Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Kirkpatrick, A. Maskey and Mhic Giolla Mhín.

            The minutes of the meetings of 13th and 26th October 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 November.

            The Committee was reminded that the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau and the Council had appointed Tourism Transport Consult, in association with Allan Balnaves, to assess the rationale for relocating the Belfast Welcome Centre.  The report had examined three options, that is, the move to the former Northern Bank, 8-10 Donegall Square North or to the Belfast Central Library or to remain at the current location in Donegall Place.

            The potential for a relocation of the Welcome Centre had undergone a Strategic Review Starting Gate, which the Council applied to the procurement of infrastructure, information technology, property and goods and services.  Through that process, it aimed to improve procurement discipline and outcomes by encouraging better performance in project planning, development and execution.  The Strategic Outline Case had received an overall rating of Green for the project suggesting that the successful delivery of the project to time and cost quality appeared highly likely, subject to more detailed assessment and Council approval.  The detailed assessment required an economic appraisal to be undertaken for each of the options.  ASM Horwath Consultants had been tasked with undertaking the economic appraisal and had been invited to attend to present the draft report to the Committee.  Each of the three options had been appraised against a range of financial factors, including floor area, rental costs, income, increased footfall, income opportunities, fit-out costs, partnership opportunities and opportunities to purchase.  The sites had been assessed also against non-monetary factors, including the gateway role of a Welcome Centre, acceptability, timelines, accessibility, minimum disruption and flexibility.

            It was reported that Messrs. M. Williamson and J. Parker, representing the Consultants, were in attendance and they were welcomed by the Chairman.

            With the assistance of visual aids, Mr. Williamson reviewed the role of the Belfast Welcome Centre and the background to its establishment.  He then proceeded to outline the number of enquiries received at the centre during its opening period, the targets for the next two financial years and the income which had been generated at the centre.  He referred to each of the options which had been considered and the pros and cons associated with each of the sites, the cost of fit-out, the operating costs and revenues, the wider economic benefit and the cost to benefit ratio.  He indicated that each of these options had been ranked in the following order:

(1)    relocate to Donegall Square North (the former Northern Bank Building);

(2)    remain at Donegall Place and refurbish;

(3)    remain at Donegall Place and do nothing; and

(4)    relocate to Belfast Central Library.

            He stated that the next steps for the Council were to decide on its preferred location, firm up any capital costs and agree any capital spend, decide on the future funding model for the Centre and, if required, set a date for the move. 

            The deputation then answered a number of questions from the Members in relation to the costs of the fit-out of each of the venues, the estimated number of enquiries  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of the draft Belfast Integrated Strategic Tourism Framework 2010/14 to enable it to be considered at a special meeting which had been arranged to be held later in the month.

            The Committee agreed that Party Group briefings be held to enable the Members to receive an update on the Renewing the Routes prioritisation process, with a final report thereon being submitted to the Committee for consideration in December.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      In April 2009, the Committee considered a request from Connswater Community and Leisure Services to extend their lease on the Ballymacarrett Recreation Centre.  Committee agreed to a time limited extension during which officers would review the centre’s performance and management capacity.  If the review was successful, a further lease extension might be offered.

      The purpose of this report is to present to committee the outcome of the review and to present recommendations for the future management arrangements of the centre and the related grant aid support.

      Pending the outcome of the review, and in light of the group’s failure to meet the monitoring requirements in relation to their previous grant aid, Members are asked to note that no grant has been released for the 2010/11 year to date. 

      Context

      Council is committed to the provision of venues for people to gather, meet, participate, share information and celebrate in recognition that Community Centres promote social inclusion, participation and engagement and as such they are often the first point of contact between the individual and wider community involvement.   The Council currently support this commitment via 3 delivery models:

-     Council owned and managed facilities

-     Community owed and managed facilities.

-     Council owned and community managed facilities

      The latter is a less cohesive category but is generally where council continues to own a building or site but has entered into lease arrangements with local community organisations for the management of the facility.  These agreements have evolved over a period of time and appear to have been reactive and usually either as a Council initiative to address under usage of centres via working in partnership with the local geographical community or have developed in direct response to community requests. 

      While the traditional focus of these centres is on sports and recreation activities, input from Community Services staff has supported the development of broader programmes to address community needs.  The range of broad based community programmes varies across each of the independently managed centres.  Council currently support 6 such centres through a range of interventions including grants and waiver of rental income, capital charges and maintenance costs. 

