Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed Members, officers and guests to the meeting.

Apologies for absence had been received from Cllrs Brigid Jones, Dhanisha Patel, Tom Hollis and Guy Nicholson.

Cllrs David Jeffels, Neil Jory, Chris Penberthy and Jonathan Simpson, MBE, attended the meeting as substitutes.

No declarations of interest had been received.

The itinerary document contained within the agenda pack was noted without discussion.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2022 were agreed as an accurate record, subject to the following amendments to the attendance list:

• Cllr Chris Penberthy to be marked as present.
• Cllr Chris White’s authority to be corrected from Hertfordshire County Council to St Albans.

Cllr German requested an update in relation to deprivation data sets. Ian Leete, Senior Adviser, confirmed that the requested information would be submitted to a future meeting of the Board.

The Chair welcomed Elisabeth Bouchard, Strategy Lead for Culture, Tourism and Civil Society, and Harman Saggar, Head Economist for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, to the meeting and invited Ian Leete, Senior Adviser, to introduce the report.

Ian introduced the report which provided information related to the Levelling Up White paper, outlining how it intended to deliver on its flagship policy. The white paper also included additional detail on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF), which was designed to replace EU funding streams. The report identified the key elements of the white paper related to culture, tourism and sport, and sought the Board’s views on priority engagement and lobbying issues on levelling up. It also sought to test initial LGA narratives related to levelling up with the Board.

Elisabeth provided a brief overview of the missions set out within the white paper and information which related to pride and place. In addition, she set out the following points:

·       Conversations continued to take place between the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) which related to pride and place.

·       It was intended that the missions set out within the white paper be cross-sector, offering ‘bottom-up’ solutions. Also, that the missions provide consistency and clarity, increase performance in all areas and closing gaps, whilst bringing individuals together to talk about an ambitious, bold agenda.

·       The white paper also focused on the role of cultural place-making, sport, and tourism, as well as boosting productivity.

·       DCMS were working with arms-length bodies to improve the join-up across the different work within sectors.

Harman presented a series of slides which related to the Culture and Heritage Capital Framework. The first iteration of the framework had been published in January 2021, and it set out the ambitions and approach of the programme. The slides covered a number of points, which included the reasoning behind the culture and heritage approach, the four key points, the framework model, which assets were being considered (collections and movable heritage, landscapes and archaeology, built historic environment, digital assets and performance) and the key outputs of the programme.

Board Members made a number of comments and asked questions which related to the following points:

·       The visitor economy and its importance to developing new capacity and underperforming parts of the country.

·       The value of world heritage and it’s recognition through planning and funding.

·       Addressing the gap in the evidence-base and the importance of understanding that one size does not fit all.

·       The importance of culture in productivity and in working alongside government to drive gains through culture, the visitor economy and sport.

·       Addressing issues related to health inequality by providing better access to green, open spaces, and sporting events.

·       The UK City of Culture provided cities with the opportunity to be in the spotlight and sell themselves.

·       The role of governance and changes throughout the white paper.

·       Investment in place and amplifying its importance to the value that place had in society.

·       The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair invited Rhian Gladman, Programme Manager, and Helen Hull, Adviser, to introduce the report. Rhian and Helen introduced the report which provided an update on the LGA’s cultural services improvement programmes. An update on the sport and physical activity improvement offer was included at the last Board meeting, and a further update would be included at the next meeting of the Board.

Decision:

• Board Members noted the report.

Decision:

• It was agreed that the LGA Culture and Tourism Conference 2022 would take place in Autumn as a hybrid event at 18 Smith Square.

The Chair invited Lauren Lucas, Adviser, to introduce the report. Lauren introduced the report which provided an update on the Commission on Culture and Local Government, following the detailed paper which was discussed with the Board in January.

Board Members made comments and asked questions which related to the following points:

·       Cllr Peter Golds, the Board’s Advisor to the commission, had emphasised the importance of local government in the development of the arts sector in the UK in a recent meeting. He had met with Harry Brunjes, Chair of the English National Opera (ENO), and asked that he present the work of the ENO to a future meeting of the CTS Board.

·       Cllr Phil Seeva, the Board’s Creative Industries (CI) Council representative, had recently attended and presented a brief paper which related to the commission, combined authorities, and their involvement within the CI sector. It was anticipated that the commission would address issues which related to the disconnect between CI and local authorities.

·       The relationship between the commission and the CTS Board and a request for monthly feedback.

Lauren said that the CTS Board was a key advisor to the commission and very closely involved. Regular updates would be submitted to each of the Board meetings and comments would be fed back into the work of the commission.

Decision:

·       Board Members noted the report.

Action:

·       Officers to provide regular updates to each meeting.

The Chair announced that he would step down from the Tourism Alliance. It was agreed that Cllr Chris White be appointed to take over as the Board’s Tourism Alliance representative.

The Chair invited Board Members to update the Board on recent activity in relation to their outside body appointments.

Cllr Henry provided a written update in relation to the LGA’s representation regarding The London Marathon Charitable Trust (LMCT):

• The LMCT had met once since the Board last met in December. Following the restructuring of the London Marathon Group, LMCT and delivery partner London Marathon Events Limited (LMEL), met to discuss, debate and sign off the new Group Strategic Framework and the LMCT strategies and focus for the future.

Decision:

• Board Members noted the report and the updates provided.

• The Chair expressed his thanks, on behalf of the Board, for hosting the Board meeting in Coventry and for an excellent tour of the City of Culture.
• Cllr Barry Lewis confirmed that Derbyshire County Council would host the next meeting of the Board on 8 June 2022 as a hybrid meeting.