To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister whether powers of community planning, as transferred to the new council structures, will create space for a Civic Forum, as outlined in Strand One of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Civic Forum referred to in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement was given a statutory basis by section 56 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 with a remit of providing views to the First Minister and deputy First Minister on social, economic and cultural matters. The Forum operated between 2000 and 2002. It was not reconvened when devolution was restored in 2007.

The purpose of the community planning process set out in Part 10 of the Local Government Act (NI) 2014 is to identify long-term objectives for improving the social, economic and environmental well-being of a local government district and for how the district can contribute to achieving sustainable development in Northern Ireland, together with actions and functions necessary to meet those objectives. The objectives of the community planning process are substantially different from those of the former Civic Forum.

The Stormont House Agreement provides for the establishment of a compact civic advisory panel as the new model for civic engagement on key social, cultural and economic issues and to advise the Executive.