Development Officer within the East Area Support Unit.  Accordingly, it was recommended that the Council ends the lease for the East Belfast Neighbourhood Office.

            The Committee adopted the recommendation.

            In accordance with the authority delegated to him, it was reported that the Director had let the following units at Smithfield Market:

·         Unit 1 – Desmond McKenna, 2 Mulroy Park, Belfast, at a cost of £240 per month for the purposes of retailing watch repairs and sales; and

·         Unit 30/31 – Alan Copeland, 12 Pear Tree Hill, Dundonald, at a cost of £1,000 per month for retailing personalised products.

Noted.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 12th May, it had granted approval to the opening of a Sunday Market in St. George’s on a three month trial basis which would end on 26th September.

            The Head of Economic Initiatives reported that, although having started at a traditionally quiet period for markets in Northern Ireland due to summer holidays and other summer events held throughout the region, the market had performed comparatively well.  She then highlighted the following points:

·         A recent footfall count had shown that an average of 2,000 people visited each Sunday Market;

·         The stalls allocated each Sunday had been above the required number to cover operational costs, with an average weekly income of £2,000;

·         The Sunday traders believed that the Sunday visitors and customers were mainly new clients, including a large turnout of tourists, to the market;

·         The new Sunday Market had not had any effect on the current customer/visitor numbers at the Friday or Saturday markets;

·         As part of an independent survey recently undertaken at the Sunday Market, the average spend at the market had been £19.54 and 86% of those visiting had felt it was important for the Sunday Market to continue; and

·         The Traders’ representatives had also carried out a survey, the results of which had shown that the traders had had concerns about the lack of advertising for the Sunday Market; the majority of traders had been content with the services which had been provided; and had highlighted that live music had created a good atmosphere and had been a vital component in the success of the Sunday Market.

            Accordingly, it was recommended that the Committee continue to support a Sunday Market in St. George’s for a further six months’ trial period from October, 2010 till March, 2011 at the current opening hours of 10.00 a.m. till 4.00 p.m.

            During discussion, several Members expressed the view that, whilst they were supportive of the extension to the trial period for the opening of the Sunday Market, it should be for a shorter time period.  The Members accepted also the need to promote the opening of the Sunday Market more proactively and have it included in more of the Council’s literature and the wider tourism industry package.

Proposal

            After further discussion, it was

            Moved by Councillor M. Browne,

            Seconded by Councillor Mullaghan,

      That the Committee agrees to the opening of a Sunday Market in St. George’s for a further six month trial basis from October, 2010 till March, 2011 during the hours of 10.00 a.m. till 4.00 p.m.

            On a vote by show of hands five Members voted for the proposal and six against and it was accordingly declared lost.

Further Proposal

            Moved by Councillor J. Rodgers,

            Seconded by the Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Humphrey),

      That the Committee agrees to extend the opening of a Sunday Market in St. George’s for a further four month trial basis from October, 2010 till the end of January, 2011 and that a further report on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14b

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 9th June, it had agreed to the formulation of a Belfast City Council Markets Policy.  Officers from the Legal Services Section had been in consultation with staff from other Council Departments and had drafted a policy document which required further development, after which, it would be submitted to the Committee for its consideration.

Noted.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      MIPIM is the largest real estate exhibition in Europe.  It takes place in March each year in Cannes, France and generally attracts up to 20,000 delegates.  Since 2000, various partners from Belfast have participated in the event and have contributed towards the costs of a joint stand in the exhibition area.

      At MIPIM 2010, Belfast City Council was represented on a partner stand with Derry City Council, Ilex (the Urban Regeneration Company (URC) in the city, Lisburn City Council and the Department for Social Development (DSD).  A range of private sector partners were also involved and representatives from the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) attended for the first time.

      Members will be aware that, at the Development Committee of 9 June 2010, a budget of up to £20,000 towards participation in MIPIM 2011 was approved.  Members also approved the request from SIB that they be formally supported by the Council to lead on MIPIM 2011.  In addition, Members requested that officers investigate the financial implications of a Belfast-only stand at MIPIM 2011 and report back on this at a future Committee meeting.

