Corporate performance 2024-2025
Corporate Delivery Plan 2024-2025
This section of the report provides a high-level performance summary of the council’s annual Corporate Delivery Plan 2024-2025. Our annual corporate delivery plan sets out the council’s key deliverables, actions and performance indicators for the 12-month period. This section considers the extent to which our wider corporate actions and priorities have been achieved to demonstrate our commitment to ongoing and continuous improvement across the organisation.
This is in addition to the statutory and self-imposed performance indicators and delivery already outlined in this report.
The seven themes of the council’s Corporate Delivery Plan 2024-2025 are:
- Our services
- Our foundations for success
- Our people and communities
- Our economy
- Our place
- Our planet
- Compassionate city
Corporate Delivery Plan 2024-2025 performance overview
The overview is a snapshot of the council’s overall performance in relation to the actions and indicators outlined within our Corporate Delivery Plan 2024-2025. The plan included 282 performance indicators and actions. Of these:
- 14 were not achieved or were adrift of target by 5 per cent or more
- 71 were partially achieved or slightly adrift of target (between 1 per cent and 5 per cent)
- 179 were achieved or completed on target or exceeded target (within 1 per cent or better)
- data is not available for seven
- no targets were set for 11
There were 80 performance indicators. Of these:
- eight were adrift of target (by 5 per cent or more)
- four were slightly adrift of target, between 1 per cent and 5 per cent
- 50 were on target or exceeded target (within 1 per cent or better)
- 50 were on target or exceeded target (within 1 per cent or better)
- data is not yet available for seven
- no targets were set for 11
There were 202 actions. Of these:
- six were not achieved
- 67 were partially achieved
- 129 were achieved or completed
Corporate Delivery Plan 2024-2025 summary
To summarise, of the 282 actions and performance indicators included in the plan:
- 63 per cent were achieved, on target or exceeded target
- 25 per cent were partially achieved or slightly adrift of target (between 1 per cent - 5 per cent)
- 5 per cent were not achieved or adrift of target (5 per cent or more)
- 4 per cent had no target set
- 2 per cent were not reported as data was not available
Snapshot of key successes and achievements for 2024-2025
This is a list of other key successes and achievements that are not mentioned elsewhere in this report:
Enterprise and business
- test trading opportunities for 33 new businesses through dedicated start-up space at St George’s Market and Kennedy Centre
- 137 businesses accessed specialist advice for innovation and digital transformation plans
Jobs and skills
- 1,169 people supported through Gateway to Choices to access training and employment
- 850 people attended Job Fairs
- 200 delegates attended our Building an Inclusive Labour Market conference
- 399 members across 212 organisations on our Employability and Skills Provider Network
Belfast Regional City Deal
- over 20 projects agreed to drive innovation and growth
- 18 outline and three full business cases approved
- 13 funding contracts signed worth £600million
- world-class Ulster University Studio Ulster now operational (£25.2million)
- construction is nearing completion at Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (£78.7million)
- UK Digital Twin centre launched (£15million)
- iREACH Health clinical research facility construction (£39.7million)
- design development for tourism and regeneration projects including Belfast Stories (£65million)
- Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge contractor procurement (£12.1million)
- Phase 2 of Belfast Rapid Transit project announced
City regeneration
- with the Department for Communities, we appointed Clanmil Housing Association to develop a mixed-use, city centre residential-led scheme
- secured funding to support projects under A Bolder Vision including:
- design proposals for the Sailortown to Titanic Quarter Bridge
- roll-out of active travel and greening initiatives including Belfast’s Urban Garden
- opening the Queen’s Quay Kiosk
- completing the Historic Entries programme in the city centre
- positively positioned Belfast at local, national and international level to attract inclusive investment
- and aligned to our ambitions for a re-energised Belfast Waterfront Promenade:
- advancing design proposals for the Sailortown to Titanic Quarter Bridge, (DfI-funded)
- opening the Queen’s Quay Kiosk (DfC Covid Revitalisation-funded) City Quays and Sailortown connection to the city centre (DfI-funded Under the Bridges project)
Climate
- started an Innovate UK Pathfinders project
- secured Shared Island funding for community growing projects and solar panel for Donegall Pass Community Centre
- agreed a tree establishment plan including tree planting activities with Belfast Hills Partnership
- supported the 30 Under 30 Climate Change-makers programme, empowering 30 people under 30 years old to become leaders in addressing climate change
City innovation
- partnered with BT to launch an Augmented Reality Experience in the City Hall visitor exhibition
- secured £5.1million UK Government funding and delivered the first year of our Belfast 5G Innovation Region programme
- completed a European-funded Belfast HUB-IN programme providing £120,000 funding to six digital innovation projects along the Maritime Mile
- appointed a new Belfast Innovation Commissioner to drive innovation investment
Cleaner and greener
- emptied 10.5 million bins (including Bryson collections)
- collected 81,000 bulky waste items
- 17,100 street cleansing programmes per week (brush, litter picking, mechanical sweeping)
- 105 adult education visits about cleansing
- 206 school visits, with 3,500 pupils taking part in the Terrible Tales of Trash
- 721 fixed penalty notices for littering and 254 fixed penalty notices for dog offences
- 5,000 women and girls given access to reusable period products
Community and leisure
- 14,862 community centre activities delivered with support from local community organisations and 2,831 with volunteer support
- 29,837 hours of volunteering opportunities generated from community centres
- 42,758 people participated in sport programmes in partnership with other organisations