      In March 2004 a report was submitted to a special meeting of the Community and Leisure Services Sub-Committee: the Strategic Review of Council Owned Indoor Leisure Facilities.  This report provided the committee with information to facilitate strategic decisions regarding Council-owned indoor leisure facilities.  One of the recommendations in the report was that the Ballymacarrett Recreational Centre be transferred to the community sector subject to satisfying management arrangements and agreement on the detailed terms.

      In January 2005, the committee agreed to handover management of this facility to Connswater Community and Leisure Services Ltd (CCLL).  This company was formed by Mersey Street Area Residents Association (MARA) and other local interests in order to facilitate the transfer of the management of the Ballymacarrett Recreation Centre from BCC to the control of the local community.  The decision was implemented in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

            The Committee was advised that the St. George’s City Food and Garden Market had been shortlisted in the “Best Food Market Category 2010” in the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming awards.  The awards ceremony was scheduled to be held in the NEC Birmingham on Wednesday, 24th November and two representatives from the Council had been invited to attend.  The approximate cost of attendance for two people would not exceed £600.

            The Committee approved the attendance of the Chairman and the Markets Development Officer (or their nominees) at the awards ceremony. 

            The Committee deferred consideration of a report on the Cathedral Quarter Development Plan to enable a draft Council response to the plan to be submitted to the Committee for consideration at its next scheduled meeting.

            The Committee agreed to defer, until its next scheduled meeting, consideration of the Draft Corporate Action Plan to tackle Poverty and Reduce Inequalities to enable Members to give further consideration to the Plan and to allow Dr. Mike Morrissey, who had been commissioned by the Council to undertake a study to assess the level of Poverty in Belfast, to be in attendance.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Members will remember that a paper on the revised State of the City Initiative was agreed at Committee on 9 December 2009.  At that time it was agreed to re-launch the State of the City (SOTC) Initiative by offering a better value for money series of seminars and briefings. It was agreed to move away from a single annual conference to four seminars (State of the City Development Debates) and four Development Briefs a year.

      More specifically it was agreed that the initiative will maintain its name and will consist of:

-     4 Seminars (Development Debates) per year (3 in the first year):  Over one year BCC would hold four quarterly seasonal breakfast seminars that would take place in City Hall. 

-     Publications:

-     4 Development Briefs per year (3 in the first year): This is to raise the debate and provide ‘food for thought’.  The briefs would focus on the main areas covered in previous seminars in order for participants to be ‘reminded’ of what was discussed earlier.

-     One major research paper per year – Development’s PBDU proposes to publish one research paper per year to support the SOTC seminars.

-     Magazines – City Matters and Intercom would be used to communicate the information both internally and externally.

-     Web Page:  The Council’s website will be regularly updated to ensure that stakeholders are well informed.  The existing corporate Facebook and Twitter would also be updated to disseminate information on the upcoming events, sharing ideas, documents and feedback on the events.

-     Belfast Policy Portal: The development of a policy ‘portal’ was one of the key recommendations of the 2005 conference - a web-based service which will bring together content from the seminars and make connections back into Council work.

      This ensured that the Development Department would generate a large series of products for the agreed budget, rather than only one conference.

      This report now proposes the first three speakers for the State of the City Development Debates.

Key Issues

      At that stage, it was proposed the first year of SOTC focus on how Belfast is recovering from the recession from different development points of view i.e. business, social, cultural, physical and environmental.  It was proposed that the seminar series could be entitled ‘Belfast Bounces Back’.  However, Members noted that given the challenging economic climate for citizens of Belfast, this might not be the most appropriate branding.  It was agreed that the Head of Economic Initiatives (who presented the paper as acting Director) would reconsider this matter.  This issue was reconsidered within the Department and by Chief Officers and it was proposed that a more effective approach would be to focus on key concrete areas of work of the Council that were realistic given the economic climate, namely the Integrated Economic Strategy, the review of the Masterplan and the City Investment Framework, all of which have been agreed by Members as offering key opportunities to influence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      The Council commissioned a Masterplan for Belfast in 2003 to provide a framework for the development of Belfast for the period to 2020.  The Masterplan document proposed a framework for the revival of Belfast in the period to 2020.

