Pp 8/15 1 Partnership Panel Draft Note of Meeting Held
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
PP 8/15 PARTNERSHIP PANEL DRAFT NOTE OF MEETING HELD AT 3:30PM ON 28 th APRIL 2015 CASTLE BUILDINGS, STORMONT ESTATE Central Government Local Government Mark H Durkan MLA DOE (Chair) Cllr Mervyn Rea (Antrim Newtownabbey) Simon Hamilton MLA DFP Cllr Jonathan Buckley David Ford MLA DOJ (Armagh Banbridge Craigavon) Mervyn Storey MLA DSD Cllr John Kyle (Belfast) John O’Dowd MLA DE Cllr Tom McKeown (Causeway Coast & Glens) Cllr Maoliosa McHugh (Derry Strabane) Cllr Jo Deehan (Fermanagh Omagh) Cllr Luke Poots (Lisburn Castlereagh) Cllr Gerardine Mulvenna (Mid & East Antrim) Cllr Malachy Quinn (Mid Ulster) Cllr Terry Andrews (Newry Mourne & Down) Cllr Richard Smart (North Down & Ards) Cllr Alan McDowell (NILGA) Cllr Dermot Curran (NILGA) Cllr Seán McPeake (NILGA) Cllr Arnold Hatch (NILGA) In Attendance Leo O’Reilly DOE Anne Donaghy SOLACE Angus Kerr DOE Liam Hannaway SOLACE Brian Moreland DOE (Joint Secretary) Derek McCallan NILGA (Joint Secretary) Observers Noel Lavery DARD Diarmuid McLean DETI Caron Alexander DFP Nichola Creagh DOE Derek Baker DEL Jackie Durkan DE Joann Hanna DOE Nichola Mallon DOE SpAd Emma Murray DSD Roy McGivern (DSD) Sharon Carlin (DSD) Siobhan Tweedie (DFP) Also In Attendance John Woods Carnegie Trust Peter Doran Carnegie Trust Aideen McGinley Carnegie Trust Claire Bradley DOE Mark Mulholland DOE 1 PP 8/15 ACTION 1. AGENDA ITEM 1: WELCOME & APOLOGIES 1.1 The Chair welcomed everyone to the third meeting of the Partnership Panel, particularly those local government members attending for the first time since being appointed by their Council. The Chair commented on the importance of leadership, vision and openness to partnership working to ensure the success of the Panel. 1.2 Apologies were noted and accepted from Peter Robinson MLA, Martin McGuiness MLA, Stephen Farry MLA, Arlene Foster MLA, Michelle O’Neill MLA, Caral Chuilin MLA, Jonathan Bell MLA, Jennifer McCann MLA, Jim Wells MLA, Danny Kennedy MLA, Cllr Mark Cosgrove and Cllr Carla Lockhart. 2. AGENDA ITEM 2: NOTE OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING – 3RD FEBRUARY 2015 [PP5/15] 2.1 The draft minutes of the 3 rd February meeting were accepted as an accurate record. 3. AGENDA ITEM 3: MATTERS ARISING 3.1 The Chair advised that there were a number of matters arising from the last meeting. 3.2 At paragraph 3.4 where Minister Storey asked where responsibility lay for drafting proposals regarding the development of regional and local engagement during 2015-16 to avoid any negative impact from the delay in DSD’s transfers. The Chair confirmed there was collective responsibility across both tiers of government to develop proposals to ensure the emergence of positive messages. He cited examples of existing constructive engagement mentioning DRD’s liaison with councils about the complementary link between the Regional Development Strategy and Community Planning and DSD’s liaison with councils looking into the transfer of Urban Regeneration powers and the connection with Community Planning. Following discussion the Joint Chair asked the Joint Secretariat to develop engagement protocols for Secretariat central and local government to help formalise relationships further. 3.3 At paragraph 5.2 where a local government member drew the Chair’s attention to elements of the general Code of Conduct, which he felt were more appropriate for the Planning Code of Conduct. The member asked for the matter to be considered. The Chair confirmed that he had clarified the matter in correspondence with the member and copied the correspondence to all local government Chief Executives on 2 nd April for circulation to members. 3.4 At paragraph 6.1 where a query was raised in relation to statutory partners in community planning. The Chair advised that he had received representation from councils that departments should be named as partners in the Community Planning Partners Order. As a consequence he was consulting with Executive colleagues and hoped to have the matter resolved in the near future. 2 PP 8/15 3.5 At paragraph 8.1 the Chair confirmed that he had written to councils (4th February 2015) about the 4 year Term of Office for local government members on the Panel. 3.6 At paragraph 9.2 the Chair confirmed that he did not proceed with a March meeting to allow the new council’s time to hold their Annual General Meetings and run their nomination process. 