Belfast City Council officials have apologised for issuing an invitation that asked its cleanliness task force to meet to discuss homelessness.
An email was sent inviting the group to meet on Friday "to discuss recent concerns regarding vulnerable and homeless individuals in the city centre".
Some councillors expressed concern that convening a littering task force to consider homelessness was inappropriate and insensitive.
READ MORE: Belfast littering task force must not be 'another talking shop', councillors warn
The council said the invite was an "administrative error" as a result of confusion with a separate meeting request.
It followed calls in recent days for an urgent council meeting after the deaths of a number of vulnerable people on the city's streets.
An invitation was issued which said the "cleanliness task force is invited to meet" on Friday morning "in the Lord Mayor's parlour to discuss recent concerns regarding vulnerable and homeless individuals in the city centre".
The cleansing task force, which involves party representatives and senior officials, was formed last month in a bid to tackle littering and graffiti problems blighting Belfast city centre.
SDLP councillor Séamas de Faoite tweeted his concern about the invite, saying: "I think this is really problematic that we’re dealing with this issue on a working group set up about scrubbing the streets."
Alliance councillor Michael Long said the invite was "a bit of an error internally" and that Friday will not involve a meeting of the littering task force.
He said the meeting is separate and would examine "wider issues".
A follow-up message from officials was sent internally apologising for the invite.
It said that a request for an urgent meeting to discuss homelessness issues was incorrectly assumed to be the cleansing task force.
In a statement a Belfast City Council spokeswoman said: "An administrative error resulted in the invitation for Friday’s meeting request being confused with the cleansing task force.
"The meeting on Friday is not a meeting of the cleansing task force.
"A meeting has been called to discuss the increase in deaths in the city centre among vulnerable individuals impacted by homelessness and addiction.
"The Lord Mayor is hosting the meeting which will be attended by party group leaders and statutory agencies, alongside the chief executive and council officers."
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