      In November 2009, the Committee approved a review of the current Belfast Masterplan to revisit the strategic vision for the City.  This review, in addition to providing a clear strategic position, would provide opportunities for engagement with external strategies and stakeholders with regard to investment in the City.  The review could also explore the potential for integration of work with future activity in relation to community planning and strategic Council objectives.

      Following the approval from Committee, work has focussed on the potential for the revised Masterplan to be supported by and integrated with ongoing stategic Council activity on capital investment and economic development, including alignment with the City Investment Framework and the development of the Integrated Economic Strategy, which would in turn align with the ongoing development of the Regional Economic Strategy.  In addition, the recent Comprehensive Spending Review and critical regional discussions on the budget and resources allocation, particularly with regard to capital investment, have generated a higher degree of urgency with regard to review of the Masterplan.

      It is clear that there are going to be significantly fewer resources available in Northern Ireland as a whole and it is critical that Belfast seeks to take full advantage of any potential investment in the City. At Council, Members have supported a number of motions proposing that the Council takes a lead role in trying to mitigate the worst effects of the current economic downturn. The SP&R Committee has directed that some work is undertaken in relation to looking at alternative funding sources to undertake city development. This, in turn, suggests a more urgent need for an immediate review of the Masterplan so that, if additional funding is sourced, we have a clear, agreed direction on key priorities.

      This report seeks approval to appoint the original lead consultants for the Belfast Masterplan, to carry out the first stage strategic review.

Key Issues

      This changing context and the emerging strategies for areas of the City have highlighted the need for the Council to have a coherent and up to date vision for the future development of Belfast.  The ongoing internal work on the review of the current Belfast Masterplan highlighted the importance of influencing regeneration/development initiatives planned for the City and ensuring that there was mutually supportive integration with the City Investment Framework and Integrated Economic Strategy.

      The current spending reviews and consideration of future strategic priorities for Northern Ireland have now reached the stage where it is important that the Council engages at a political level with the Ministers of relevant Departments.  The Strategic Policy & Resources Committee has already expressed its wish to meet with relevant Ministers on a systematic basis to explore the current economic challenges facing the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

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

“Relevant Background Information

      The Development Committee is committed to improving services and developing policy based on rigorous research and evidence. This ensures we meet the needs of customers and respond to their requirements for service improvement. Research is used across the department to improve services but also to measure the positive impact of our work on the ground. Some examples of the work commissioned by the Development Committee include the 2009 Capital Flows research which has been used to prove the key role of Belfast as a regional economic driver; the 2009 Belfast Tourism Monitor which measured the economic impact of increasing tourist numbers and the effectiveness of Council tourism interventions and economic forecasting research and the Annual Attitudinal Survey of Businesses in Belfast which have been used to develop the current Local Economic Development Plan and will be used to develop the new Integrated Economic Strategy.

      Members will be aware that the 2010/11 Development Departmental plan was approved by Committee on 9 June 2010. This identified some of the key pieces of research needed to support the development of the Integrated Economic Strategy and a review of the Masterplan, including a bench-marking analysis of Belfast’s competitiveness.

      We are mindful that Members wish to ensure that our work has a positive impact on Belfast and the lives of its citizens. We measure the effectiveness of our work via both the corporate CorVu performance management system (reports to Strategic Policy & Resources Committee) but also via evaluations of particular programmes. These evaluations are often carried out at the end of particular programmes (summative evaluation) which is a common evaluation practice. However, the current economic climate and the pressure on resource allocation means that we need to find ways of improving these existing impact measurement systems so that we can provide Members with even more useful data on the impact of our work. To this end, this paper asks Members to consider the development of two evaluation frameworks which would provide formative and summative evaluations and the potential for action research for real time learning in programmatic work.

Key Issues

      We propose to develop two evaluation frameworks for:

1.      Area based social and physical regeneration projects; and

2.      The impact of the council’s European unit and overall council’s involvement in European activities

      In terms of the latter, this will be preceded by an evaluation of the EU Unit’s current impact.

      1.  Develop an evaluation model for area based social and physical regeneration projects

      In the current financial climate and given council’s ongoing crucial role in place-shaping urban regeneration, we need to be able to measure the impact of social and physical regeneration projects, over and above our current summative evaluation practices.