Key Issues

      Following the 2010 MIPIM event, a feedback meeting was organised with participating organisations.  This took place on 23 June, 2010.  Organisations in attendance included DSD, Derry City Council, Lisburn City Council, Patton Group and Carvill Group.  Although not in attendance, representatives from Delap and Waller, Ilex and the SIB also forwarded their comments for note.

      The comments made included the following:

-     Private sector partners confirmed that they had benefited from participation – strong leads had been generated and they were now following up on these.  They would be keen to be involved in MIPIM 2011

-     Participants welcomed the development and preparatory work undertaken by Belfast City Council – a range of pre?MIPIM meetings had ensured that participants were in a position to draw maximum benefit from their involvement in the event

-     Events at the stand presented a cost-effective mechanism of promoting key projects.  Looking to next year’s event, it may be useful to consider whether high profile political figures could be invited as a ‘draw’ to highlight specific schemes

-     Need for partners to be aware of what each other is ‘selling’ and need to define and refine our message: there was a lot on offer – need to consider how this can be presented

-     Partners were entirely supportive of the wider partnership approach (i.e. not just Belfast) and felt that this allowed them to promote a wider range of schemes and initiatives and enhanced the overall offering.

      Comments were also presented with regard to logistical and programming issues and these will be fed through to future planning for next year’s event.

      In 2011, the UK is the country of honour at MIPIM.  This means that the UK property market will be highlighted, both through the exhibition and the conference programme.  There is an opportunity to build  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Established in 1989 at Queen's University Belfast, the QUESTOR Centre is Europe's only Industry University Co-operative Research Centre (I/UCRC).  The I/UCRC concept is a highly successful model developed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States where more than 30 such centres have been operating successfully for more than 20 years.  QUESTOR has been formally linked to the NSF Programme since its formation in 1989.

      The QUESTOR Centre provides member companies and organisations with a world class environmental research programme focussed on their specific needs.  In addition the Centre has developed a unique model for the transfer of technology and knowledge to member organisations and for the commercial exploitation of research conducted.   The centre serves a select membership made up of environmental regulators and environmentally responsible companies, ranging in size from large multi-national corporations through to forward looking Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs).  Members include BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron North Sea Limited, Bombardier, Coca Cola Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Water and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

      The Members vote on project proposals at Industry Advisory Board (IAB) meetings which are held twice yearly.  Typically there are in the region of 14-15 funding proposals submitted at each IAB Meeting and, depending on funding, approximately 8 of these are approved for funding.

      QUESTOR have developed their work along the lines of 4 priority areas and have established associated research clusters in each of these areas:

-     Waste Management and Remediation;

-     Environmental Monitoring;

-     Water and wastewater treatment; and,

-     Renewable energy technologies.

      Belfast City Council officers have been involved in the establishment of and are currently represented on both the Waste Management and Remediation and the Renewable Energy clusters.

      As part of Council’s environmental industries action plan developed in 2007, Belfast City Council agreed to take an introductory two-year trial Associate Membership (2008 and 2009) of QUESTOR.  As an Associate Member, Council is currently represented on QUESTOR’s Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) and can have a direct influence in determining the strategic direction of the annual research programme.  The IAB votes on and selects all research proposals and monitors progress on active research projects. Additionally, the Council has access to the research conducted and, on completion, receives recommendations for technology transfer and commercial exploitation opportunities. Finally, the Associate Membership enables the Council to represent the interests of small businesses from within Belfast as the current level of SME membership of £5,000 has proven to be quite prohibitive for small businesses. This will allow the SME sector to gain access through Belfast City Council’s Associate Membership to the new technologies, knowledge and prototypes that are developed as part of the research programme.

      Through the two-year trial membership, representatives from both Economic Development and Waste Management have been developing both our understanding of the QUESTOR process and relationships with the academic and industrial partners from within the QUESTOR membership. In both November 2007 and May 2010, Council hosted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

            The Committee was advised that the Council had been declared as the winner of the Northern Ireland heat of Enterprising Britain 2010, which was a nationwide competition delivered locally by Invest Northern Ireland.  The competition recognised and rewarded the town, city, place or area which was successfully creating jobs, boosting local business and nurturing entrepreneurial talent as the United Kingdom emerged from the recession.

