Agenda and minutes

            The minutes of the meeting of 15th and 29th January were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 4th February. 

No declarations of interest were reported

            The Committee agreed that Councillor Spence would replace Alderman Stalford as the Council’s representative on the Lagan Rural Partnership with effect from 1st February, 2013.

            The Committee agreed to receive, at its meeting on 19th February, a presentation from representatives of the Belfast Advice Group in respect of the impact which the introduction of the Welfare Reform Act had had on its ability to provide funding advice services across the City.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1       Relevant Background Information

1.1      Members are aware that Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau submit their Business Plan annually to Development Committee for approval.  The plan covers the leisure marketing and business tourism activity undertaken by BVCB, visitor servicing carried out by BWC in the city centre and at the two airports. This occurs January / February to ensure that budgets and activity are in place by March to allow BVCB to plan activity from the 1 April 2013.

1.2      The plan outlines key performance in the first three quarters of 2012/13 on pages 10 – 11. Some specific examples of successes to date, include securing 56 cruise ships for 2013, exceeding income targets from private sector partners, securing conferences worth £19.1 million for the city and dealing with 451,555 enquiries via the 3 TICs.  Areas under-performing include advertising equivalent from PR due to the lag time between press visits and coverage (therefore likely to reach targets by year end); and value of accommodation booking fees from conferences - delegates tend to negotiate better rates directly with hotels as there is no commission. Overall however, as reported to Committee on a quarterly basis, BVCB’s performance has remained on target for 2012/13 period.

1.3      The plan proposes targets and KPI’s for 2013/14 on pages 6 – 9. Key initiatives for 2013 include the relocation of the Belfast Welcome Centre and servicing the World Police and Fire Games. In summary, through implementing this Business Plan, BVCB will deliver 312,000 bed nights and visitors for Belfast City generating £60 million spend in the local economy.

1.4      The overall budget is £3.8 million of which £1,827,465 is requested from Council. This represents a leverage of 1:1.09 and return on investment of 1:16. BCC’s core contribution is £15,000 less than 2012/13 as one of the initiatives, About Belfast guide, was included in Council’s efficiency programme in 2011; on the basis that this publication could attract commercial sponsorship / advertising and reduce public funding subvention.

1.5      The 2013/14 Business Plan has been developed with input from Council officers. It is aligned to the Belfast Integrated Strategic Tourism Framework 2010 – 2014, contributing to Council’s overall targets to grow visitor numbers by 20% and spend by 40% by 2014.

2         Key Issues

2.1      The Committee received a presentation from NITB and Tourism Ireland in December 2012. One of the key issues discussed included the decline in the GB market and the emerging research on market segments.

2.2      Members agreed to develop a Memorandum of Understanding between BCC/ BVCB, NITB and Tourism Ireland around marketing Belfast as a visitor destination. BCC is taking the lead on this. Following the BVCB meeting on Thursday 24 January 2013, BVCB Chairman and Chief Executive met with the Director of Development, the Head of Economic and International Development and the Tourism, Culture and Arts Manager to agree a process and timetable for the development of a MOU and an association Action Plan. The aim is to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

            Arising from discussion, it was agreed, in light of the recent disruption which the City had been experiencing over the past two months, that the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau be given permission to use up to £30,000 within the sum allocated to it by the Council for the purposes of a subvention fund to enable specific interventions to be made to secure any pre-arranged conference bookings in 2013 which might be placed at the risk of being cancelled as a result of recent disturbances.

The Director reminded the Committee that the City had experienced significant disruption as a result of the implementation of the initial stage of the ‘Belfast on The Move’ initiative, which had been overseen by the Department for Regional Development.  He explained that this disruption had impactedgreatly on commuters and retailers and had had a knock-on effect on the leisure and hospitality industries. He outlined the benefits which would be accrued if the Committee was to agree to commission a study which could provide an analysis of current and future trends for transport demand and provision in the City. He indicated that the study’s main aims would be to identify issues of accessibility and mobility; congestion - both in terms of levels and travel time variability; parking availability – including the issue of pricing; and environmental and social impacts. The Director indicated that phase 1 of the study would seek to identify actions which the Council, in conjunction with the key bodies and agencies, could implement using existing legislative and statutory frameworks.