      This framework would:

-     Enable us to measure the impact of physical regeneration work such as the Arterial Routes programme and the social regeneration work of community services;

-     Define the intended outcomes of this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

            The Committee was reminded that the Council was the Lead Partner in the European Regional Development Fund INTERREG IVC project B-Team which sought to bring together practitioners and experts from different countries to address the problems associated with the regeneration of Brownfield sites.  As part of the exchange of knowledge, the partnership would seek to improve regional policies and bring forward the development of sites in each partner location.  The practical exchange of knowledge would take place during “Brownfield Days” in each partner location, with the experience and lessons learned being collated to inform practice across the partnership at “European Dissemination Events”.  The dissemination events, which were projected to occur five times during the three year lifespan of the project, would seek to both test and disseminate the results to a wider audience.

            It was reported that the first dissemination event would consider the findings from the Oulu and Torino Brownfield Days, with a focus on environmental/remediation and land-use policy issues.  The event would take place in Dresden, Germany on 13th December, 2010 and was being organised by Dresden, the B?Team’s German partner, in co-operation with the local authorities in Oulu and Torino.  The event programme would feature a significant level of political engagement from the local authority and support the potential for the development of the pledges.  The event presented the opportunity for the Council to contribute both at political and officer level at the proposed events.  There were no financial resources associated with attendance at the event.

            The Committee approved the attendance of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman (or their nominees) and a Council officer at the Dresden Dissemination Event.

            The Committee was reminded that European funding, known as structural funds, ran in six year cycles.  Northern Ireland had received benefit to date of 800 million Euros and was benefiting currently from the following funds in the 2007-2013 programming round:

-     European Regional Development Fund (distributed via the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment) – 300 million Euros

-     European Structural Fund (distributed through the Department of Employment and Learning) – 300 million Euros

-     INTERREG IVA (distributed via the Special European Union Programmes Body) – 256 million Euros

-     Rural Development Programme (distributed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) – 600 million Euros

-     Peace III (distributed via the Special European Union Programmes Body) – 333 million Euros

            In addition to the mainstream funds outlined above, Northern Ireland stakeholders could avail also of a wide range of European funding programmes by applying directly to Europe or through nationally appointed contact points.  The Committee would be aware of many of those funds and the fact that the Council, though the European Unit, had secured a significant amount of funding in recent years both for the Council and City stakeholders.

            The Committee was advised that there remained a highly significant level of European funding available to Northern Ireland and Europe as a whole to the end of the current funding period, that is, December 2013 and work was being undertaken by the European Unit in order to agree a way forward to prioritise and maximise such funding opportunities for the Council.

            The Director of Development advised the Committee that stakeholders across Europe, including City governments, were already looking to influence the shape of funding in the next programming round which was 2014-2020.  Member States across Europe were currently in the grips of an economic recession and had competing priorities with much less funding.  There were a number of developments underway presently at the European Union level which would impact on decisions regarding future Structural Funds programming post-2013 and already quite a number of European cities and regions had written formally to their national governments, the European Commission and the European Parliament to begin to set out their positions and priorities to try and influence the thinking and planning that was underway.

            He reported that the Department of Finance and Personnel, the lead Government Department in Northern Ireland for European Union Structural Funds, had advised the Council that the time for consultation with stakeholders on the likely funding opportunities and priorities would be mid to late 2011.  However, having spoken to representatives of the other European Union cities and having tracked also the ongoing Eurocities lobby, it was important that Belfast began to formulate its position now based on existing and emerging information.  Accordingly, an early position paper, copies of which had been circulated to the Members, had been prepared which outlined the strategic context for forming a Council view and trying to establish a position in terms of what the Council would like to see in a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

            The Committee was advised that the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels, which had opened in 2001, was moving to new premises and had issued an invitation to the Council for representatives to attend the official opening on 9th December.  The office was part of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, the aim of which was to help Northern Ireland better engage in the European Union. 

            The Committee agreed to accept the invitation and authorised the attendance of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, the Chief Executive and the European Manager (or their nominees) at the official opening.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of a report in relation to the Nashville Sister Cities to enable it to be considered at a special meeting which had been arranged to be held later in the month.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 15th September, it had been advised that the Council had won 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 recession.  The Council had been shortlisted in the last six in the national competition, however, had not been successful in progressing to the final three.  The Director reported that Enterprising Britain had confirmed that a presentation ceremony for the twelve regional winners would be held in the House of Lords on 15th November and each regional winner had been invited to attend.