            The Director reported that the Council’s award was for work in improving employability and developing business competitiveness through a range of business programmes and events as well as employment initiatives.  Twelve regional winners had been identified from across the United Kingdom and those had now been shortlisted to six.  The Belfast submission was amongst those which had been shortlisted.  The next stage in the process was that all those who had been shortlisted would be required to make a presentation to a panel of experts in London in late September. The overall winner would be announced in October and would progress to the European Enterprise Awards later in the year.  The organisers had invited up to five people to attend the presentation session.  At that time, presenters would be requested to provide greater detail on the submission, including partnerships linkages with wider economic development activity and funding issues. 

            In order to make a robust presentation, it was recommended that up to two officers from the Council be authorized to attend the event and, given the strong partnership elements of the bid, it might be appropriate also to invite up to three key representatives from a number of the partner agencies involved in the submission.

            Examples of the types of initiatives which the judges felt were particularly innovative and effective included:

·         The “My Wok Rules!” competition, whereby teams of four students would undergo intensive business training before being selected to take over the running of the “Oodles Loves Noodles” restaurant on Botanic Avenue for a day during February, 2011;

·         “Spinning the Wheel”, which required the use of the Belfast Wheel, where budding entrepreneurs had been matched with business advisors.  They had been given the time that one rotation of the wheel had taken in order to discuss their business idea and find out what course of action they should take to bring it to fruition; and

·         The HARTE “Hospitality and Retail Training for Employment” Programme – through that initiative the Council had taken almost two hundred unemployed people and gave them specialised training on customer service, bar-tending, barista skills and chefing skills to help them find employment in the hospitality and retail sector. 

            A range of new business development ideas were commencing in Autumn, 2010 and those were being promoted through City Matters as well as through targeted email campaigns and other promotional initiatives.

            The total cost for a maximum of five people attending the presentation in London was approximately £1,000.

            The Committee approved the attendance at the presentation in London of two officers and three representatives from key partner organizations.

            The Committee noted the contents of a report which outlined the work of the Local Economic Development Forum and its association with the Northern Ireland Local Government Association’s Economic Development Working Group. 

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on the 21st June, representatives of the Deramore Property Group had provided a presentation on their plans for 41/51 Royal Avenue.  The Group had submitted a planning application to re?develop their premises which was currently going through the consultation process.  The planning application sought to provide 20,000 square foot of retail floor space over the ground and three upper floors. The intention was to provide accommodation for one multiple operator similar to the New Look operation in Donegall Place where a completely new shop had been built behind the original front façade.  The Deramore Property Group’s property had a double frontage on Royal Avenue and Rosemary Street and had been planned to complement any future Royal Exchange Scheme.

            At the aforementioned meeting, the Group had advised the Members that it was seeking to deliver local investment in Belfast City Centre by obtaining support for the removal of 41/51 Royal Avenue from the Royal Exchange Masterplan.  The Department for Social Development would not at this stage confirm whether or not the premises would be excluded from the overall Development Scheme.  The Group’s view was that the scheme would prevent other developments being progressed due to the uncertainty as to when the scheme would be delivered and that was further evidenced by the high level of vacant properties in the area.

            Following the presentation and discussion with representatives of Deramore Property Group on 21st June, the Committee had agreed:

(i)      that the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman (or their nominees), together with one representative from each of the other Party Groupings on the Council, facilitate a meeting between representatives of the Royal Exchange (Belfast) Limited, the Consortium which would be undertaking the Royal Exchange Regeneration project, and the Deramore Property Group in order to ascertain whether a solution could be arrived at which would facilitate all parties; and

(ii)     that a further letter be forwarded to the Minister for Social Development requesting that he meet with an All-Party Deputation from the Council to discuss the Royal Exchange Scheme.

