A report on Belfast City Council's controversial storage of bonfire pallets is set to have the names of staff redacted before its release.
The council last summer appointed former Northern Ireland Ombudsman Tom Frawley to examine its storage of wooden pallets for loyalist bonfire builders.
It came after the The Irish News revealed that the council was storing pallets at ratepayers' expense, prompting anger from some councillors who said they were not consulted.
Around 2,500 pallets were held last year for east Belfast's Walkway area and around 300 for a pyre near a city centre hotel – and were due to be returned before the Eleventh Night.
The internal report was discussed yesterday morning at a special meeting of the council's strategic policy and resources committee.
It was agreed the paper should be made public after the names and positions of council staff are removed.
Parts of the report will also be summarised before publication.
It is understood the report broadly recommends addressing council processes to ensure significant decisions on bonfires are only made after receiving political approval.
Sinn Féin councillor Deirdre Hargey called for the implementation of the recommendations.
"Sinn Féin recognises that not all the recommendations will be implemented before this summer, but the process for change starts from now," she said.
“There will now be a process of moving forward on the recommendations and addressing the governance issues raised in the report and we will work to ensure there is both transparency and accountability."
SDLP councillor Tim Attwood welcomed the report, saying that Mr Frawley has "raised challenging questions about accountability, governance, enforcement and inter-agency working".
"It is clear that lessons need to be learnt following events at some bonfires in 2017 especially in relation to effective governance, openness and accountability in terms of decision making," he said.
"This report provides a helpful road map to move this forward and it needs to be acted upon."
Alliance councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown said his party has "supported and contributed positively" to the council's bonfire scheme.
"We want to see Eleventh Night bonfires carried out in a respectful and safe way, and to this end would support an increase in funding going forward if 2018 proves to be a successful year," he said.
"That being said, the scheme is not without its flaws and while we welcome the report produced by Tom Frawley, the length of time it has taken has been extremely frustrating – especially since it should have been published in October, at the Alliance Party's request.
"Looking ahead, Alliance is broadly supportive of the actions outlined, but will be moving to address a number of concerns."
Belfast City Council said the committee's recommendations on the report will go to full council for discussion at its next meeting on April 9.
