Meeting Details

This meeting will be webcast for live and subsequent broadcast on the Council's You Tube site Live Broadcast Link

That this Council,

• Is alarmed at proposed 5% cut in funding to arts organisations funded by the Department for Communities through the Arts Council NI;
• Commends Equity NI, the arts community, its supporters, and the community at large for resisting these proposed cuts, including over 12,500 individuals signing Equity’s petition which asked for more investment in the arts, not less;
• Notes that Arts Council NI funding has decreased, in real terms, by 30% over the last decade, despite evidence that investment in the arts has a real terms economic benefit for the city and the North as a whole;
• Further notes that the Department for Communities has indicated that it may implement further cuts in arts funding in FY ‘24-’25;
• Recognises that Stormont Permanent Secretaries are being forced to take, without mandate, difficult decisions that should be taken by locally elected Ministers and a devolved Executive and Assembly;
• Further recognises that too often the Council is forced to step in and financially support arts and cultural organisations who have lost funding from Stormont Departments, putting pressure on our ability to deliver existing arts and cultural schemes;
• Calls for a reversal in cuts to the arts and agrees to join as a signatory to Equity NI’s latest open letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Communities;
• Further calls for the restoration of a reformed Executive and Assembly to take decisions which can future-proof the arts sector and protect funding in the future.

That this council resolves to contact the 26 County government and request they refer Israel to the International Criminal Court due to its recent genocidal violence against the people of Gaza and Palestine as we note the growing concerns domestically and internationally.

We also request the council contacts the UN office of Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect and request they open an investigation immediately.

This Council recognises that

• the costs of childcare in the North of Ireland are unaffordable for many and hard working families are struggling every month to meet these costs;
• access to childcare in this district is an issue, with providers struggling to meet demands whilst remaining sustainable and maintaining high standards of care;
• parents, particularly women are being forced out of the workforce leading to a negative impact on the labour market, skills and wider economic output;
• an Executive must be re-established urgently so that parties can work together to make childcare a priority;

And that this Council will:

1. write to the Education Department urging them to progress a comprehensive childcare strategy without delay; and
2. commit to delivering new fully registered childminders in the area through their labour market partnership scheme.