            The Head of Economic Initiatives reported that, subsequently, the Deramore Property Group had held separate meetings with the Director of the Belfast Regeneration Office and a representative of Ewarts Plc, which were part of the development consortium for the Royal Exchange Scheme.  Neither meeting had resulted in Deramore securing the exclusion of their premises from the scheme, the planning application for which was due for submission by 31st October and at which point the development boundary would be in the public domain.  In addition, a further letter had been forwarded to the Minister and a meeting had been arranged for 30th September.  That meeting would afford Members the opportunity to raise with the Minister Deramore’s concerns regarding their own premises and how the development agreement between the Department for Social Development and the Royal Exchange (Belfast) Limited was impacting on other businesses in that part of the City Centre.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Conference Subvention

      Members will be aware that Belfast City Council has a Conference Subvention policy which is utilised to secure and support national and international conferences to Belfast and to build the City’s profile as a conference destination. It was agreed at Development Committee of 10 March 2010 that the existing scheme would close on 31 May 2010 and that current commitments under this scheme would be honoured.

      Members will also be aware that officers have been liaising with Northern Ireland Tourism Board (NITB) and Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau (BVCB) to develop a new Conference Subvention Scheme for Belfast.

      Aligned to priorities in the draft Integrated Strategic Tourism Framework, NITB, BVCB and Belfast City Council have developed a new Conference Subvention Scheme with a total funding budget of £435,000 over three years. Belfast City Council will contribute £70,000 per annum and NITB will contribute £75,000 per annum.  Funding of £70,000 is available in the current 2010/2011 Tourism, Culture and Arts budget and additional details of the new subvention scheme are in Appendix 1.

      The Conference Subvention Scheme has been revised and the main objectives are;

-     To raise the profile of Belfast and Northern Ireland as a leading business and conference destination

-     To consolidate existing investment in Belfast and Northern Ireland hotel and conference infrastructure

-     To increase the contribution of Business and Conference Tourism to Belfast and Northern Ireland economy

-     To change the international perception of Belfast and Northern Ireland

-     To encourage inward investment to Belfast and Northern Ireland

-     To grow the number of leisure visitors by encouraging conferences to run partner and extender programmes

-     To develop a partnership approach to promoting Northern Ireland as a business and conference destination

      Belfast City Council commissioned a Report on a new Conference Subvention Scheme for Belfast in November 2008. Prepared by Sally Greenhill Associates, this report outlines that all major cities throughout the UK operate subvention schemes. For example, Birmingham - £650,000 per annum, Manchester - £6million over 3 years, Glasgow – £1 million and Liverpool, Blackpool, Bournemouth and Brighton all have pots of £1million each. The majority of subvention schemes are funded by respective City Councils.

      In terms of total impact of a new Conference Subvention Scheme for the city, it is estimated that an International Association Delegate spends £386.06 per day and a multi-day Domestic Association spends £488.94 per day. In 2003/4 NITB established a similar scheme with the International Fund for Ireland worth £663,000 over 3 years. The total value of conferences secured with this fund was £6.8million in economic benefit producing a return on subvention funding of over 12:1. It is estimated that this new scheme will produce similar economic benefits to the City. 

Key Issues

      Criteria

      The main eligibility criteria for Conference Subvention are summarised below;

-     The conference should be based in Belfast and include use of overnight accommodation in the Belfast area.

-     The conference  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

            The Committee considered the under noted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Members will be aware that at the Development Committee meeting held on 12 May 2010, Committee agreed the development of a new Integrated Cultural Strategy for Belfast 2011–2014 and a review of the Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit’s Multi-annual and Annual Funding schemes. 

      Work on the Integrated Cultural Strategy has commenced with baseline research and preliminary meetings with key stakeholders, including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Multi-annually Funded (MAF) clients.  Work on the review and assessment of the MAF and Annual Fund funding schemes is also underway, and a quotation to procure the services of an independent evaluator has been issued.

Key Issues

      Approval is sought from the Committee to extend the completion date for the new Integrated Cultural Strategy from February to June 2011.  This will enable the strategy to be fully aligned with the Council’s new Corporate Plan and optimise opportunities for culture and arts to meaningfully contribute to the strategic development of the city.  In addition, the current workload of the Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit makes the development of a robust Integrated Cultural Strategy by February 2010 untenable.

      An update on the development of the strategy, including baseline research and an outline draft strategy with aims, objectives and key performance indicators will be brought to Committee for consideration in January 2011.  This information will form the basis for formal consultation.

