Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies were received by Cllr Vernon-Jackson, Cllr Graham, Cllr Rahman, Cllr Gittins, Cllr McVey, and Cllr Macleod. Cllr Jeffels, Cllr Simpson and Cllr Jory attended the meeting as substitutes.

Cllr Golds declared an interest as a long-term season ticket holder for Arsenal Football Club.

Cllr Simpson declared an interest as he worked with Chelsea Football Club.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 March 2023 were agreed as an accurate record, subject to the inclusion of the following:

That the following Board Members be added to the attendance list:

• Cllr Anwar
• Cllr Henry
• Cllr Pandor
• Cllr Ridley
• Cllr Seeva
• Cllr Vernon-Jackson
• Cllr Wilson

The Chair welcomed Tracey Crouch, MP, to the meeting and invited her to address Board Members in relation to the fan-led review of football governance and discuss what local authorities could do in this space. Key points included:

• Football was an essential part of local communities.
• Local authorities working in partnership with football clubs and other sports clubs remained vital to protecting heritage and the local economy.
• The review found some good examples of councils have worked well to protect local clubs, including Stockport Council. The council role can include: Securing an asset; planning new facilities; working in partnership with clubs; tackling loneliness.
• The importance of Rugby was highlighted, and conversations continued to take place within central government regarding the transferability of the review’s recommendations into other sports.
• In recent years, sports clubs have become safe spaces and hubs for mental health and wellbeing classes, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The independent regulator legislation would come forward in the King’s speech which would help to secure the future financial sustainability of football clubs.
• Board Members were thanked for their interest in the review.

Members asked a number of questions, which related to the following key topics:

• Reliance on external funding.
• The decline in participation due to a lack of available grass roots/green space.
• The expense associated with joining a club/being coached and the lack of inclusiveness.
• The need to better support grass roots volunteers.
• Additional drainage in fields so that they could be used more often.
• Overseas investors.
• Tackling issues such as racism, homophobia, and other criminal-related activity at football games.
• Inclusion and diversity within fan-led organisations.
• The provision of support to clubs with complex financial arrangements.
• The provision of support to smaller-scale clubs.
• The development of Elite Soccer.
• Women’s general involvement in football.
• The relocation of sporting clubs and associated legislation.

In response to Members’ comments, Tracey set out the following points:

• The importance of schools actively encouraging children to play and participate in all kinds of sports during Physical Education (PE) lessons was emphasised.
• The current pressures on schools to deliver national curriculum as well as PE, were highlighted.
• Physical and mental health were strongly linked.
• Once children were interested in a certain sport at school, parents/carers could then signpost them to join clubs and groups outside of school to practice the sport and further develop their skills.
• Many clubs had subsidised leagues for children and young people who could not afford to attend sports clubs weekly.
• Positive sports-related engagement with children from the outset was key.
• Grass roots volunteers should be celebrated and recognised as community heroes.
• With regards to grass pitches and additional drainage, The Football Foundation funding was also for grass pitches, not just for artificial pitches.
• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) information had been collected from all parts of the fan-base and had proven to be very helpful in forming the review’s recommendations. The importance and value of EDI within decision making was known.
• Fan-led ownership worked best where clubs were of a smaller  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

This item was noted without discussion.

Ian Leete, Senior Adviser, introduced the report which outlined the Board’s main activities and achievements during the past year, covering media and press work, conference and events, leadership training and peer challenges, policy impacts, publications, and engagement with outside bodies.

Members asked several questions, which related to the following points:

• The need to continue to focus on local visitor economic partnership.
• The outcomes of media and press work.
• The need to continue to lobby government for leisure facilities, sports centres and social prescribing.

Decision:

That Members note the report.

Ian Leete, Senior Adviser, introduced the report which set out information related to the Board’s Outside Bodies background and appointments process for 2023/24.

