Agenda for Culture, Tourism & Enterprise Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, 7th October, 2009, 4.00pm
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Agenda and minutes
PDF 197 KBVenue: Council Chamber, Hove Town Hall. View directions
Contact: Julia Riches, Scrutiny Support Officer
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Minutes: 17a Substitutes
17.1 Councillor Mo Marsh for Councillor Craig Turton.
17b Declaration of Interests
17.2 Councillor Randall declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Item 27 and that he would leave the room for that Item. Councillor Hawkes declared an interest in Item 30 as a member of the Board of City College Board. Councillor Harmer-Strange declared an interest in Item 22 as a Governor of Hillside School.
17c Exclusion of press and public
17.3 In accordance with section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it was considered whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of any items contained in the agenda, having regard to the nature of the business to be transacted and the nature of the proceedings and the likelihood as to whether, if member of the press and public were present, there would be disclosure to them of confidential or exempt information as defined in section 1001 (1) of the said Act.
1.4 RESOLVED – that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the discussion of Items 30 and 31 under Category 3.
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Minutes: 18.1 RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 2 July 2009 be approved and signed. |
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CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS Minutes: 19.1 The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, in particular Mark Richardson, Sarah Watson and Matthew Hellett from Carousel. The Chairman informed the Committee about two very informative Scrutiny Workshops, one on Mobile Libraries and Equal Access, and one on Pavilion Gardens. He had also met with both Councillor Ted Kemble, Cabinet Member for Enterprise, and Simon Fanshawe of the Economic Partnership to discuss the ad-hoc panel’s draft report on Environmental Industries. He had also met with Roger French, Chairman of the LSP. |
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PUBLIC QUESTIONS No public questions have been received.
Minutes: 20.1 There were none. |
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QUESTIONS AND LETTERS FROM COUNCILLORS None have been received. Minutes: 21.1 There were none. |
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PRESENTATION FROM CAROUSEL Presentation by Mark Richardson. Minutes: 22.1 The Chairman welcomed Mark Richardson the Artistic Director of Carousel, and Sarah Watson and Matthew Hellett, Oska Bright Steering Committee Members, to the meeting. They gave a short presentation outlining the work of Carousel (for copy see minute book). Carousel was an arts organisation that supported people with learning disabilities to achieve their artistic ambitions. The four main areas of work were: Shut Up and Listen Music Programme; High Spin Collective; regular Arts Showcase Club nights; and Oska Bright Film Festival.
22.2 The Oska Bright Film Festival started in 2004 and won the National Lottery Award for Best Arts Project in 2008. Oska Bright 2009 will be a three day festival on 17, 18, and 19 November showing 60 new short films. In 2010 the Film Festival will be on tour across the UK and hoped to be touring Australia, New Zealand and Hungary. In 2012 a double-decker bus will be turned into a cinema to show people across the UK who can’t get out easily some Oska Bright films.
22.3 The five aims of the Oska Bright Festival were to: make it possible for learning disabled film makers to show their films all over the world; encourage film makers to get better and better by offering training and networking opportunities, giving advice and feedback, awards and bursaries; develop new audiences, taking the festival to people who would not normally be able to visit cinemas; make the only library of learning disabled film; and develop access for learning disabled film makers and audiences to training film, television and cinema companies.
22.4 A short film was then shown to the Committee before Members asked questions. In answer to a question on funding, the Committee were told that they were still able to do the majority of their projects, despite the economic downturn. Lottery money had decreased but was still available, and following a meeting with the Broadcasting Disability Team, some funding had recently been reinstated. A fund raising campaign was due to start the following day to raise money for the mobile cinema.
22.5 The Committee thanked Mr Richardson, Ms Watson and Mr Hellett for attending the meeting and for a most informative session.
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SPORTS DEVELOPMENT UPDATE Minutes: 23.1 Ian Shurrock, Head of Sports & Leisure and Jan Sutherland, Community Sports Development Manager, introduced the report. The aim of the Sports Development Team was to create new, and promote existing sports opportunities and encourage more people to be more active. The key areas were participation, development of clubs and volunteers, support for funding for clubs and the promotion of opportunities that were available. In response to a question about timescales, the Committee were told that programmes ran throughout the year and were regularly monitored.
