Agenda for Culture, Tourism & Enterprise Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Thursday, 5th February, 2009, 4.00pm
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Agenda and minutes
PDF 200 KBVenue: Banqueting Room, Hove Town Hall. View directions
Contact: Julia Riches, Scrutiny Support Officer
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Minutes: 42a Substitutes
42.1 Cllr Vicky Wakefield-Jarrett for Cllr Amy Kennedy
42b Declarations of Interests
42.2 Cllr Craig Turton declared he had a personal interest as he was a client of a business in New England House.
42c Exclusion of Press and Public
42.3 In accordance with section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it was considered whether the press and public should be excluded fromthe 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.
42.4 RESOLVED – that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the discussion of item 56 under Category 3. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Minutes: 43.1 RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 13 November 2009 be approved and signed by the Chairman. |
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CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS Minutes: 44.1 The Chairman informed the Committee of recent events he had attended including: the Digital Awards Ceremony; the Open Houses Christmas Launch; the Pride feedback meeting; a meeting with Phil Jones of Wired Sussex; and a trip to London to look at creative spaces. The Chairman also reminded the Committee that there had been two successful and informative Scrutiny Workshops; one on the Museums Strategy; and one on the Business Retention and Inward Investment (BRII) Strategy. |
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PUBLIC QUESTIONS No public questions have been received. Minutes: 45.1 There were none. |
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WRITTEN QUESTIONS FROM COUNCILLORS No written questions have been received. Minutes: 46.1 There were none |
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Wired Sussex - presentation on their vision for New England House Informationitem – presentation by Phil Jones, Director, Wired Sussex. Minutes: 47.1 The Chairman welcomed Mr Phil Jones, Managing Director of Wired Sussex to the meeting and asked that he give a presentation on Wired Sussex and his vision of the future for New England House (for a copy of the presentation, see Minute Book).
47.2 Mr Jones explained that Wired Sussex was an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to supporting the growth of the digital media sector in Brighton & Hove and the rest of Sussex. He outlined the vision of Wired Sussex to have Brighton recognised as Europe’s most significant media hub. Wired Sussex had over 1,200 digital media member companies, of which 855 are based in Brighton. Wired Sussex provided 1-2-1 support, events and networks, access to funding, partnership building and inward investment and trade support.
47.3 Mr Jones went on to discuss his vision for New England House, the Council owned building that was currently a low cost home to many small creative companies, but was in need of repairs and renovation. Mr Jones believed that New England House could become a world class media village that could deliver more that just workspace but an environment that facilitated and encouraged innovation, collaboration and convergent thinking. He detailed what New England House could deliver, for example, quality office space, space for freelancers, and space for the universities etc. Mr Jones suggested that for his vision to become reality, the Council would need to lease New England House at no cost to a not-for-profit consortium.
47.4 Following questions on how close Wired Sussex was to being recognised as an international hub, Mr Jones described Wired Sussex as a decent bronze. Issues such as the lack of appropriate workspace and the need for more collaborative working with the universities was preventing them from achieved a gold standard. Wired Sussex was working closely with the University of Brighton to create a ‘Wired Sussex’ degree and had projects under discussion with the University of Sussex.
47.5 In response to a question on how Wired Sussex worked with the Council, Mr Jones noted that individual Officers had been helpful and what was required now to move forward was the support of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), South East Economic Development Agency (SEEDA) and the Local Authority. Nationally, Wired Sussex had been in discussion with Ministers about the Brighton Internship Programme as a model for helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
47.6 RESOLVED – (1) that Mr Jones be thanked for his informative presentation and; (2) that efforts be made towards supplying Mr Jones with a guide to working with the Council on the future of New England House and other issues. |
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Sports Facilities - presentation Presentation by Ken Burlton, Consultant.
Copy of ‘Audit of Sports Facilities’ report attached. Minutes: 48.1 The Chairman welcomed Mr Ken Burlton, the consultant who had produced the audit of the sports facilities in the city. Mr Burlton gave a presentation outlining the key features of the audit (for copy see Minute Book).
48.2 Mr Burlton outlined the methodology involved in the audit and what sort of analysis was carried out. The audit concluded that the Council was the main provider, particularly of outdoor provision, with private clubs the second largest provider. As well as the audit identifying the number of facilities across a range of sports, an assessment of quality was also undertaken. The quality of the provision was considered in respect of condition and fitness for purpose. In terms of quality, the Stanley Deason climbing wall came out with the highest rating. The quality of facilities was fairly evenly distributed, with the exception of Portslade (BN41)
48.3 130 venues were assessed with 107 venues visited in person and the audit team also built on prior survey results. Mr Burlton confirmed that secondary schools and independent schools were visited due to their significant level of facilities. To assess how B&H was doing, the city was compared to Southampton, Portsmouth, and Plymouth. The audit found that while the distribution in the city was good, the lack of centres of excellence was a comparative weakness.
