Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“Relevant Background Information

 

      At a meeting of the Development Committee on 12 December 2007, Members agreed to receive a presentation from representatives of Belfast City Centre Management on their draft Business and Operation Plan for 2008/2009. 

 

      In 2007 executive changes took place with the appointment of Mr Billy McGivern as Chairman of the BCCM Board, and Mr Andrew Irvine as City Centre Manager.

 

      Under its new management team, Belfast City Centre Management Company has repositioned itself, the Company’s initiatives and operating plans are now centred on:

 

‘delivering additional services into Belfast city centre, on behalf of its core funders, which contribute in a measurable way to a cleaner, safer and more accessible city.’

 

      A copy of the BCCM 2008/2009 Operating Plan has been circulated to the Committee.       

 

Key Issues

 

      The City Centre Manager reports that some existing BCCM initiatives have been extremely successful, including the ‘Retail Crimewatch Scheme’.  This scheme in 3 years has delivered a 51% reduction in stock loss due to retail crime (shoplifting), saving and estimated £8.2m of stock. BCCM are now keen to extend this scheme to cover juveniles, who are responsible for 36% of retail crime in BelfastCity Centre.

 

      The success of BCCM’s Safer City initiatives has placed pressure on BCCM’s small administrative resources.

 

      The work of BCCM, which is presented in detail in the Operating Plan, covers three areas of work:

 

-     Delivering Direct city centre services:

 

      BCCM will deliver its own services, which add value to the city centre, e.g. City Centre Representatives, City Beat Policing, Radiolink, City Safe Crimewatch scheme.

 

-     Facilitating and assisting in the delivery of our fundersCity Centre    Initiatives:

 

      BCCM will work ‘on the street’ (when requested and as directed) to assist with initiatives such as the Evening Economy, Independent Retail Training, Retail Benchmarking and Gap analysis, Belfast in Bloom, Waste Management and Streets Ahead.

 

-     Direct liaison with City Centre Businesses:

 

      BCCM will provide strong communication links between the private sector businesses in the city centre and central and local government.

 

      In order to deliver the specific targets provided in the 2008/2009 Operating Plan, BCCM has put in place a structured programme of Retail Forums, Area Focus Groups and Activity Working Groups to support the ‘on the ground’ work of the City Centre Representatives and City Beat Police Officers.  BCCM report that additional resources are needed to deliver the appended plan for two reasons:

 

1.   Existing operational staff are being utilised for administrative duties when they are sorely needed on operational business liaison duties.

 

2.   With the opening of Victoria Square on 6 March 2008 the retail floor plate of the City Centre will increase by over 30%, representing some 200 new retail businesses.

 

      In order to fully implement the business and programme activity of the 2008/2009 Operational Plan additional human and financial resources will be required. Specifically BCCM needs 3 additional City Centre Representatives for business liaison, 2 administrative assistants to support Board, Area Focus Group and Activity Group meetings, and a suitably qualified accounts clerk.  It is also envisaged that the duties and responsibilities of the Office Manager would be increased to include a Project Management role.

 

      The Committee is asked to note that in 2008/2009 BCCM’s funding for the City Centre Representatives through the Community Safety Partnership is likely to be cut from £20,000 to £12,000.00.

 

      BCCM is seeking equal funding for 2008/2009 of £190.000.00 each from Belfast City Council, Department of Social Development and private sector businesses.  A financial forecast is included in the Operating Plan.

 

      The Governance and auditing structure for BCCM is included within the Operating Plan and officers can report that BCCM has now fully met all the requirements of the Council’s Internal Audit section.

 

      The work of BCCM, as detailed in the Company’s Operating Plan, is extremely important to the success of Belfast City Centre, and crucial to achieving the buy-in of the private sector within the City Centre to key Council initiatives such as the Evening Economy, Committee Safety Partnership, Retail Training Initiative and Belfast in Bloom.

 

      An on-going review is being undertaken into the roles and responsibilities of Belfast City Centre Management and Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau; however it is unlikely that any structural changes would be brought forward within the next two years.  In this context, some security of tenure would greatly assist BCCM to deliver on its objectives for the city.