      Annual Funding

      Approval is also sought to extend the current Integrated Cultural Strategy 2007–10.  The criteria for assessing applications to Annual Funding which is drawn from the existing Integrated Cultural Strategy, would also remain the same for 201112.

      Applications for Annual Funding for 2011–12 will open in October, with a closing date in November 2010.

      Multi-annual Funding

      It is also recommended that the current funding agreement for the existing MAF clients be extended until March 2012.  As in previous years, the continuation of funding will be subject to receipt of a satisfactory monitoring report for 2010–11 and of a one?year plan, including programme and budget, for 2011–12.  A list of the organisations currently funded through MAF has been circulated.

      The assessment and review of MAF and Annual Funding over the past three years will be brought to Committee in January 2011.

Resource Implications

      Financial

      A budget of £35,000 has been included and approved within the Departmental estimates for 2010–11.

      Human Resources

      An independent evaluator will be appointed to carry out the review of the MAF and Annual Funding schemes.  The remainder of the work will be covered within the work programme of the Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit.

Recommendations

      It is recommended that the Committee approves;

1.   the extension of the development of the new Integrated Cultural Strategy for Belfast 2011–2014 until June 2011;

2.   the extension of the current Integrated Cultural Strategy and associated funding criteria; and 

3.   the extension of the existing MAF funding agreements until March 2012.

Decision Tracking

      The review of the Multi-annual and Annual Funding scheme and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 12th May, it had approved the Council’s response to the draft Northern Ireland Tourism Strategy 2010 – 2020, which had been commissioned and led by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.  The vision for the strategy was to “create the new Northern Ireland experience and get it on everyone’s destination wishlist”.  The overall target associated with that vision was to double the income earned from tourism by 2020.  The new strategy reinforced, aligned and complemented the Draft Belfast Integrated Strategic Tourism Framework 2010 – 2014. 

            The Head of Economic Initiatives reported that, in order to support the strategy, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board had produced a booklet entitled “Campaigning for Tourism One Voice One Team”, which was due to be published at the beginning of September.  The publication identified how the Tourism Strategy for Northern Ireland 2010 – 2020 must be underpinned by the right resources and a new, shared approach adopted across the sector.  In addition, it assessed the current total tourism profile, identified what that was and what tourism delivered today and what the future opportunities were.  It focused also on key themes which needed collaborative support.  In this regard, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board had requested that the Council endorse the publication.

            The Committee agreed to note the receipt of the publication.

            The Committee was advised that the 21st National Clare Tourism Conference would be held in the Falls Hotel, Ennistymon, CountyClare on 26th and 27th February. The theme of this year’s conference was “Achieving World Class Tourism”.  The event was being organised by the Clare Tourist Council, in conjunction with Clare County Council, and was open to tourism industry officials and members of local authorities, county enterprise boards, partnerships and all public and private bodies involved in the promotion of tourism in Ireland.  The total cost of attending the conference was approximately £600 per delegate.  The Council was advised that it had been represented at the conference in 2008 but had agreed not to be represented in previous years. 

            The Committee agreed that it not be represented at this year’s Clare’s Tourism Conference.

            The Committee considered the under noted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      A number of Council Officers were approached by Ard Architects in association with PLACE, the Council supported design centre and Forum for Alternative Belfast (FAB) the City planning and design lobby group in June 2010 to consider supporting a city design promotion event due to take place on 27?30 October in Venice. 

      The event ‘Urban Promo’ is a high profile event attended by over 1000 key European architects and investors which brings together some of the most successful European Cities to both exhibit and discuss key regeneration projects and strategies now being delivered.

      Due to connection with an Italian architecture lecturer at the University of Ulster the organisers have agreed to make Belfast the case study City providing an opportunity to showcase regeneration projects to date such as Falls and Grove Centres, refurbishment of existing buildings such as the Ulster Museum, Ulster Hall and City Hall as well as new community based projects such as Connswater Greenway, Gaeltacht Quarter and more commercial projects such as those at Victoria Square, Titanic Quarter and the Lyric and MAC theatres. 

      Ard Architects were informed that they were too late to meet the Committee cycle in June and while Committee could consider a proposal in August or September the Council could not give any guarantees of support.  If they wished to book the Urban Promo event they would be doing so at their own risk.

