Agenda item

Moved by Alderman Rodgers,

Seconded by Alderman Convery,

      That the minutes of the proceedings of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 21st September, omitting matters in respect of which the Council has delegated its powers to the Committee, be approved and adopted.

Fire at Bank Buildings

            The Lord Mayor again expressed her gratitude to the emergency services who had responded within minutes to the fire, to the staff in the Primark store for having evacuated the building so quickly with no reported injuries and to all the Council staff, external partners and stakeholders who had worked tirelessly in the wake of the event to progress the recovery plan for the area.

            A number of Members welcomed the City Recovery Investment Programme that had been approved at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to assist with the medium term recovery of the City and stressed the need to implement the proposed plan as soon as possible given that the Christmas trading period was imminent. 

            Several Members expressed concern for the surrounding businesses and outlined how businesses outside of the cordon were also being affected as a result of the fire.

            The Chief Executive provided assurances around the work that the Council was taking to support city centre economic recovery, she confirmed that discussions were ongoing with the Secretary of State and the Civil Service to ascertain if any funding or assistance could be made available to assist with the long term recovery programme.

            The Members were advised that a further meeting was taking place on Tuesday, 2nd October with the various stakeholders regarding the implementation of the medium term recovery plan and the Chief Executive undertook to update the Members on the outcome of this meeting.

Amendment

Personal Independence Payment

            Moved by Councillor O’Hara,

            Seconded by Councillor Garrett and

      Resolved – That the decision of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 21st September, under the heading “Motion – Personal Independence Payment”, be amended to provide that the Council agrees that an All-Party Deputation meet with the Department for Communities to discuss the criteria used in respect of Personal Independence Payments.

Amendment

Update on the Implementation of the

Independent Review of Leisure

            Moved by Councillor Collins,

      That the decision of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 21st September, under the heading “Update on the Implementation of the Independent Review of Leisure”, be amended to allow for the deletion of the following wording “acknowledged the detrimental impact to the Leisure Development Programme, and the rate payer, in the event of the Council bringing the leisure operating mode back in-house, and rule out any further consideration at this time”.

As there was no seconder for the proposal, it was not put to the meeting.

Amendment

Area-Based Festivals

Moved by Councillor McAllister,

Seconded by Councillor Long,

      That the decision of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 21st September, under the heading “Area-Based Festivals”, be rejected and accordingly the Council agrees not to release the funding agreements to Belfast South Community Resources and the Ulster Scots Community Network.

            On a recorded vote, eleven Members voted for the amendment and thirty-nine against, with four “no votes” and it was declared lost.

Adoption of Minutes

            Subject to the foregoing addition and amendment, the minutes of the proceedings of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 21st September were thereupon approved and adopted.