            The Committee authorised the attendance of the Chairman (or his nominee), together with one Council officer, at the Enterprising Britain Awards ceremony in London on 15th November.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      The Council has been invited to respond to Department of Education NI’s (DENI) draft strategy for children's early years (age 0-6).  This policy aims to ‘value and respect the early years of a child’s life, while also laying the foundations of and removing barriers to learning so that each child can develop as a successful learner; and achieve positive outcomes for children by supporting their development through high quality, child-centred and family-focused services, ensuring greater equality of access.’

      The target audience for the consultation is:

Principals and Boards of Governors of all

   grant-aided schools;

Education and Library Boards;

Council for Catholic Maintained Schools;

Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and

   Assessment; and

Teachers’ Unions.

      Key Objectives of the strategy

      The strategy has four key objectives, shown below:

-     to improve the quality of early years provision thereby promoting for children better learning outcomes by the end of the Foundation Stage especially in language and number; and also in the child’s personal and social development, physical and cognitive development, emotional well-being and readiness to learn;

-     This will be achieved by working with stakeholders to develop and agree key educational milestones; developing a quality framework to assess early year provision; reviewing and updating the pre-school curriculum, and identifying poor provision by inspection.

-     Additionally, DENI will commission research to assess the quality and effectiveness of provision and of the transition from pre-school to primary education; reviewing issues relating to two-year olds in nursery provision on an area basis; developing means of sharing key information between agencies; and promoting the use of the ‘Understanding the Needs of Children’ assessment tool.

-     to recognise and respect the role of parents of young children and to raise the level of engagement by DE (and its partners) with families and communities;

-     This will be achieved by a family programme in funded pre-school provision to raise awareness among parents; ensuring the effectiveness of available advice; and consulting with parents to inform policy development.

-     Additionally, DENI will expand the reach of the existing ‘Sure Start’ and programme for Two Year Olds; work with Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) in the development of Play & Leisure; and promote the importance of regular attendance in early years’ settings.

-     to improve equity of access to quality early years provision;

-     This will be achieved by raising the minimum standard of qualification for funded early years staff; developing an ‘early years leadership programme’ for leaders in pre-school provision; identifying and disseminating best practice; and capacity building support in the non-statutory sector.

-     Additionally, DENI will review the funding mechanism to address any equality issues; develop a mechanism to manage the allocation of pre-school places; ensure that all voluntary and private pre-schools who are funded through the Pre-School Expansion Programme work within the SEN framework; improve access to Irish-medium pre-school provision; seek to expand provision for two year olds; and maintain part-time provision with the statutory pre-school  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

This report has been with drawn from the agenda and will be resubmitted for the Committee’s consideration in December.

            The Committee was advised that this item had been withdrawn from the agenda and would be re-submitted for the Committee’s consideration in December.

            In accordance with Financial Regulations, the Director of Development sought the Committee’s authority to have a number of bad debts amounting to £9,058.75 written off, a schedule of which had been submitted for the Committee’s information.  He pointed out that all reasonable measures had been undertaken to recover the debts.

            The Committee granted the authority sought.

            The Committee granted authority for tenders to be sought for the delivery of the Lord Mayor’s component of the Belfast City Carnival 2011, at a cost of approximately £70,000, and delegated authority to the Director of Development, in accordance with the Scheme of Delegation, to appoint the contractor based on the most competitive bid.

            The Committee was reminded that the Go Belfast Awards was an annual ceremony in which the “Best of Belfast” was celebrated in the fields of entertainment and lifestyle.  The awards were voted for by members of the public and were promoted through the Go Belfast publication.  The closing date for voting in the 2010 awards was 1st October and 25,000 votes had been received across a range of categories, including Visitor Attraction of the Year, Hotel of the Year and Festival/Event of the Year.  The 2010 awards would take place in the Europa Hotel on 26th November.

            It was reported that the Continental Market had been shortlisted for the Visitor Attraction of the Year Award and the Ulster Hall had been nominated in the Live Music Venue of the Year category.  The cost of attending the awards ceremony was £125 plus VAT per person, however, one complimentary place at the event had been offered to each shortlisted finalist.

