LGA Governance


Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Site Gallery, 1Brown Street, Sheffield S1 2BS

Contact: Dan Mould 

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of interest

Minutes:

The Chairman noted apologies from Cllrs Barry Lewis (Con), Phil Twiss (Con), Terry O’Neill (Lab), Faye Abbot (Lab) and Muhammed Butt (Lab).

 

The Chairman noted the following substitutes: Cllrs Guy Nicholson (Lab) and Patrick Kadewere (Lab).

 

Rebecca Maddox (Sheffield City Council), David Howells (Rubicon Regeneration), Faith Graham (Red Box), Chris Perks (Sport England) and Ian Brooke (CLOA) were in attendance as observers.

 

The Chairman thanked Dan Mould for his hard work for the board, and welcomed to the team Nicola Haymes (Improvement Adviser) and Anna Jennings (replacing Dan Mould as Policy Adviser).

 

There were no declarations of interest.

 

2.

Minutes of the last meeting pdf icon PDF 252 KB

Minutes:

Ian Leete, Senior Adviser, briefed the Board on officer progress with actions from the last Board meeting, and the Board discussed the minutes and actions.

 

Decision

 

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a correct record.

 

 

3.

Progress of actions from the last Board pdf icon PDF 190 KB

4.

Sheffield City Council Presentation

Minutes:

Rebecca Maddox, Head of Business Development (Culture) at Sheffield City Council, welcomed the Board to Sheffield. Rebecca gave a presentation about Sheffield’s cultural strategy, the work of the Sheffield Culture Consortium and the Sheffield Creative Guild.

 

The Board thanked Rebecca for speaking and for hosting the meeting in Sheffield. Members and Rebecca discussed Sheffield’s cultural offer further, specifically:

 

·         The membership model for the Sheffield Creative Guild: Rebecca explained it is a subscription model, with members providing support to each other as well as having access to training and events

·         How cultural investment has led to financial returns for Sheffield, in addition to culture’s intrinsic value

·         The way the Council’s culture team work together with parks and gardens to use spaces well.

 

5.

Tourism Skills Research Presentation

Minutes:

Consultants David Howells (Rubicon Regeneration) and Faith Graham (Red Box) gave an update on the research project into developing a pipeline of skills for the tourism and hospitality sectors. David and Faith presented the case studies for Brighton & Hove, Cornwall, Scarborough, Blackpool and Cambridge. They also provided an overview of emerging national themes, particularly the importance of local partnership working and the need for clear strategic focus to respond to the challenging market.

 

Members welcomed progress to date, discussed the case studies in detail, and made the following recommendations for the project’s development:

 

·         For the case studies, provide more detail about the financial models and local spending

·         Develop a clear set of recommendations for councils, government, local enterprise partnerships and the tourism sector

·         Consider opportunities in the shifting tourism market, such as the increased popularity of short domestic breaks, and the role of arts and culture in developing a year-round tourism offer

·         Link this work with tourism levy policy, Shared Prosperity Fund lobbying, and the Spending Review Campaign to take a broader economic view of tourism.

 

Action

 

Officers and consultants to progress this work as directed, and present the final report at the next meeting. 

 

 

6.

Tourism Levy Update pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Minutes:

Ian Leete, Senior Adviser, introduced the report about tourism levy policy activity and a proposed research report.

 

Members discussed the importance of joining up this policy area with skills and workforce, as well as the need to locally engage and work with Tourism Alliance to respond to different local positions.

 

Action

 

Members agreed for officers to commission the research report and advance the project in this direction.

 

7.

Sport England Presentation pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Minutes:

Chris Perks, Executive Director (Local Delivery) at Sport England gave a presentation about Sport England’s mission to reduce physical inactivity and inequalities, the challenges of population-level change, and the opportunities for wellbeing and economic development. Chris outlined how Sport England are working with local authorities to achieve these goals, including through pilots to try new approaches and share learning.

 

Members asked questions about and discussed:

 

·         How the broader picture of health and wellbeing can bring culture together with sport and leisure to tackle inequalities

·         Education in schools to encourage activity – Chris directed to recently published analysis that enjoyment is the key driver, not competence

·         Legacy of 2012 Olympics for community participation

·         Perception of sport and leisure as a council priority.

 

Action

 

The Board noted the information, and decide to determine how they can support Sport England’s work once more evidence has emerged from the local pilots.  

 

8.

Spending Review Campaign

Minutes:

Ian Leete, Senior Adviser, began discussion about the Spending Review by explaining the LGA’s campaign and invited suggestions for how culture, tourism and sport can participate.

 

Members recommended making a stronger argument for investment in culture and sport due to their role in community cohesion. Members suggested there should be a clear case for how increased funding could be used – e.g. for investment in parks and local spaces.

 

The Board suggested that the LGA encourage and support local authority portfolio holders to write to their MPs and partners to build support for culture, tourism and sport ahead of the Spending Review.

 

Action

 

Officers to work with public affairs and media teams to ensure culture, tourism and sport continues to be reflected in the LGA’s campaign and press releases; and explore options on a framework letter for portfolio holders to use.

 

9.

Blue Plaque Scheme pdf icon PDF 151 KB

Minutes:

The Board discussed the report requested by Lead Members, which explores the possibility of campaigning for blue plaques to represent the 100 Suffrage Pioneers celebrated in the LGA and Women’s Local Government Society 2018 campaign.

 

Members were in favour of the proposal, and discussed practicalities such as cost and council involvement. Members recommended that officers talk to women’s suffrage organisations about the proposals.

 

Action

 

Officers to circulate Portsmouth’s offer to councils.

 

10.

Improvement Update pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Minutes:

The Board thanked all those who have been involved in the Leadership Essentials events, and reviewed the Forward View of Improvement report.

 

Members were keen to expand the improvement offer, and made the following suggestions:

 

·         In relation to point 6.1, that the leadership essentials events are not restricted to portfolio holders but others interested, such as the opposition, senior leaders and other culture/sport councillor champions

·         That officer training continues to be emphasised, and extended where possible, potentially with a handbook

·         The creation of a ‘cultural strategy in a box’ explainer document

·         That the Board and officers encourage national partners to work together to consider how their support offers and funding streams align.

 

Action

 

Officers to progress improvement work according to contracts and in light of member comments.

 

11.

Outside Bodies pdf icon PDF 167 KB

Minutes:

The Board reviewed the Outside Bodies report. The Chairman reminded the Board that all invitations to speak in their capacity as Board members should be passed through the LGA.

 

Action

 

·         To note that Cllr Peter Golds also attended the Jordanian Roundtable

·         Cllr David Jeffels to circulate the notes from the Coastal SIG.

 

12.

Any other business

Minutes:

The Board agreed they were very pleased with the LGA Annual Cultural and Tourism Conference, and thanked the speakers and the City of London for hosting in the Guildhall.

 

The Board discussed the 2020 Conference, and expressed a preference to host a networking event the night before.