23.2 Following a question on funding levels, the Active for Life Programme received £365,000 from Sport England and around £150,000 from the PCT. Mr Shurrock offered to bring a report on the funding and monitoring of sports programmes to a future Committee meeting. A request was made for health benefits of regular exercise to be made clear in reports on sport and physical activity programmes. It was noted that football teams set up by the Active for Life Team had helped reduce anti-social behaviour. The Heath Walks programme was also recognised as an excellent scheme. The Heath Walks Programme was funded jointly by the Council and the NHS/PCT with 50 volunteers leading them.
23.3 The Chairman thanked the officers for the report and agreed to have a future report.
23.4 RESOLVED – that a report on the funding and monitoring of sports programmes was brought to a future Committee meeting. |
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MOBILE LIBRARIES AND EAS - VERBAL UPDATE Minutes: 24.1 Sally McMahon, Head of Libraries and Information Services, provided the Committee with a verbal update following the Scrutiny Workshop on 9 September 2009. In Bevendean, there had been several attempts to have a mobile library stop with the last one closed in 2005. Wendy Barratt, the Community Libraries Manager, had been in discussions with the Head Teacher in Bevendean School and they were going to trial a stop outside the school from January 2010.
24.2 In Windlesham Close in Portslade, Ms Barratt had identified groups of flats and supported housing who may benefit from the service. They were still considering the options, including a static collection.
24.3 Statistically, around 22,5000 to 23,5000 people use each service which is under 2% of the total use of libraries across the city. This is, however, an important service as it reaches people who can not access library services any other way.
24.4 The Committee thanked Ms McMahon for the update and for the work that had been undertaken following the Scrutiny Workshop.
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LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT PROGRESS REPORT - 08/09 Report of the Director of Strategy & Governance (copy attached) Additional documents: Minutes: 25.1 Paula Murray, Head of Culture and the Economy introduced the report. The covering report took the economic development indicators and provided context and comparative information. There was a time delay in the system so some of the information was dated. Ms Murray suggested that the Committee may wish to receive more up to date information at its November meeting. The comments of the Committee could be fed back into the November Cabinet Member Meeting. Ms Murray asked for comments on the style of the covering report.
25.2 It was remarked that the ward information and comparator information was helpful. The idea of addressing one section of the indicators at a time was also useful. Following a question on the ‘Breakthrough Programme’, this was very successful and had been used as a case study during the re-launch of the City Employment and Skills Plan (CESP). A further update would be provided at the next meeting.
25.3 A question was asked about the indicators for the libraries service and the Committee were informed that there had been a data collection problem, particularly on the percentage take-up of ITC time in the libraries. Following a question on Continued Professional Development (CPD) for teachers, Ms Murray would request information on why 25 rather than 60 teachers had attended the sessions. CPD was tailored specifically to teachers and it may be an issue of timing and problems backfilling teachers’ places.
25.4 RESOLVED – that the Committee receive a further update at its meeting in November 2009. |
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BRIGHTON & HOVE'S PROGRAMME FOR 2012 Report of the Director of Culture & Enterprise (copy attached). Minutes: 26.1 Paula Murray, Head of Culture & Economy, and Pauline Freestone, 2012 Co-ordinator introduced the report. Ms Murray told the Committee that 2009 had been a “dip” year following all the energy around 2012 in 2008. The Citywide Partnership had met twice and agreed a set of themes, namely: participation; profile and the economy; and infrastructure. Ms Freestone remarked that they had been building networks across the city and were using 2012 as a ‘hook’ to increase the activities on offer, to repackage activities and to develop new projects. Accentuate, the Legacy Trust funded disability project was being launched in Brighton on 3 December 2009 to coincide with 1000 days until the start of the Paralympic Games. The City Sports and Activity Awards were due to launch the grants scheme. Last year there were 40 applications and 23 grants were given out to 21 sports. Since free swimming had started, almost 10,000 under 16s and 3,000 over 60s had taken part. Following a question on swimming, the Committee were told that the initiative was for 2 years and was being closely monitored.
26.2 The next stage was to look at targeted groups (for example older people and those with young children) to take events to them. There was small amount of funding available for targeted free swimming lessons.
26.3 The idea of engaging with harder to reach groups was welcomed and the Chairman thanked the officers for bringing the report. |
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SCOPING REPORT FOR AD HOC PANEL PROPOSALS Report of the Director of Culture & Enterprise Additional documents: Minutes: This Item was taken after Item 28 and before Item 23.