The following updates were provided from Outside Body Appointees:

Cllr Pandor (Chiles, Webster, Batson (CWB) Commission): At the Culture, Tourism and Sport Board meeting in February, we had agreed to look at the recommendations within the CWB Commission, potential barriers, evidence, and principles set out by the Commission. Whilst it has been difficult to get the Members of the CWB Commission Task & Finish (T&F) Group together, a meeting date has been set for Wednesday 4 July, just before the LGA Annual Conference in Bournemouth. We will provide a further update to the next meeting of this Board once CWB Commission T&F Group Members have met.

Cllr Seeva (Creative Industries (CI) Council): A briefing had been given at the recent House of Lords Select Committee meeting, which fed into the CI sector vision report and had been published.

Cllr Henry (The London Marathon Foundation (LMF)): The LMF has now taken over a number of other sporting activities around the country. Most of the funding that the LMF raised from the London marathon is divvied up in grants that are mainly within London, one of the things that we’re looking at is whether we can support activities outside of London on a wider scale, we hope to report back to the next meeting of the Board in relation to this.

Cllr Jeffels (British Destinations (BD)): The next BD meeting will take place in 2-3 weeks. I will report back to the next meeting of the Board with an update.

Decision:

That Members note the report.

The Chair welcomed Cllr Tudor Evans, OBE, Leader of Plymouth City Council, and invited him to address the Board. Cllr Evans warmly welcomed the Board to Plymouth, and provided an insight into all that Plymouth, and indeed Plymouth City Council, had to offer, which included:

·       Plymouth’s cross-party cultural agenda.

·       The Royal William Yard – once a Royal Navy victualing yard, now an award-winning waterside destination.

·       Barbican Theatre’s ‘Macbeth’ Open Air performance in Residence One Garden at Royal William Yard (from 31 July to 11 August).

·       Firestone Bay’s local musical talent.

·       The British Art Show – a landmark touring exhibition which celebrates the vitality of recent art made in Britain.

·       The need to unlock talent, and for the children to have aspirations and positive role models.

·       ‘Create Plymouth’ Building on the Theatre Royal was started in 2005, which focused on creating a liveable city and place making.

·       The need for desire and bravery in cultural investment, to build audiences and make cultural consumption normal and everyday for everyone.

·       Plymouth had applied to be ‘City of Culture’ in 2018.

·       The Box would host a major new exhibition for summer 2023 which celebrates the 300^th anniversary of the birth of famous portrait painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds.

·       The need to invest in quality (Examples provided: The Box, Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard & Mayflower 400)

·       Plymouth City Council’s strategic relationship with Arts Council England (ACE) and The National Lottery Heritage Fund over ten years had been pivotal, investing £50m in the city.

·       Plymouth City Council had worked in partnership with the wider cultural sector for ten years setting up Plymouth Culture, a model, which had been adopted by ACE as best practice through the cultural compact.

·       Plymouth’s investment in culture:

-        Now worth £98m

-        365 enterprises supporting 2,200 jobs

-        £50m external cultural investment in five years

-        40% uplift in NPO funding

-        Visitors spend £34m on cultural tourism

-        Cultural infrastructure: Ocean Studios, Market Hall, Karst, The Box, Theatre Royal

-        Hosted the British Art Show twice

-        Hosted the only UK showing of ‘Songlines’ with the National Museum of Australia

-        8,000 students studying arts and humanities

-        A new Arts University

-        A combined cultural audience of 850,000 in the past 12 months.

The Chair thanked Cllr Evans for his update and welcomed Cllr Jemima Lang, Deputy Leader, and invited her to address the Board. Cllr Lang provided an update, setting out the following points:

·       Plymouth City Council’s headline missions are to continue its journey of cultural place shaping and put culture at the heart of the city’s ongoing renaissance and transformation, and to ensure all communities could access and benefit from brilliant cultural experiences.

·       As Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Culture, Events and Communications, Cllr Lang would focus heavily on championing cultural experiences for young people, working closely with schools, college’s communities, and children in care.

·       ‘The Box’ had recently welcomed over 500,000 visitors, hosted 10,500 school children from schools across the city and beyond, continued  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Item 7 and Item 8 were taken together. Please refer to item 7 for the minute.