            The Director reported that, on the basis of the information identified within phase 1, a City Access Plan would be developed with a range of partners which would seek to improve the flow of traffic during peak times and reduce congestion on main roads; address the issue of public transport; and parking provision, allocation and pricing. He indicated that the second phase would address the viability of the introduction of congestion charges and access management measures in the City centre. In addition, the study would consider issues such as mobility management and alternative transport systems, such as the introduction of Active Travel, which would be considered within any new infrastructure. He added that, on completion of this stage, the option would exist for the Council to commission a further study which could address a comprehensive traffic management strategy in partnership with the Department for Regional Development, Translink and other bodies. That strategy would underpin Council-led policy and initiatives, such as the Belfast Masterplan and the Investment Programme, and would be supported by good practice and take account of local impacts and benefits.

            Accordingly, the Director sought the Committee’s authority to undertake the research, as outlined. It was estimated that the costs associated with the undertaking of phases 1 and 2 of the research would be £30,000, provision for which existed within current budgets.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed to adopt the recommendation subject to consideration being given to disability accessibility, in particular for the blind and partially sighted.

            The Committee endorsed the undernoted programme of events for the year 2013/2014, subject to consideration being given to the inclusion of an additional piping event in the City:

            The Committee was reminded that the Council, through its Community Services Section, was committed to supporting the provision of volunteer training throughout the City. The Director reported that Volunteer Now was overseeing the recruitment of volunteers for the World Police and Fire Games and it was anticipated that 3,600 volunteers would be required to support the event, 21% of whom would be from the Council area. It was reported that Volunteer Now would deliver the internationally accredited World Host Training to its volunteers in advance of the Games and an outline of the customer service-based principles of the training was provided to the Committee.

            The Director reported that Volunteer Now was seeking contributions from a range of statutory bodies to deliver the World Host training, the overall cost of which would be £29,628. Accordingly, it was reported that the Council’s pro-rata contribution would be £6,221 and, given the Council’s commitment to supporting volunteer training under the Investment Programme, the Director recommended that the Committee accede to the request.

            The Committee agreed to provide funding in the sum of £6,221 towards the training.

The Committee endorsed the undernoted response to the above-mentioned consultation which had been issued by the Department for Social Development and which sought consultees’ views on how to improve the uptake of social security benefits by those individuals and families entitled to them:

               General comments

               The Council has a particular interest in this issue and would welcome further opportunities to support this initiative. We currently run several schemes to help people claim the benefits that they are entitled to. For example we run various schemes to support older people in the city and we fund generalist advice provision across the city. In the three years from 2008-11, our five Advice Consortiums dealt with 268,500 enquiries. It has been estimated that these helped people to access approximately £9 million per year in benefits.

1.2.         Specific Questions.

1.   Do you believe that the Department should continue to invest in proactive approaches to encouraging benefit uptake?

1.2.1.      Yes, our feedback is that many people, especially older people are still losing out through a fear of form filling, a complicated claim system, a ‘make do’ attitude and in some cases fear that they will lose money rather than gain through a benefit check.  Some of the proactive approaches such as the ‘make the call’ campaign have been quite successful and these campaigns should be repeated. It is, therefore, important that the Department continues to encourage benefit uptake and also to raise awareness about what is available in a way that makes the benefits system more accessible and removes the stigma that is sometimes attached to receiving benefits.

1.2.2.      While we believe that all households should be made aware of the types of benefits that exist and how these can be accessed, some targeting may be useful. We consider the most vulnerable to be older people-carers, people with a disability, those who suffer from dementia and their families. Effort should be made to identify ways to access particular groups and increase knowledge of their needs.

1.2.3.      The Department also needs to be exceptionally proactive to encourage benefit uptake with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities and work to overcome particular barriers these group experience – literacy issues, need for interpreting services (in face to face work and information leaflets) and make use of existing structures/organisations which support these groups e.g. the migrant Centre in Belfast, the Regional Interpretation Service, libraries, appropriate community groups etc.

2.   Do you [believe] that people in all circumstance (in and out of work) are in scope for improved awareness and information with higher investment and priority being given to those groups identified as needing more direct intervention in order to take up benefits they are entitled to? 

1.2.4.      Yes, anyone can get into circumstances where they need the safety net of the state welfare system and so a life-course approach should be adopted rather than waiting until people are at their most vulnerable. However, we recognise the importance of targeting those in acute situations e.g. older people, people with care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Committee was advised that Mrs. Kerrie Sweeney, the Council’s Tourism, Culture and Arts Manager, had been appointed to the position of Chief Executive of Titanic Foundation Limited and would be leaving the Council in March.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mrs. Sweeney for her work with the Members during her time with the Council and wished her well in her future position.