Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1       Members will be aware that officers have been drafting a document outlining the Council’s commitments to inclusive growth, in line with their ambition to create an inclusive city.

 

1.2       At SP&R on 23rd August the range of policy commitments were presented with a commitment to send out the full version of the document to Parties week commencing 26th August for review and comments. Officers subsequently liaised with each Party and have updated the document.

 

1.3       During these discussions it was requested that the Council’s commitment to ‘doing all we can to eradicate poverty and inequality in our city’ was re -emphasised in the concluding paragraph of the inclusive growth statement contained in section 2 of the document. Therefore, this additional text has been inserted.

 

1.4       This report provides Committee with the final document for approval and outlines the next steps that will be undertaken to ensure that a public consultation commences in November, alongside an All-Party launch.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

 

·        Approve the final document outlining the Council’s commitments to inclusive growth for publication.

·        Agree to an All-Party launch of the commitments and public consultation commencing October 2019.

·        Agree to testing/engagement of the commitments with key anchor institutions, businesses, CVSE and trade unions commencing October 2019.

·        Agree to the establishment of the Inclusive Growth Oversight Group to ensure collaborative working across the organisation. 

·        Agree to the additional text inserted into the inclusive growth statement of ‘doing all we can to eradicate poverty and inequality in our city’.

 

2.2       Please note there is a requirement for a full-time permanent Inclusive Growth Policy and Implementation Support Officer to embed the commitments via the development of policy, support for implementation across Council departments and anchor institutions and the ongoing monitoring of implementation.

 

2.3       There is also a requirement for two full-time permanent support officers (policy and data) to further the work on inclusive growth and the wider Belfast Agenda implementation through data analytics and building a strong evidence base that informs decisions at a local level.  The above additional resources will be considered as part of the estimates process.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

3.1       At SP&R Committee on 20th April 2018, members agreed to a five step approach to developing an inclusive growth framework for the city. Since then officers from within the Strategy, Policy and Partnerships team have been working with departments to develop the policy commitments.

 

3.2       At SP&R Committee on 7th December 2018, a draft bespoke Belfast City Council inclusive growth decision-making framework was presented and agreed.  This framework is designed to ensure that inclusive growth is placed at the heart of policy, capital and programme decisions.

 

3.3       Members also agreed, that in the first instance, our efforts would be focused on the following four target inclusive growth groups:

 

·        Workless residents

·        Residents with low skill levels

·        In work, low earning individuals

·        Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)

 

            The focus of our inclusive growth commitments

 

3.4       The inclusive growth commitments outlined in the attached document sit within the overarching framework of the Belfast Agenda and are closely aligned to its economic growth ambitions. 

 

3.5       The Belfast Agenda is an ambitious plan for the city, with a strong economic focus and far-reaching targets for population and jobs growth. In order to address the long term challenges facing people in Belfast such as health and educational inequalities, the need for good relations, ensuring people feel safe and have good living conditions, we need to focus on growing our economy and ensure the benefits are felt by everyone.

 

 

3.6       Council has therefore rightly set out an ambitious economic growth agenda – this is highlighted by our success and commitment to securing the Belfast Region City Deal, the creation of a range of investment funds and interventions designed to make Belfast a great place to locate and start a business. We are also committed to creating a strong and vibrant city centre – its development is vital for attracting private sector investment, creating revenue and enabling the sustainability of council expenditure and service delivery

 

            Addressing wider inequalities, their causes and consequences

 

3.7       It is accepted that not everyone in Belfast has benefited in the past from economic growth and unless there is a paradigm shift in our policy framework this will continue. The development of our commitments towards inclusive growth is one aspect of the work that is underway with partners to ensure that the ambitions of the Belfast Agenda are met. This includes working with partners to address many of the underlying causes of poverty and exclusion such as health inequalities (specifically mental health), educational underachievement, transport and community infrastructure. Specific detail on these strands of work is included within the paper being presented to the SP&R Committee today titled ‘Belfast Agenda - Update on Community Planning’.

 

3.8       It is important that as we consult and engage on our commitments we will also ensure that key stakeholders understand the wider work that the Council is providing leadership on across the City.

 

3.9       The commitments within this inclusive growth document focus strongly on our role as an inclusive corporate body looking at what we do in areas of:

 

·        procurement – social value and sustainability

·        employment – recruitment, fair work and employability & skills

·        investment - decision making framework

·        service design/provision – inclusive

 

3.10      It also focuses on our influencing and civic leadership role, acting as a call to action to others across the City.

 

3.11      This inclusive growth document has been designed to be a living document and to support this the first year action plan has been included within the document.  It is intended that an updated action plan be produced for each subsequent year thereafter. Members are asked to note that development of the policies and initiatives required to create an ‘Inclusive Belfast’ will continue alongside the public consultation.  

 

3.12      It is important to note that implementation will require ongoing policy development and operational decisions. With papers on the development of procurement policy, city wide charter, apprenticeship and social enterprise/ cooperatives (etc) being brought to committee on a regular basis.

 

            Consultation and engagement

 

3.13      As part of the consultation and engagement process associated with finalising our commitments to inclusive growth, we will ensure that consultation on the work being undertaken across the council to address the wider inequalities, such as poverty alleviation, will be considered.

 

3.14      A key focus of this engagement will be working together with others across the City, such as anchor institutions, businesses, Community and Voluntary Sector and wider public sector partners to hear their ideas as to how we can develop an inclusive growth agenda for Belfast. It is important that, as well as gathering their views on the overall content of the commitments, that we use this engagement opportunity to focus on how we can work in partnership to co-design and develop key initiatives, such as the development of the inclusive growth city charter.

 

3.15      A key element of the work to inform the development of our commitments was examining and adapting international best practice to meet the specific needs of Belfast. To support this, the Head of Policy, Strategy and Partnerships, Christine Robinson, participated in an All-Ireland Eisenhower Fellowship in May 2019. The purpose of Christine’s fellowship was examine approaches to inclusive growth at a city, state, community and business level.   Key aspects of the study trip have been included in this document and will be used to shape the ongoing policy development required to bring the ambition to life.  The fellowship was fully funded by the Eisenhower Fellowship programme, however Christine completed the trip as a council employee and therefore retrospective approval for participation in the fellowship is required.

 

            Next steps

 

3.16      The following steps are recommended:

 

·        October 2019 – All-Party public launch of our commitments to inclusive growth

·        October 2019 – January 2020 – Complete public consultation on draft commitments and associated comprehensive equality screening to further inform final document.

·        October 2019 – Commence testing/engagement of draft commitments with key anchor institutions, businesses, CVSE and trade unions.

·        October 2019 – Establishment of the Inclusive Growth Oversight Group. 

 

            Financial/ Resource Implications

 

3.17      Should SP&R Committee approve recommendations 2.2 and 2.3 above, revenue cost implications of these posts will be calculated and brought to SP&R Committee as part of the estimating process.  All other costs will be delivered through existing budgets.

 

            Equality or Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Assessment

 

3.18      The Council’s commitments to inclusive growth, as outlined in the attached draft document, are inherently inclusive and are aimed at bringing about inclusive economic growth to all residents, irrespective of identity. A draft comprehensive screening has been completed and will be consulted on alongside the draft commitments.”

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.