Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that all Standing Committees would receive a quarterly update on the Notices of Motion that they were responsible for.

            The Strategic Director advised that the first quarterly update for the Committee indicated that there were 21 active Notices of Motion and Issues Raised in Advance for which it was responsible for (Appendix 1).

            It was reported that, given the current pressures in responding to the pandemic, it had been difficult to afford the usual time towards progressing Notices of Motion. Nevertheless, there had been progress in a number of Motions and estimated completion dates and next steps, which required further updates, would be progressed and reported back at the next quarterly update.

            The Committee was reminded that, at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 20th November, it was agreed that Notices of Motion could be closed for one of two reasons, as follows:

·        Category 1 - Notices of Motion which contained an action that had been completed. All Notices of Motion within this category contained a specific task that had since been completed. It was worth noting that, when Committee agreed to action a Notice of Motion, there were sometimes additional actions agreed alongside the Notice of Motion. As these were not technically part of the Notice of Motion, they were taken forward through normal committee decision making processes. The Notice of Motion can therefore be closed, but additional actions related to it would continue to be progressed and reported to the committee. These additional actions were not contained in this report, but would be noted in the live database moving forward.

·        Category 2 - Notices of Motion had become Council policy or absorbed in to a strategic programme of work. These Notices of Motion did not contain a specific task that could be complete. Instead, they were more strategic in nature and required changes in Council policy and/ or strategy for long term outcomes. Those listed within this category had all been agreed by Committee and were now either Council policy or are currently being implemented through a Council strategy that was managed by a Standing Committee through the corporate planning process.

            It was reported that the following ten motions had been highlighted for closure under category 1 and two motions for closure under category 2. It was suggested that the Committee agreed that the following 12 Notices of Motion were now closed:

      Category 1 Recommended Closures:

·        Citizens’ Basic Income Scheme (Ref number 4):

·        Funding of PLACE NI (Ref number 19);

·        York Street Interchange Project (Ref number 39);

·        Dogs on Public Transport - Response from Translink (Ref number 40);

·        Sustainable Transport (Ref number 43);

·        High Speed Rail Connection (Ref number 44);

·        Update on Motion - EuroPride (Ref number 91);

·        Installation of additional Parklets on arterial routes and in neighbourhood areas (Ref number 119):

·        Alternatives to York Street Interchange (Ref number 150); and

·        Fra McCann's (MLA) Proposals for Free Car Parking at Hospitals (Ref number 151).

                  Category 2 Recommended Closures:

·        Supporting the Writers of Belfast (Ref number 20); and

·        Supporting Artists of Belfast (Ref number 59).

            During discussion, one member requested that the Motion on Sustainable Transport (Ref. number 43) remained open so that a further update could be submitted to Committee.

            After discussion, the Committee:

                                     i.          Noted the process for reporting Notices of Motion through Standing Committees agreed by the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee and outlined in paragraphs 3.1 to 3.3;

                                    ii.          Noted the updates to all Notices of Motion that the Committee was responsible for as referenced in Appendix 1; and

                                   iii.          Agreed to the closure of a number of Notices of Motion, as referenced in Appendix 1 and noted in paragraph 3.7 with the exception of number 43. Motion on Sustainable Transport, the Committee noted that the status of this motion would be examined further.