- helped increase female participation to 42 per cent through our boxing strategy
- 776 children benefitted from summer schemes for children with disabilities or additional needs
- 21.5 per cent improvement in observed emotional wellbeing of children attending afterschool sessions
- 33,000 health and fitness members using our gyms, pools, fitness studios and courts
- 400 fitness classes per week with over 6,200 people attending
- 6,200 children’s swimming lessons across our centres per week
- over 250 jobs created through our Leisure Employment Academy
- 3,000 children attended GLL Holiday Schemes at 12 leisure centres
Culture and tourism
- welcomed 30,000 people at our St Patrick’s Day celebrations
- held a Christmas lights switch-on event attracting over 10,500 people
- renewed our Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Award for 2025, putting us in the top 10 per cent of venues reviewed worldwide
- launched Embrace the Inclusive Spirit Awards to recognise inclusive tourism venues
- supported the Belfast Food and Drink Network to deliver a series of industry events
- welcomed 199,000 visitors to Belfast Zoo
- Belfast Castle held 311 social, corporate and wedding related events in 2024-2025, a 46 per cent increase on the previous year
- welcomed over a million visitors to St George’s Market including 20,000 to November Twilight Market
- supported 40 cultural organisations and 19 festivals with £2.45million core funding
- 250,000 visitors recorded at our City Hall exhibition and guided tours
- welcomed over 266,254 visitors and held 1,349 events at 2 Royal Avenue
- delivered our Belfast 2024 initiative:
- 138,332 people took part in 1,130 events
- 24 large-scale, new cultural projects co-designed and delivered with citizens
- 28 community-led local projects via new participatory budgeting scheme
- 16 Creative Bursaries for artists working in Belfast
- six international artist residencies
Planning
- determined 36 major planning applications
- determined 1,348 local planning applications
- concluded 514 enforcement cases
We granted permission for:
- 139 social homes at Blackstaff Road, 69 at Pilot Street and Dock Street plus 62 at Whiterock Road
- 115 residential units at London Road and Lismore Street
- 87 apartments at Milner Street
- 256 apartments at City Quays
- 14 homes at Lagmore Glen
- student accommodation at Dublin Road-Ventry Street, Great Victoria Street, Titanic Quarter and Dublin Road
- a radiopharmaceutical facility at Royal Victoria Hospital
- a sports pavilion and centre at Stormont Estate
- a youth facility at Flax Street
- updates at Glenwood and St Bride’s primary schools
- facilities and swimming pool for RBAI
- a heritage and community centre near Corpus Christi College
- a medical research facility at Lisburn Road
- a private hospital at Boucher Road
- 136-bedroom apartment-hotel at Great Victoria Street
- 14-storey Grade A office development at Dublin Road and Grade A office building at City Quays
Building control Service
- processed 456 entertainment licensing applications
- carried out 848 inspections of entertainment premises
- processed 196 applications relating to street trading, petroleum, cinemas, pavement cafés, road closures and amusement permits
- dealt with 185 dangerous structures
Improving our city
Our £600million physical investment programme includes 90 different capital projects with an investment of £80million in the last year.
We completed:
- a community hub changing pavilion and 3G pitch at Paisley Park
- sports and leisure improvements at Cherryvale Playing Fields, Falls Park, City of Belfast Playing Fields (Mallusk), Cavehill Tennis Club, Brook changing pavilion, Woodvale Park, The Mount and Henry Jones Playing Fields
- upgrades to playgrounds at Northlink, Grampian Avenue, Flora Street and New Lodge
- an Urban Villages project Hosford Community Homes and Inclusion Hub - redevelopment of dilapidated property into a multi-purpose community and good relations space with temporary housing units on Newtownards Road
- Local Investment Fund projects at Berlin Swifts FC and Women’s TEC
- environmental improvements at Sugarhouse Entry and Shankill Road
- improvements at household waste recycling facilities including Alexandra Park and Ormeau
- public art initiatives including Rory Gallagher statue at Ulster Hall
- dual language street signs in the Gaeltacht Quarter
- a maritime kiosk at Titanic Quarter
- a community research garden as part of the UPSURGE project at Botanic Gardens
- improvements to our Customer Hub facilities at Cecil Ward Building
- Active Travel covered cycle stands at Marrowbone and Lockkeepers
We’ve also:
- delivered 200 community safety related projects with funding of £710,325 from Belfast Policing and Community Safety Partnerships
- delivered £500,000 Summer Community Diversionary Programme funding
- held 365 events in our parks attended by 203,654 people
- carried out:
- 1,910 health and safety inspections
- 2,440 food safety inspections
- 3,728 public health and housing requests and 2,967 inspections
- checked maritime health declarations for 1,973 vessels arriving at Belfast Port and completed 103 ship sanitation inspections
- carried out 1,278 burials and 3,161 cremations
- delivered an air quality monitoring programme (part-funded by Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs) to assess compliance with air quality standards and objectives
- responded to 4,644 noise complaints
- registered 2,980 births, 2,436 deaths, 1,309 marriages and 13 civil partnerships (April to December 2024)
- secured Frank and Honest Coffee as new Belfast Bikes sponsor
- facilitated 129,520 journeys on Belfast Bikes
- delivered 16,500 cost of living support guides
- continued international engagement including 72 programmes with visiting delegations covering business, academia, tourism and civil society plus continued Sister City engagement
- brought together 67 partners to deliver 119 free events for Belfast Learning Festival 2025 as a UNESCO Learning City
- supported 15 projects to integrate refugees in Belfast
Performance benchmarking – staff attendance and service availability
Our staff are our greatest asset in ensuring service continuity and availability as well as the delivery of our corporate objectives. Councils’ individual remits and staffing profiles vary which can impact absence levels and should be considered when comparing performance.
