Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed members and officers to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Cllr Barry Lewis, Cllr Terry O’Neill, Cllr Brigid Jones and Cllr Muhammed Butt.

Cllr Chris Saint and Cllr Guy Nicholson attended as substitutes.

No declarations of interest were made.

The chair welcomed Ian Brooke, Chair of the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association to give an overview of the state of the sector.

This focused on the growth in membership of the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association, noting the widening breadth of its members remits, and gave an overview of upcoming activity including the upcoming release of promotional commissioning.

Specifically he added that:

·         Leisure centre usage was going down; suggesting that the sector would need to reinvent leisure centres to sustain their future;

·         there is a mismatch between rising consumer expectations and the quality of provision in some areas, although the reduction in costs for leisure centres offers an opportunity to address this;

·         Arts Development UK has folded and CCLOA has now taken on some of its membership and trustees; and

·         there is a growing skills gap among officers who are taking on wider responsibilities without having practical experience of the service, leading to challenges in joining up agendas.

Discussion

In the discussion that followed the following points were made:

·         Members said that evidence that linked leisure centre usage with investment would be useful.

·         Members suggested that the huge amount of data available can be used to make the case for strategic investment.

·         Members discussed where leisure centres fit within the market, commenting on private operators and the future role they have.

·         Members discussed the leisure centre market landscape, challenges for the future and the role the board has in addressing these.

LGA Senior Advisor, Ian Leete, introduced the report which invited a discussion about the Board’s lobbying lines and its definition of ‘culture’. Members were invited to provide a steer on whether there are consistent lobbying lines the LGA should be using on culture, tourism and sport.

Discussion

In the discussion that followed the following points were made:

·         Members agreed that it was important to link culture and town regeneration when making the case to central government for funding.

·         Members agreed that there are strong links between health and social care prevention activities and culture, art and sport. In addition they explained that infrastructure had a key role to play in this.

·         Members expressed support for paragraph 7.1.

·         Members expressed support for focusing on skills shortages and similar challenges for the sector, with a particular focus on tourism and the creative industries.

·         Members suggested joint work with LGA boards such as the People and Places Board and City Regions Board, in addition to working with trade and industry bodies. In addition they added that the board should be utilising research that already exists and working collaboratively.

Decision

Members of the Culture, Tourism and Sport Board asked officers to progress with the work as directed by their comments.

LGA Advisor, Siraz Natha, introduced the report which updated the Board on the Heritage Lottery Fund survey, which itself was reviewing its role and funding priorities for the next five years. Members were invited to provide a steer on the LGA’s response, in particular adding any key points.

Siraz added that councils are the largest recipient of this grant with roughly a third of funding going to local authorities. The size of the grants available were within scope of the consultation which could limit council projects, as is the simplification of the application process.

Discussion

In the discussion that followed the following points were made:

·         Members stressed that local authorities have a unique leadership role as place makers.

·         Members discussed whether councils should be formally informed of when other local organisations are making bids to ensure buy-in.

·         Members discussed a grant upper limit suggesting that some large heritage projects would no longer be able to go ahead. 

·         Members urged for the definition of match funding to become clearer so that councils can properly plan activities.

Decision

Members of the Culture, Tourism and Sport Board asked officers to progress with the work as directed by their comments.

The chair welcomed Jade Nimmo, LGA Events Officer, who gave verbal reflections from the 2018 Culture, Sport and Tourism Conference.

The following reflections were covered:

·         Formal feedback will come to the next board meeting;

·         The number of delegates exceeded last year’s number;

·         The dinner venue, hotel and conference location were well received by delegates;

·         Increased engagement with primary sponsors was important each year;

·         Dates and location for 2019 need to be confirmed; and

·         How the LGA can best involve CTS Board members in the conference.

Discussion

In the discussion that followed the following points were made:

·         Members stated that the conference went very well and were pleased with how it had gone.

·         Members expressed that early March is a desirable time of year, however also requested that the conference does not coincide with March 2019’s Councillors’ forum.

·         Members discussed December as an option stating that the conference could link in well with the Christmas Market work.

·         Members suggested London as a suitable location, and although expensive, it could involve the boroughs of culture 2019.

·         Members debated whether the timings of the conference could be adjusted so that delegates could make the most of the day, adding whether this would allow a board meeting to happen alongside the conference.

·         Members noted how the location decision impacted on local economies.

Decision

Members of the Culture, Tourism and Sport Board asked officers to progress with the work as directed by their comments.

LGA Senior Advisor, Ian Leete, introduced the report which set out planned expenditure as directed by lead members. The CTS Board will have £30 000 available to spend on commissioned projects from April 2018, and were invited to note the paper and provide comments.

Discussion

In the discussion that followed the following points were made:

·         Members discussed how this paper linked into the campaign lines paper, and whether this funding could be used to focus on workforce and skills gap in the sector, providing a strong steer that this should take priority.

·         Members questioned the geographical spread of the planned skills project and invited a more thorough spread across the country, specifically covering the East.

·         Members discussed the target audience for each handbook and suggested that the LGA could seek for these to be funded privately.

·         Members stressed that working with outside bodies would have a much bigger impact.

·         Members suggested waiting to properly identify campaign objectives, preferring to shape and finalise the budget around those priorities.

Decision

Members of the Culture, Tourism and Sport Board asked officers to progress with the work and bring final decision back to the lead members for sign off. 

The chair introduced the report which set out the CTS Board’s engagement with outside bodies 2017/18, feedback on member meetings since 18 January 2018; forthcoming meetings, and the latest Chair’s Report.

Members gave feedback on any meetings they had attended.

Decision

Members of the Culture, Tourism and Sport Board noted the report.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

The board asked for them to be made non-confidential.

No further items of business were raised.

Chair, Councillor Vernon-Jackson CBE, introduced the report which set out the CTS Board’s plan for LGA Annual Conference activities.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson explained that the board had been successful in all three bids for workshops on tourism, healthier communities, and delivering green communities, and its bid for a plenary session on celebrating women.

Discussion

In the discussion that followed the following points were made:

·         Members were keen for the speakers at all the CTS sessions to not all be from London.

·         Members expressed an interest in having a man on the panel at the celebrating women plenary, but added how important it was that panels across the whole event had a gender balance.

Decision

Members of the Culture, Tourism and Sport Board asked officers to progress with the work as directed and noted the report.

The chair introduced the report explaining that as one of the accountable bodies for the taskforce it was to receive six-monthly updates.

Decision

Members of the Culture, Tourism and Sport Board noted the report.