Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

 

1.1       The purpose of this report is to inform members on the progress of the Live Here Love Here Campaign (LHLH) to date and to propose further support for the campaign.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is asked to;

 

·        Note the progress made with the LHLH campaign to date and the benefits in collaborating in a wider behavioural change campaign.

 

3.0       Main report

 

3.1       Key Issues

 

            At a meeting of the Health and Environmental Services Committee on 6th February 2013, a report relating to the Council committing funding to the proposed Civic Pride Programme was considered.  Committee agreed to commit £41,000 per annum of the Council’s existing anti-litter campaign budget to the project for a 3 year period, subject to appropriate funding from other agencies. On 7th August 2013 the Committee was updated and advised that the commencement of the project was delayed.  Committee agreed that the Council would continue to support the campaign for 2014/15 and 2015/16.  On 8th December 2015, the People and Communities Committee agreed that Council’s funding for the project would continue for the third year 2016/2017.

 

3.2       The ‘Civic Pride Programme’ has subsequently been re-branded as ‘Live Here Love Here’ (LHLH) and has been developed by a partnership of organisations including Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful (formally Keep Northern Ireland Tidy), the Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs and local Councils. Last year additional supporters, Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Choice Housing came on board, and this year, McDonalds and Coca Cola have contributed to the project.

 

3.3       In year 4 of the campaign (2017/18), 9 councils supported the programme, 2 more than the previous year)

 

 

·        Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council

·        Ards and North Down Borough Council

·        Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon

·        Belfast City Council

·        Derry and Strabane District Council

·        Fermanagh and Omagh District Council

·        Mid and East Antrim Borough Council

·        Mid Ulster District Council

·        Newry, Mourne and Down District Council

 

3.4       The programme is made up of three elements: a media campaign; a volunteering support programme and; a small grants scheme.  The aims of the LHLH programme are:

 

·        To create a movement in the Northern Ireland community focused around the concept of Civic Pride;

·        To effect behavioural change in the public and business community through the promotion of Civic Pride;

·        To improve the quality of the built and natural environments in Northern Ireland;

·        To continuously improve street and beach cleanliness in Northern Ireland;

·        To promote and support local volunteers and volunteer networks to lead Civic Pride initiatives in their local areas;

·        To increase opportunities for volunteering in Civic Pride Initiatives;

·        To encouraging a sense of ‘active communities’ / local activism in Northern Ireland;

·        To create a sense of ownership among local communities and individuals in waste reduction, waste management and recycling, use of green space;

·        To promote public health through increased community engagement and community involvement in local and regional communities; and

·        To encourage tourism through increasing the aesthetic appeal of the Northern Ireland landscape.

 

3.5       The LHLH Programme is managed by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. The small grants scheme was launched in September 2014 and the media campaign commenced in January 2015. 

 

3.6       As well as an anti-littering message, the campaign also aims to improve the local environment by encouraging people to take action in their local communities through volunteering activities. The campaign consisted of local outdoor, bus and press advertising as well as Northern Ireland wide TV advertising and digital activity within the participating Council areas

 

3.7       There are advantages to the Council in contributing to a collaborative approach to behaviour change campaigns.  Previously the Council has developed and paid for its own TV campaign but as the advertisements were shown regionally all council areas received the benefit.  In this collaborative approach, funding for the campaign is also being provided by other councils, DAERA and other agencies.  In addition, community and other groups within Belfast have benefited directly through the small grants scheme, with £27,500 allocated to Belfast groups in 2017/18 including £7,000 allocated to Choice Housing and McDonalds’ projects in the Belfast area this year. 

 

3.8       Millward Brown Ulster was commissioned in 2015 to undertake quantitative research into the effectiveness of the small grant scheme. There was unanimous agreement across all groups interviewed that the funded projects helped to instil a feeling of civic pride among local people.  These projects helped to make positive changes in the areas and in turn encouraged people to be more aware of the environment around them and to take pride and responsibility in their local areas.  

 

3.9       The Live Here Love Here Campaign has achieved good progress towards its targets:

 

·        Awareness - Community engagement and involvement – the LHLH steering group set a target to achieve a 40% brand awareness of the Live Here Love Here programme across Northern Ireland.  The most recent results in the market research to measure key impacts of Live Here Love Here showed (unprompted) brand awareness had increased on the previous year, achieving 23% in participating areas in 2016/17.  Prompted recognition of Live Here Love Here advertising stood at 43% for TV and 27% for targeted social media. It is likely that the brand awareness will continue to increase given that the campaign is still ongoing and is mid-way through the 2017/18 media plan. On reflection the initial target was an ambitious given the level of funding for the campaign, which is Northern Ireland wide, and the DAERA target for 2017/18 is set at 24%. 

 

·        Cleaner streets – achieve a reduction in the Litter Pollution Index of three % points by the end of year 3.  The annual Litter Pollution Index (LPI) measurements available since the campaign media activity first commenced has shown a decrease from 17% in 2014/15 to 15% in 2016/17.  Over the same period dog fouling has decreased across Northern Ireland from 12% to 6%.

 

·        Number of volunteers – e.g. to engage 50,000 volunteers in the Live Here Love Here programme within 3 years.  The annual total number engaged has increased from 107,616 in 2015/16 to 112,834 in 2016/17. This figure looks set to increase again in 2017/18. Final figures for 2017/18 will be available in May 2018.

 

3.10     In Year 3, 2016/17; Total funding was £325,000

 

            By engaging new partners in Year 4, 2017/2018; Total funding was £434,500

 

LHLH Partners
	2016/17	2017/18
Local Council’s Support	170,000	273,000
Tourism NI	20,000	0
DAERA	70,000	91,500
Choice Housing	22,000	25,000
NI Housing Executive	20,000	20,000
McDonald’s	0	25,000
TOTAL	325,000	434,500

 

3.11     Funding for year 5 (2018/19) £83,500 has been confirmed from DAERA. Continuation of funding has also been confirmed from Choice Housing (£20,000) and the NI Housing Executive (£20,000).  In addition, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful has received positive indications from a number of partners that they intend to support Live Here Love Here next year including, for the first time, Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council.

 

3.12     In light of the growing awareness of plastics escaping into our oceans (est. 8m tonnes per annum) as highlighted by the recent documentary Blue Planet II, the restrictions on the exports of low grade plastics to China, and the UK Government’s recent publication of the 25 Year Environment Plan: A Green Future, which recognises the problems caused by litter and proposes new actions for England, the Council’s ongoing support for the Live Here Love Here campaign is both timely and demonstrates its commitment to environmental improvement. 

 

3.13     The original Committee report had agreed 3 years funding.  In January 2017 this Committee agreed to extend this funding for a further year.  Funding had been provided for the project in revenue budgets for this coming year 2018/19 to ensure delivery of the priorities and aims of the Council as outlined in the Belfast Agenda.  This will also be on the proviso that all other contributors continue to fund the project to a level which makes the project viable.

 

3.14     Financial & Resource Implications

 

            The cost of the council’s contribution of £41,000 will be met from within the existing Cleansing Services anti-litter campaign budget for 2018/19, there will be no additional resource implications to the council.

 

3.15     Equality or Good Relations Implications

 

            There are no equality or good relations implications in this report.”

 

            The Committee noted the update provided.