48.4 Those sports that are ‘lagging behind’ are those that do not have a modern purpose built facility. For example, the swimming facilities and indoor sports halls in the city are behind those in Burgess Hill and Crawley. The key priorities identified by the audit were the modernisation of facilities and filling the gaps in provision. The plans for King Alfred were intended to address both these issues. The funding that had been available through Sport England and the Lottery for building big facilities was no longer available. There was, however, money available from the “building schools for the future” funding or from independent sporting bodies/clubs.
48.5 Mr Burlton noted that the value of this audit was that very few other local authorities had this level of information about their sports facilities. The information could be made available to other sporting bodies in the city.
48.6 Members asked why there was little mention of sports such as hockey, netball, and horse riding in the report. They heard that at Cardinal Newman the Brighton Hockey Club had developed a model for a hockey facility. However the funding has declined from bodies such Sport England and therefore the development has not taken place. This was a good example of how, if the facilities are there, a sport would take off. The Head of Sport and Leisure reminded members that there were artificial pitches, such as at Stanley Deason, which were multi-purpose and could be used for hockey and football.
48.7 Members asked how many school facilities (both independent and state funded) were open to the public. Mr Burlton thought that very little appeared to be open, but this issue was not really addressed in the audit because it focussed on the facility rather than how it was used.
48.8 The committee felt that there needed to be a focus on the link between health and education. Members asked whether revenue funding was available for public health that could be used to address the low level of sports provision. Independent schools were under great pressure to justify their charitable status, which could lead to them opening up their facilities to the community and state schools. Members asked the Head of Sport and Leisure to maintain a dialogue with the Children and Young People’s Trust (CYPT) about this issue and work to obtain as much health funding as possible. He informed members that strategic officers across the city including the CYPT, Sports Development and Leisure Management were meeting to take these ideas forward. The committee asked him to include the City College, who are trying to get sport off the ground.
48.9 Members requested that the Head of Sport and Leisure asked the Primary Care Trust (PCT) about the 3 year phased funding it received from the Department of Health and Healthy City designation. The Head of Sport and Leisure confirmed that there was a good relationship with the PCT and an application is going in to take them to the next phase, which will include free swimming for those over 60yrs old and a continued active for life programme;
48.10 It was suggested that with Free Running, there was the potential to look at derelict industrial sites and see if there would be a suitable place. It was agreed that this was a good suggestion, but it could have crime and disorder implications. Members expressed their concern about the low level of provision in Portslade. The Head of Sports and Leisure informed them that there was a good sports facility based on a school site in the area, but the audit just looked at numbers of facilities. The Director of Cultural Services informed them that the Council has supported an application for a ‘flexi-site’, which would include a gym and dance space, in South Portslade.
48.11The Head of Sport and Leisure told the committee that S.106 funding was needed to gain further contributions to developing sports facilities and this was being discussed with planning officers. Members then asked for an update on the progress of the BMX site. They heard that although officers have dealt with various enquiries about this, it had not been possible to progress this.
RESOLVED –1)To thank Mr Burlton for his informative and useful presentation; 2) To send the minutes of this meeting with a copy of the sports audit to the Cabinet Member for his information; 3)That the Committee receives a yearly update on the issue.
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Outdoor events - Sustainability Guidelines Verbal Update. Minutes: 49.1 The Head of Sports and Leisure informed the Committee that there was a very wide ranging outdoor events programme in the city. Examples of events include Pride which is the largest outdoor event, and the veteran car rallies in Madeira Drive. A report on the draft sustainability guidelines would come to the Committee in April. The guidelines will focus on: recycling; waste management; and energy efficiency.
49.2 These guidelines would be trialled at forthcoming events such as Pride and the Carnival. A British Standard was being set up and B&H want to link into this. It is anticipated that the standard would be implemented by 2010. Events organisers and promoters were now very conscious of sustainability issues and want to improve.
49.3 Members asked what support would be given to organisations to meet the guidelines. For example, Pride did not have the financial resources to undertake recycling. The Head of Sports and Leisure replied that the events team do not have any financial support available. In reality large events tend to support small community events and there was a need to work in partnership with organisations such as CityClean.