Key Issues

      Ard Architects submitted a written proposal for support in August and also sought the Lord Mayors participation in the event.  The Lord Mayors office has since declined the invitation.  The following key points in terms of the submission include:

(i)      The group behind this have persuaded the Urban Promo organisers to use Belfast as a case study at a nil charge for Belfast; in effect contributing £38000 to the project.  Urban Promo are now promoting the event with Belfast as centre piece.

(ii)     The exhibition is to consist of thirty A0 size panels featuring various projects include drawings, photographs and supporting text. 

(iii)    A full day of the exhibition will be dedicated to speakers representing Belfast who will tell the story of regeneration in Belfast via the projects illustrated. 

(iv)   Belfast speakers would then host a panel discussion on the conference theme which is ‘Delivering projects in the current economic crisis with restricted government funding’ using Belfast experiences but also hearing from other parts of Europe.

(v)    Besides the immediate City promotion impact a highly acclaimed academic journal urbanistica will feature Belfast in a number of articles highlighting various City projects.  Both Belfast universities have contributed papers as well as other City organisations such as PLACE, FAB, Cathedral Quarter Steering Group and Gaeltacht Quarter. 

(vi)   The final element of the project is a publication based on the materials and research created for the exhibition which will be a permanent asset in terms of telling part of the Belfast story in a highly graphic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

            The Committee was advised that the above-mentioned conference was being held on 30th September in the Stormont Hotel, Belfast.  It was reported that the event, which was being organised by the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, would address a range of issues such as devolution, retailing forecasts, town centre shopping, funding and planning and would include both plenary sessions with keynote speakers and workshops. 

            The Head of Economic Initiatives reported that the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, in their capacity as Members of the Board of Belfast City Centre Management, had been invited to attend the conference, the cost of which would be £129 per person.

            The Committee authorised the attendance of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman (or their nominees), together with one officer, at the Retail Northern Ireland Conference.

            The Committee was reminded that delivering and participating in information seminars and support for business events were actions detailed within the European and Economic Development Unit’s 2010-11 Business Plan, which had been approved by the Committee.  Support had been provided already this year for two successful Council events which had encouraged entrepreneurship and promoted export marketing.  Those events had been organised jointly by the Economic Development and European Units and had been well attended and the evaluations had demonstrated a demand for further support. 

            The Committee was informed that a request had been received to provide input into two external business events which were being led by the Sinn Féin Party, which had been working with a range of partners and businesses in North and West Belfast.  Input at the events would entail presentations on business support and opportunities provided by the Council’s European, Economic and Procurement Units, with the European Unit further supporting the event by bringing in speakers from Invest Northern Ireland and the Belfast Metropolitan College.  Details of the events were as follows:-

Small Business Information Seminar

            Date:           17th September, 2010, 9.30 a.m. – 1.30 a.m.

            Venue:        Balmoral Hotel

            Event supported by the West Belfast Partnership Board

Small Business Information Seminar

            Date:           15th October, 2010, 1.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m.

            Venue:        NICVA premises

            Event supported by the North Belfast Partnership Board

The Committee approved the involvement of staff from the Council’s European, Economic and Procurement Units in supporting the above-mentioned events.

            The Committee was advised that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment was undertaking a consultation exercise in relation to proposed amendments to the Gas (Applications for Licence and Extensions) Regulations.  The proposed change was to bring the Regulations in line with European Union Legislation and those Regulations which were already in place for the Northern Ireland Electricity Licensing.  The proposed change would remove the requirement for a Gas Provider to have a contact address in Northern Ireland for the duration of its initial application for a licence. 

            The Committee agreed not to submit any comments to the proposed changes.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of a response to the Department for Social Development’s consultation on a new policy to support owner occupiers living in areas undergoing major redevelopment in order to enable those Councillors who so wished to be consulted for their views in order to formulate a response to the document.

            The Committee was advised that the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure was undertaking a consultation exercise in relation to a proposed Museums Policy for Northern Ireland.  Accordingly, the Director submitted for the Committee’s consideration the undernoted comments as the suggested response to the consultation: