Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:

                        that Councillor Barton be elected as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Waddington.

Members were asked to declare any interests they had in the business on the agenda. The following declarations were made:

Councillor Shelton declared that in respect of the presentation on the Festivals and Events Consultation, he had a personal interest as he was Chair of the Saffron Fete Committee.

Councillor Dr Chowdhury declared that in respect of the presentation on the Festivals and Events Consultation, he had been approached by the Leicester Hindu Festival.

Councillor Fonseca declared that in respect of the presentation on the Festivals and Events Consultation, he had been approached by the Leicester Hindu Festival.

Councillor Bhatti declared that in respect of the presentation on the Festivals and Events Consultation, he was a member of the Diwali Working Party.

Councillor Joshi declared that in respect of the presentation on the Festivals and Events Consultation, he was a member of the Diwali Working Party. He was also a member of the Leicester Council of Faiths and they had submitted representations.

Councillor Cassidy declared that in respect of the presentation on the Festivals and Events Consultation, he had been involved in the Leicester International Music Festival.

Councillor Bhavsar declared that in respect of the presentation on the Festivals and Events Consultation, he had been to a meeting of the Leicester Hindu Festival Council.

Members of the Commissions will receive a presentation from Mike Candler, the Cultural Quarter Project Director on the Festival and Events consultation.

Mike Candler, the Cultural Quarter Project Director delivered a presentation to the Joint Scrutiny Commission on the Festival and Events Consultation.

He explained that the review of the Festivals and Events programme came as a result of the need for the Council to demonstrate continued value for money in the activities and services it supported or provided to ensure that public funds were used for the greatest benefit and that the changing needs of the city’s communities were met. There were three main categories of festivals and events, namely Arts, Community and Culture and Faith and any festival that received £5,000 or more had been scoped into the review. 

The Cultural Quarter Project Director then elaborated on the different festivals and events that had been included in the review:

Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival (Arts)

It was reported that the Dave’s Comedy Festival received Council funding of £18,500, and based on the Council funding and approximately 44,000 people attending the events in 2011, this worked out a cost of £0.42 per user.  Research from the De Montfort University demonstrated that the festival contributed £2 million to the local economy and sustained 21 FTE jobs.

The Commission heard that proposal was for funding at the current level of £18,500 to be maintained and for a three year funding contract and service level agreement to be negotiated. This would enable the organisers to access other funding streams.

Spark Children Arts Festival (Arts)

This festival received Council funding of £9,000 and based on the Council funding and approximately 12,700 children attending the festival in 2011, this worked out at a cost of £0.71 per user.  There were 163 events, some of which were targeted to children and families on low incomes.

The proposal was for funding at the current level of £9,000 to be maintained and for a three year funding contract and service level agreement to be negotiated with The Spark.

Leicester Belgrave Mela (Arts)

The Cultural Quarter Project Director reported that the Leicester Belgrave Mela received Council funding of £30,000 which resulted in a cost per user of £1.50 based on Council funding and approximately 20,000 attending the festival in 2011. Research from the De Montfort University demonstrated that the Mela had a social and economic impact with businesses reporting an increase of 63% in the number of customers on the festival day.

The proposal was for funding at the current level of £30,000 to be maintained for the Belgrave Mela and for a three year funding contract and service level agreement to be negotiated.

Leicester International Music Festival (Arts)

The Commission heard that this was an annual festival over a 4 day period which received Council funding of £5,000. There were nine events over the 4 days, one of which was a family concert aimed at attracting a younger audience.

Based on Council funding and attendance figures, the cost per user worked out at £4.29.

The proposal was for funding at the current level of £5,000 to be maintained for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The meeting closed at 7.22 pm.