 

Financial Implications

 

      Belfast City Centre Management Company is seeking £190,000 in core funding.

 

Recommendations

 

      Members are asked to note the details of the Belfast City Centre Management Company Operating Plan for 2008/2009 and to consider an increase in annual funding for Belfast City Centre Management from £140,000 to £190,000.00 per year for two years commencing 1 April 2008.

 

Key to Abbreviations

 

      BCCM - BelfastCity Centre Management.”

 

            The Committee was advised that representatives of the Belfast City Centre Management Company were in attendance to address the meeting.  Accordingly, Mr. A. Irvine, City Centre Manager, and Mr. N. Gordon, who was a member of the Board of the Company, were admitted to the meeting and welcomed by the Chairman.

 

            Mr. Irvine thanked the Members for providing Belfast City Centre Management with an opportunity to address the Committee.  He pointed out that, following changes to the Board Membership and with the appointment of a new City Centre Manager during 2007, the organisation was determined to operate in a more effective and efficient manner and would ensure that its core purpose would be to deliver additional services to the City centre and would not replicate the services already provided by the Council’s Development Department.  He pointed out that Belfast City Centre Management’s Business Plan for the year 2008/2009 contained specific, measurable targets which he was confident the organisation would be able to meet.

 

            Mr. Irvine indicated that it was his intention to improve the relationship between the Company and the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau and, to this end, both organisations had agreed integrated actions for the coming year, including how they would work together to ensure that the retailers paid a fair element of the costs which would be associated with the 2008 Christmas Advertising Campaign for Belfast.

 

            He informed the Members that it would be easier for the Company to recruit suitably qualified staff and would assist in the motivation of staff if the Council were to agree to fund the organisation for a period of two years rather than on an annual basis.  He also requested that the Committee provide an additional sum of £50,000 for each of the next two financial years, which would mean the Council providing a total of £380,000 over that period of time.

 

            In answer to a Member’s question, Mr. Irvine indicated that the Department for Social Development had indicated verbally that they would match the increased funding provided by the Council.  In addition, discussions had been taking place with the House of Fraser, which would be opening a branch in the Victoria Square Development, regarding the Company becoming a core funder of Belfast City Centre Management.

 

            After further discussion, the representatives of the Belfast City Centre Management Company thanked the Committee for receiving them and retired from the meeting.

 

            During discussion on the presentation, the Director informed the Committee that the additional £50,000 which had been requested by the representatives of Belfast City Centre Management during the next financial year had not been included within the Committee’s estimates which had been agreed earlier in the meeting.  However, the Revenue Estimates contained an amount under the “Development of the City” heading and that the increase which had been requested by the Company could be found from within that budget heading.

 

            The Committee was generally supportive of Belfast City Centre Management, but was concerned that the organisation was requesting funding for a two-year period when there was no certainty that match funding would be provided by the Department for Social Development or if the Company would be able to meet the targets which it had set itself for the next financial year.

 

            Accordingly, the Committee agreed, in principle, to provide a sum of £190,000 per annum for a two-year period to Belfast City Centre Management, subject to the funding for the second year being reviewed in September, 2008.

 

Belfast Welcome Centre and

Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau Business Plan

 

            The Chairman reminded the Committee that the Council, at its meeting on 7th January, had amended the Committee’s decision of 12th December to provide that the additional amount of £500,000 to be awarded to the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau for marketing and visitor servicing purposes be deferred to enable discussions to be held between Council officials and representatives of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.  He requested the Director to update the Committee regarding this matter.

 

            The Director indicated that the Council’s Chief Executive would be meeting the following week with the Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board to discuss the matter and that the outcome of those discussions would be known prior to the Council meeting to be held on 4th February.

 

            After discussion, the Committee agreed to affirm its decision of 12th December to provide an additional amount of £500,000 to the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau for marketing and visitor servicing purposes, to be paid in two instalments during the financial year 2008/2009.