            Accordingly, the Committee approved the attendance of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman (or their nominees), together with two Council officers, at the Awards Ceremony at a cost of £250 plus VAT.

            The Committee agreed to receive at a future meeting a presentation from representatives of the Belfast Civic Trust in relation to its proposals for a Belfast History Centre.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Frank O’Hagan, the Traveller Liaison Officer (TLO) was requested to attend A PSNI Senior Management Team meeting to advise on matters relating to the policing and Traveller/Gypsy communities.  This request emanated from a NI Assembly Member’s questions relating to the frequency which the Traveller community were stopped at PSNI vehicle check points.  The TLO advised the PSNI management team the ratio of stop and search was 12 times more than that of a settled community and was unacceptable.  It was recommended the PSNI revise their policy on policing the Traveller community.  He also advised that the three recommendations on policing in the Promoting Social Inclusion Report on Travellers (1999) had not been implemented by PSNI and that specific Home Office guidance to all police forces on policing the Traveller and Gypsy communities had not yet been addressed in Northern Ireland.

      Following this meeting the TLO provided a number of training/information sessions with senior PSNI personnel and was requested to advise the PSNI on specific Traveller matters with respect to a PSNI EU Peace III proposal.  A working group was established including

-     Gerry Murray and Phil Robinson from PSNI,

-     Katy Hayward, K Radford and M Lomarova from Queens University Belfast,

-     Derek Hanway from An Munia Tober,

-     Neil Jarman  from Conflict Resolution,

-     Martin Collins from Pavee Point,

-     P Connaughton from Cavan County Council

-     Frank O’Hagan, Belfast City Council’s Traveller Liaison Officer. 

      The result of this working group has been to develop a funding bid to be submitted under the Peace III programme.

Key Issues

      The basis of the proposed Peace III proposal is to develop a training programme for An Garda Siochana and PSNI to work with and to develop protocols with Travellers.  The proposal supports institutional development to deliver a shared society and assist citizens in organising themselves to promote active citizenship and the accountability of public service to constituencies.

      The project will:

-     Improve the capacity of PSNI and the police service in the border region to engage positively with the Traveller community and in so doing to become more adept in culturally-aware policing of marginalised groups in a shared society.

-     Create conditions for building the levels of confidence and satisfaction of the Traveller community in NI and the border region in the policing service

-     Learn lessons from good practice in police services elsewhere in the EU in culturally sensitive policing engagement with Traveller and Roma groups

-     Establish the foundations for a network and forum for cross border co-operation between An Garda Siochana and the PSNI in addressing the particular needs of the Traveller community.

      BCC has been asked to be a partner in this Peace III proposal and Gerry Murray of PSNI has written to seek Council support.  Belfast will not be expected to devote any financial resources to participate.  The only resource requirement is input from the TLO in terms of time and sharing of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

            The Committee was advised that correspondence had been received in relation to a public consultation on the Proposed Coleraine (Transfer of Harbour Undertaking) Order (Northern Ireland), which proposed to effect legislation to transfer the ownership and responsibility for Coleraine Harbour from Coleraine Harbour Commissioners to Coleraine Borough Council.

            Accordingly, it was recommended that the following comments be submitted as the Council’s response in this regard:

·          The Council does not have any specific issues to raise with regard to the proposed transfer of property, rights, liabilities and obligations from the Harbour Commissioner to Coleraine District Council.

·         However, you will be aware of previous discussions about the future of ports and harbours.  In particular, the Council’s response in September, 2006 to the “Ports Policy – Your Views Invited” where it was asserted that the Council believed that the Port of Belfast would be best served by a governance structure that retained the Trust Status of the port with the potential for extended powers.  As such the Council would follow the transfer with interest.

            The Committee approved the foregoing comments as the Council’s response in this regard.

            The Director of Development advised the Members of ongoing fraud investigative work which had been undertaken by the Department in relation to one of its services and that, once investigations had been concluded, he would submit a further report to the Committee.

Noted.

            The Director of Development advised the Committee that the Fourteenth Annual Aisling Awards would be held on 25th November in the Europa Hotel.  He reported that the Renewing the Routes team had been shortlisted for the Gaeilge Award in the Outstanding Services to the Irish Language category.

            The Committee authorised the attendance of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman (or their nominees), together with appropriate Council officers at the event.