49.4 RESOLVED - To receive a report on the draft sustainability guidelines at the 2 April 2009 meeting of the Committee.
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Museums Plan - update Verbal update. Minutes: 50.1 The Head of Royal Pavilion and Museums had sent her apologies to the meeting and was represented by the Head of Operations & Performance. The Director of Cultural Services provided the Committee with an update. The Museums Forward Plan workshop had been held on 27th January. It had begun with a presentation highlighting the structure of the plan, the key successes of the service and how they were working to deliver the 5 corporate priorities. The member feedback had been good and would be used to refresh the plan. The plan would then come back to the Committee in April and on to the Cabinet Member Meeting on 5th May 2009.
50.2 Members agreed that it had been a very good workshop. Members noted that there was an impressive figure of over 90% satisfaction with the service and that 60% of the income generated from museums.
50.3 RESOLVED – that the Committee receive a report incorporating the comments from the museums workshop at the Committee meeting on 2 April 2009.
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Foredown Tower - update Verbal Update. Minutes: 51.1 The Director of Cultural Services updated the Committee on the progress with the Foredown Tower. He informed the Members that there had been a number of successful and on-going meetings with Hove & Adur Sea Cadets. The ‘Heads of Terms’ were being drafted and would go to the Sea Cadets in the next two weeks. An experienced officer from Cultural Services had just joined the Sea Cadets management team. The Sea Cadets were being encouraged to look at the feasibility of a Community Trust and the opportunities that may provide. The Director of Cultural Services told the Committee that the Foredown Tower Astronomy Group has now become the Astronomy Society. Their inaugural meeting was held on 15th January 2009 and they would continue to meet monthly at the tower.
51.2 This year (the Tower’s centenary) the Tower would be open from March 2009. There would be a centenary weekend event in August and officers would work with local historians to plan the event. There would also be monthly events to mark the Year of Astronomy.
51.3 The Director of Cultural Services informed the Committee that following an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the Fund had raised some concerns about capacity to deliver a one year programme, particularly alongside the Pavilion project. As Stage 2 of the funding process was very intensive, it had been decided to work with Sea Cadets on a 3 year plan for a revised HLF bid. It was hoped that a 3 year plan would have a better chance of success. The Director agreed to keep the Committee informed of the progress on Foredown Tower.
51.4 RESOLVED – To thank the Director of Cultural Services and request that the Committee continue to be informed of the progress of the Foredown Tower.
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Performance Data - Q2 Report of the Director of Cultural Services. Additional documents: Minutes: 52.1 The Chairman welcomed the Performance Analysts to the meeting and asked them to introduce the report. They informed the Committee that the report was an update on the Directorate Performance Indicators. There were a number of key Local Area Agreement (LAA) indicators and the National Indicator Set. Additionally, there were proxy measures which the Council were not judged upon, but which helped to give a fuller picture of performance.
52.2 The Performance Analyst noted that there had been a lot of changes in the performance regime and that this was the first year this system had been used. Consequently, there were some gaps in the data: this was a national rather than a local problem. The report presented the data for Q2 for 2008/09 due to timing issues. Q3 data was currently being compiled and the Performance Analyst offered to return to the April meeting of the Committee and present the Q3 data.
52.3 Following a question, the Committee were informed that there was a new indicator in the LAA (NI11) measuring engagement in the arts. Brighton & Hove were measured as 61.2% which was the highest performance outside of London in this area.
52.4 The Chairman congratulated the team for the results and thanked the Performance Analysts for their report.
52.4 RESOLVED – that the Committee receive the Q3 performance indicators at the meeting on April 2 2009. |
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Work programme - update Copy attached. Additional documents: Minutes: 53.1 The Chairman outlined the existing work programme and suggested that Tony Mernagh, the Executive Director of the Brighton & Hove Business Forum be invited to give a presentation on the draft economic strategy. It was also agreed to hold a scrutiny workshop on the draft Cultural Strategy.
53.2 The Chairman gave an update on the work of the ad-hoc panel on the Environmental Industries. He noted that one scoping meeting had been held and another was due to take place next week. He would keep the Committee updated on the work of the panel.
53.2 RESOLVED – (1) that Tony Mernagh of the Brighton & Hove Business Forum be invited to give a presentation on the draft economic strategy at the meeting on 2 July 2009; (2) that a scrutiny workshop on the draft cultural strategy be arranged. |
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ITEMS TO GO FORWARD TO CABINET OR THE RELEVANT CABINET MEMBER MEETING To consider items to be submitted to the next available Cabinet or Cabinet Member. |
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ITEMS TO GO FORWARD TO COUNCIL |
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Major Projects Update Verbal Update – exempt. |