Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1       To make the appointments of Members to a range of Outside Bodies for the Council Term from 2023 to 2027.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1             The Committee is recommended to:

 

1.      note that the Council has agreed that all of the appointments to Outside Bodies will be grouped into one overall pool for the purposes of allocating positions;

2.      agree to nominate the representatives to NILGA as a separate one-off exercise, as set out in the report;

 

3.      note that the Council has agreed to use the Sainte Lague methodology to provide an order of party political choices of these positions;

 

4.      appoint the positions on Outside Bodies as set out in the attached appendix; and

 

5.      agree that, should any other requests be received for Council representation on Outside Bodies during the Council Term, the party or parties who would have had the next available choice(s) under the Sainte Lague table will be asked to nominate a representative(s).

 

3.0       Main Report

 

3.1       Key Issues

 

3.1.1     The Committee will be aware that there are a number of Outside Bodies which request that a Member or several Members sit on the Board of their Body. As we embark on the new Council term, we need to make these appointments.

 

3.1.2     Members should note that several appointments to Outside Bodies were determined by the former Department of the Environment to fall within the process established in the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 for Positions of Responsibility. These were arc 21, the Partnership Panel, the Northern Ireland Housing Council, the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association and the Policing and Community Safety Partnership and its 4 District Partnerships. These appointments were determined using the D’hondt system of proportionality alongside the appointments for the Lord Mayor, the Deputy Lord Mayor and the Chairpersons and Deputy Chairpersons of the 8 Standing Committees of the Council.

 

3.1.3     In considering the requests for appointments to Outside Bodies which are not considered to be Positions of Responsibility, the Council is free to choose any methodology it so wishes. However, in keeping with the process of proportionality, which is enshrined in the 2014 Act and which has been employed in the Council for a number of years, the Committee has approved of the use of the Sainte Lague system.

 

3.1.4     The process is for all of the appointments to Outside Bodies to be grouped together in one pool and the Party Leaders at a meeting on 15thJune have selected the positions set out in the Appendix.

 

3.1.5     In order for a process to be established which deals with any additional requests from Outside Bodies for Council representation during the Council Term, it is recommended that the party or parties who would have had the next available choice(s) under the Sainte Lague table will be asked to nominate a representative(s).

 

3.1.6     NILGA

 

            NILGA’s Constitution requires that the Council’s 10 nominations reflect the overall balance of the political parties on the Council. This would not be able to be achieved if the 10 positions were to be included in a larger pool of positions. Therefore, for that reason, the Council has previously agreed that the 10 nominations are allocated using a separate Sainte Lague exercise.  This was agreed again at the meeting of the Party Group Leaders on 15th June.

 

3.1.7     The outcome of a Sainte Lague exercise provided for 4 Sinn Fein, 2 DUP, 2 Alliance, 1 SDLP and 1 Green nominations.

 

3.2       Financial and Resource Implications

 

            None Associated with this report.

 

3.3       Equality, Good Relations and Rural Assessment Implications

 

            None associated with this report.”

 

Appointments to Outside Bodies

 

George Best Belfast City Airport Forum

Sinn Féin	Councillor Pádraig Donnelly
Democratic Unionist Party	Councillor Davy Douglas

 

Visit Belfast

Sinn Féin	Councillor Clíodhna Nic Bhranair
Sinn Féin	Councillor Séanna Walsh
Democratic Unionist Party	Councillor Sammy Douglas
Alliance Party	Councillor Eric Hanvey

 

 

Issue Specific Bodies

 

Belfast Hills Partnership

Sinn Féin

Councillor Micheal Donnelly

 

Board of the Ulster Orchestra Society Limited

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Councillor Carl Whyte

 

Cathedral Quarter Trust

Democratic Unionist Party	Alderman Dean McCullough
Independent Member	Councillor Paul McCusker

 

Fairtrade Steering Group

Sinn Féin	Councillor Nichola Bradley
Alliance Party	Councillor Ross McMullan

 

Grand Opera House Trust

Traditional Unionist Voice

Councillor Ron McDowell

 

Groundwork Northern Ireland

Green Party

Councillor Brian Smyth

 

Lagan Navigation Trust

Sinn Féin

Councillor John Gormley

 

Lagan Rural Partnership Local Action Group

Alliance Party

Councillor David Bell

 

 

Lagan Valley Regional Park Advisory Committee

Sinn Féin	Councillor Geraldine McAteer
Democratic Unionist Party	Councillor Sarah Bunting
Alliance Party	Councillor Micky Murray

 

Linenhall Library Board

Democratic Unionist Party

Councillor Nicola Verner

 

Local Strategic Partnership on Travellers Issues

Sinn Féin	Councillor Róis-Máire Donnelly
Alliance Party	Councillor Christine Bower

 

Lyric Theatre Education Advisory Panel

Social Democratic and Labour Party	Councillor Séamas de Fáoite
Green Party	Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Áine Groogan

 

Northern Ireland Amenity Council

Sinn Féin

Councillor Matt Garrett

 

Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme

Democratic Unionist Party	Councillor Sarah Bunting
Alliance Party	Councillor Micky Murray

 

Somme Advisory Council

Democratic Unionist Party	Councillor Tracy Kelly
Democratic Unionist Party	Councillor Bradley Ferguson
Ulster Unionist Party	Alderman Sonia Copeland

 

NI Migration Partnership - Sustainable Community and Demographics Working Group

Sinn Féin

Councillor Tina Black

 

NILGA Policy and Learning Network

Sinn Féin

Councillor Claire Canavan

 

Sustainable NI

Sinn Féin	Councillor Brónach Anglin
Social Democratic and Labour Party	Councillor Gary McKeown

 

Members’ Related Bodies

 

National Association of Councillors

Sinn Féin	Councillor Arder Carson
Sinn Féin	Councillor JJ Magee
Sinn Féin	Councillor Tomás Ó Néill
Democratic Unionist Party	Alderman Dean McCullough
Democratic Unionist Party	Councillor Ian McLaughlin
Alliance Party	Councillor Sam Nelson
Social Democratic and Labour Party	Councillor Donal Lyons
People Before Profit Alliance	Councillor Michael Collins

 

Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA)

 

Sinn Féin	Councillor Matt Garrett
Sinn Féin	(tbc)
Sinn Féin	(tbc)
Sinn Féin	(tbc)
Democratic Unionist Party	Councillor Sarah Bunting
Democratic Unionist Party	Alderman Dean McCullough
Alliance Party	Councillor David Bell
Alliance Party	Councillor Jenna Maghie
Green Party	(tbc)
Social Democratic and Labour Party	Councillor Carl Whyte

 

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations and noted that, as Belfast City Centre Management had changed its governance structure and was no longer in receipt of Council funding, there was no requirement to appoint Members to that organisation.