Arrangements to ensure continuous improvement
The council has a statutory duty to put arrangements in place to secure continuous improvement. Each year we are required to develop a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). The PIP identifies objectives for the year ahead and the council’s actions to meet these objectives.
Everything we do in council is focused on improving the lives of people who live in or visit Belfast. The PIP is aligned to the Belfast Agenda outcomes and draft corporate plan priorities and is subject to, and informed by, public consultation. The council has well-established, robust, and comprehensive arrangements in place to ensure continuous improvement, summarised in figure 1 below. These arrangements are in accordance with Part 12 (Section 84 (2)) of the Local Government Act which states that they should improve our functions in terms of:
- Strategic Effectiveness
- Service Quality
- Service Availability
- Fairness
- Sustainability
- Efficiency
- Innovation
Council’s improvement framework
The council’s improvement framework sets out the various components of how the council works, bringing together the specific priorities, ambitions, and outcomes for the city of Belfast. It links the overarching strategic outcomes, ambitions and priorities of key strategies and plans to the annual individual works plans of our employees, making clear the contribution that individuals make towards achieving city and strategic outcomes. It provides a mechanism to establish and implement an integrated way of communicating and delivering objectives throughout council so that all plans, frameworks, and processes are clear and ‘joined up’, known as the ‘golden thread’.
Figure 1: Council's improvement framework
Strategic context
Our community plan, the Belfast Agenda was updated in 2024, with input from partners, residents, and other stakeholders to reflect the city’s current priorities. The overarching strategic plan explains the WHY of what we are doing, providing a holistic view of the needs and aspirations of the city, and articulating this in five long-term outcomes. It outlines how partners will work collectively to support the most vulnerable in our city while growing the economy, regenerating neighbourhoods, supporting communities, and achieving our climate targets. Figure 2 depicts the five strategic themes and priorities, the five things’ people want for Belfast by 2035 (our outcomes) and our ambitions which outline our key targets to make our vision a reality.
Figure 2: The Belfast Agenda 2024-28
The council’s draft Corporate Plan 2024-28 sets out our approach to delivering for local people in a time of both significant opportunity and considerable challenges for our city. The draft corporate plan is inextricably linked to the Belfast Agenda and explains WHAT the council will do to contribute to the outcomes above as well as outlining any other key priorities for us as an organisation. And finally, committee plans, and other departmental and business plans detail the HOW. Our corporate priority themes for the next four years are outlined on figure 3.
Figure 3: Council's draft Corporate Plan 2024-28