3.7 Local government members raised a number of issues: • Councils that applied for the £30M reform fund (Executive’s Change Fund) should receive feedback on their application and Joint how it was ranked. Secretariat • It is vital for councils to receive in advance of striking their rates, the full details of budget reductions. The same local government member asked the DFP Minister for feedback on his recent meeting with Derry and Strabane District Council and if a solution emerged about how to address budget reductions in cases where councils have a low rate base. • There needs to be a review of the Code of Conduct after 2 years and will the Chair support this? • To note for the record that the handover on 1 st April to the new councils was successful on the ground. • There is a delay in the receipt of the meeting notes. NILGA will therefore provide an immediate actions update for local government. 3.8 In response Ministers made the following comments: • The DFP Minister said he would not be going into the detail of the Derry and Strabane District Council meeting other than to say there was a useful discussion on a range of issues. He advised that news on the Budget was circulated as soon as the Executive approved the detail. He shared the frustration of councils. However, all Ministers with budget responsibilities would need to be conscious of the member’s point for later years. • The Chair advised that he was content to engage with local government members on budget issues outside of the meeting, if necessary. • The Chair said he noted the comment about reviewing the Code of Conduct, however he was meeting the local government Joint member who first raised the issue (paragraph 3.3 above refers) Secretariat and will come back to the Panel with details after he speaks to the Councillor. • The Chair commented that he was not aware of any delay in issuing the meeting notes but was happy with any actions that improve the business of the Panel as long as it is managed through the Joint Secretariat. 4. AGENDA ITEM 4: IMPROVING WELLBEING TOGETHER – CARNEGIE UK TRUST [NILGA] 3 PP 8/15 4.1 The Chair moved to Agenda Item 4 and a presentation by representatives of the Carnegie UK Trust on improving Wellbeing. An Office Bearer from NILGA was asked to introduce the topic. Following the presentation a number of comments were made: • The Chair welcomed the Wellbeing Framework as a guide to support the work of all public services in NI. He referred to the report and the recommendation to work with local government to agree a new relationship in the context of the Framework. He said he noted that Wellbeing is complementary to the community planning initiative and creates an opportunity for aligning central and local government priorities in order to achieve shared outcomes for local communities. The Chair also commented on the Framework document being used as a form of Community Planning template. • The DFP Minister spoke in support of the Wellbeing Framework advising that its strategic commitments will help inform the Executive’s targets in the extended Programme for Government. He commented that Wellbeing is not only a task for the Executive but also local government including the private sector. He said the concept presents exciting challenges and huge opportunities for everyone. • Several local government members welcomed the presentation, commenting that there was a desire to see Wellbeing in practice in places like Scotland and Wales; the Framework should be slotted into the Community Planning guidance and that the Panel should help the Trust to deliver its message. • The Carnegie representative said she was happy to collaborate with local government and the Joint Secretariat to facilitate a visit that would demonstrate Wellbeing in practice. She also advised that there is a lot of best practice data already available to help the Wellbeing agenda move forward. Members were advised that the Framework utilises existing Strategies and takes account of existing good practices. 4.2 The Chair concluded the discussion by advising he was keen to see this work rolled out through the Work Plan. He thanked the Trust for its Joint presentation and proposed that the representatives liaise with the Joint Secretariat Secretariat. 4 PP 8/15 5. AGENDA ITEM 5: PROMOTING SHARED SERVICES [DFP PAPER – PP 6/15] 5.1 The Chair moved to Agenda Item 5 and DFP’s paper PP6/15 about promoting shared services. The Chair invited the DFP Minister to present his Department’s paper. 5.2 The DFP Minister give an overview of the shared services proposal advising that in light of the Executive’s agreement, Enterprise Shared Services (ESS) Division was now keen to work with the new councils in widening the use of NI Direct, providing access to the new Public Sector Data Centre, the NICS Private Cloud and the future use of HR and finance shared services. The Minister made the point that through close collaboration with ESS there was the potential for councils to have access to more cost effective services that would reduce their operating costs. 5.3 The Chair welcomed the contents of the paper and the engagement thus far by a number of councils, particularly in utilising the NI Direct initiative. He said the project savings within the NICS over the next 5 years of £10M; simply by using the Private Cloud for hosting data services, was a notable example.