Average number of absent days due to sickness for full time equivalent (Footnote 9) staff in each council between 2017 and 2024
Our performance in relation to the other councils is set out in this table:
| Council area or organisation | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 target | 2024-2025 actual (Footnote 10) | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | 13.7 | 13.7 | 13.6 | 10.8 | 16.3 | 17.1 | 17 | 16.23 | 14.58 (Footnote 11) | Not available |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 11.9 | 13.7 | 13.2 | 11.1 | 19.7 | 13.3 | 13.57 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon | 16.1 | 16.7 | 18.3 | 15.7 | 20.5 | 19.9 | 18.81 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Ards and North Down | 16.2 | 14.2 | 14.2 | 10.6 | 14.2 | 15.7 | 16.4 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Causeway Coast and Glens | 15.8 | 17.1 | 17.7 | 12.4 | 19.2 | 17 | 18.06 | Not available | not available | not available |
| Derry City and Strabane | 14 | 12.3 | 14.5 | 10.4 | 16.8 | 16.5 | 18.7 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Fermanagh and Omagh | 12.9 | 10.4 | 13.8 | 9.7 | 13.1 | 11.9 | 12.8 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 16.7 | 13.3 | 13.8 | 11.5 | 13.6 | 15.8 | 18.37 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Mid and East Antrim | 17.1 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 4.7 | 15.2 | 17.9 | 17.04 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Mid Ulster | 12.4 | 12.9 | 11.7 | 9.7 | 12.1 | 13.1 | 13.22 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Newry, Mourne and Down | 17.1 | 14.7 | 15.8 | 13.6 | 20.7 | 23.2 | 23.86 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Total yearly average number of sickness absent days in Northern Ireland | 14.9 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 10.9 | 16.5 | 16.5 | 17.07 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
Through the Belfast Agenda, we're committed to making Belfast a place where everyone experiences good health and wellbeing. This commitment is as valid for our own staff as it is for the communities we serve. Just over 50 per cent our employees are Belfast ratepayers so our Health and Wellbeing Strategy, launched in April 2024 has the potential to have a positive impact, across the city and contribute to the delivery of the Belfast Agenda goals for improved health throughout Belfast. Since its launch, the Health and Wellbeing programme has offered a range of health initiatives, including:
- 94 health promotion and awareness events attended by 1,367 staff
- 13 sessions of stress awareness and positive mental health training, attended by 124 staff
- two Bowel Cancer UK bowel cancer webinars attended by 63 staff
- 74 staff at five sites receiving a 30-minute health check via the Cancer Focus Keeping Well Van.
We were also awarded a Level 3 Public Health Agency (PHA) Take 5 in the Workplace accreditation in recognition of our focus on promoting and supporting employee wellbeing.
The general levels of sickness absence in the council during 2024-2025 and the reasons for absence are commensurate with the wider national trend and the impact of COVID-19, an ageing population, poorer overall health, and NHS waiting lists (Footnote 12).
Sickness absence was 10 per cent less than the target for the year. There was a 14.24 per cent reduction in sickness absence from 17 days in 2023-2024 to 14.58 days in 2024-2025. An increased number of staff had no sickness absence this year (42.68 per cent), compared to last year (41.78 per cent). Depression, anxiety, stress and musculo-skeletal conditions are the two main reasons for absence.
Footnotes
(Footnote 9) All council data was obtained from the NIAO Local Government Auditor Report 2023, 2017-2018 to 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
(Footnote 10) Council data for 2024-2025 is not available from NIAO until autumn 2025.
(Footnote 11) Absence rates: Quarter 4 2024-2025 report to Audit and Risk Panel on 3 June 2025
(Footnote 12 )UUEPC Sickness Absence: Lessons for Northern Ireland Businesses and Managers (link opens in new window) published by Ulster University, December 2023