Councillor Bill Randall left the room for this Item and Councillor Pat Drake took the Chair.
27.1 Paula Murray, Head of Culture & Economy introduced the report. The report set out information on three proposals for future Ad Hoc Panels namely: the use of empty commercial premises; the future of New England House; and cultural services for children and young people.
27.2 On the use of empty commercial premises, the report concluded that any review of this area would not have the impact in Brighton & Hove that it may have in other areas, because of the vacancy and rental rates. The Appendix to the report set out what use had been made of empty properties
27.3 On the development of New England House, since the proposal was put forward, a group of officers had been mandated to develop a feasibility study and options analysis into the future of the building, in partnership with the University of Sussex. Any scrutiny panel would be likely to duplicate this work. Ms Murray suggested that the Committee be kept informed of the work of this group.
27.4 On the cultural provision for children and young people in the city, Ms Murray informed the Committee that a Children’s Festival is due to take place in April 2010. Part of this will be a conference launching a national network of children’s festivals. Ms Murray suggested that it may be timely to look at the range and availability, strengths and any gaps in the provision of cultural services for children in the city. She also suggested that the conference could be used to launch the recommendations of any panel. It was noted that if this inquiry was to go ahead, the Children and Young Peoples Overview and Scrutiny Committee (CYPOSC) should be informed.
27.5 The Head of Scrutiny, Tom Hook, informed the Committee that there were currently 16 scrutiny panels in progress so it would not be practical to commit to completing a panel by April 2010. The Children’s Festival could, however, be used as an information gathering session if that was helpful.
27.6 It was agreed that the next subject for an ad-hoc panel would be the provision of cultural services for children but no timescale for completion was set. It was also agreed that the Committee would request that they were kept informed of the work of the officer group looking at New England House.
27.7 RESOLVED – (a) that the next ad hoc panel be established to look at the provision of cultural services for children and young people; (b) that the Committee be kept informed of the work of the officer group looking at New England House.
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ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES - REPORT FROM THE AD-HOC PANEL Report from the Acting Director of Strategy and Governance (copy attached). Additional documents: Minutes: This item was taken after Item 22 on the agenda.
28.1 The Chairman introduced the report and thanked all the Officers who had been involved in the Inquiry. He informed the Committee that he had met with Councillor Ted Kemble, the Cabinet Member for Enterprise, who was broadly supportive of the report and its recommendations. Paula Murray, Head of Culture and Economy, told the Committee that at the Economic Partnership meeting the previous night, Councillor Kemble had introduced the Environmental Technologies report and it had been suggested that Councillor Randall would be invited to a future meeting to present the report. It was commented that it was an excellent report and it was hoped the recommendations were adopted.
28.2 RESOLVED – (a) to endorse the report; (b) that the report recommendations were referred to the council’s Executive and to the appropriate partner organisations; (c) to add the progress of the Inquiry’s recommendations to the work programme. |
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Table attached. Minutes: 29.1 The Chairman introduced the work programme and noted that an update on Foredown Tower would be added as requested, and that there was an additional item for November on the Visitor Information Contact Centre. He also informed the Committee that the next meeting was at 4pm on 23 November and that there was an additional meeting to consider the budget on 14 December 2009.
29.2 The item on South Downs was welcomed and it was suggested that it could cover the funding opportunities presented by the creation of the Park, and any plans for an interpretation centre.
29.3 An item on the heritage of the city was suggested and it was agreed that the Brighton & Hove Archaeological Society could be invited to a meeting to accompany a report on artefacts the Council has.
29.4 An update on Maderia Drive was requested but it was agreed that this was a potential item for the Environment and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
29.5 The state of music venues in the city was suggested as a future item. It was noted that the Brighton Institute for Modern Music had provided an interesting report for the Arts Commission. It was agreed that this item be added to the future work programme.
29.6 Public Art and Planning was suggested as a future item and it was agreed this would be helpful.
29.7 A presentation on the city’s approach to tourism was suggested as a future item.
29.8 RESOLVED – that the following items were added to the future work programme: an update on Foredown Tower; the archaeological heritage of the city; music venues in the city; public art and planning; and the city’s approach to tourism. |
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PART TWO |
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MAJOR PROJECTS UPDATE |
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Minutes 9 September - Part 2 |