Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Shelton declared an Other Disclosable Interest in agenda item 9, (Task Group Review: “Engagement with Leicester’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Offer”), in that he was a long-standing trustee of Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, this interest was not considered so significant that it was likely to prejudice Councillor Shelton’s judgement of the public interest.  He therefore was not required to withdraw from the meeting during consideration of this item.

The Minutes of the following meetings of the Heritage, Culture, Leisure and Sport Scrutiny Commission are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as correct records of the respective meetings:-

a)     the meeting held on 8 August 2017 (Appendix A1); and

b)     the inquorate meeting held on 19 September 2017 (Appendix A2).

AGREED:

That the following minutes be confirmed as accurate records of the respective meetings:

a)    the meeting held on 8 August 2017; and

b)    the inquorate meeting held on 19 September 2017.

To note progress on actions agreed at the previous meeting and not reported elsewhere on the agenda (if any)

The Chair reported that there were no actions to carry forward.

The Chair advised the Commission that he would be attending a Special Meeting of the Overview Select Committee on Monday 20 November 2017, to discuss the Council’s capital programme. 

He encouraged members of the Commission to look at the papers for this meeting and pass to him any comments and observations relevant to this Commission’s remit.  These would then be reported to the meeting on 20 November on members’ behalf.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any petitions submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any questions, representations and statements of case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no questions, representations or statements of case had been received.

The Open Space, Sport and Recreation Study is currently out for consultation.  Officers will provide a verbal update on the consultation at the meeting.

The Study is attached at Appendix B for Members’ information and will form the basis of discussion at the meeting. 

The Study also is available on the public consultation website, via the following link: https://consultations.leicester.gov.uk/communications/ossr/

The Commission is recommended to receive the update and comment as appropriate.

Councillor Clair, Deputy City Mayor, introduced the Open Space, Sport and Recreation (OSSR) Study, which currently was being consulted on, explaining that this would contribute to the development of the next Local Plan.

Councillor Clair stressed that open space was highly valued, for the many benefits it provided.  However, it was recognised that it could be expensive to maintain and manage, and that issues such as anti-social behaviour also could arise.

Councillor Clair reminded Members that the consultation period on the OSSR Study had been extended to 30 November 2017 and that the results of the consultation would be fed in to the next stage of the development of the Local Plan.

Officers from Planning and Environmental Services service areas jointly presented further information on the OSSR Study.  A copy of this presentation is attached at the end of these minutes for information.

During the presentation, the following points were made:

·           The Local Plan was at an early stage of development.  Once approved, the Plan would set the framework for planning decisions for the next 15 years;

·           As part of the consultation, 220,000 leaflets had been distributed in the city and to areas outside the city boundary.  Stakeholder events also had been held for people such as park users’ groups, sports governing bodies and developers;

·           Each local authority had to prepare its own Plan, but it was recognised that people crossed administrative boundaries to access facilities covered by the Plan, so the Council also consulted neighbouring authorities;

·           The recommended standard of 2.88 hectares of open space per 1,000 population had been derived based on census population figures.  On this basis, the city had a 153 hectare over-supply of open space, but 2016 population figures had not been factored in yet.  As the population had increased, it was likely that the ratio of open space per 1,000 population in the city would change;

·           School playing fields were not included in the calculation of open space, as the space had to be accessible to the public to be considered within the OSSR study;

·           A separate Playing Pitch Strategy had been adopted.  This had considered all kinds of pitches, as well as issues such as pitch provision, quality, capacity for increased use and how to increase their use in line with population increase;

·           Assessment of the quality of open space had shown that some was overgrown, poorly lit and subject to anti-social behaviour.  It was hoped that these issues could addressed over a two-year cycle;

·           Enhancement of open space was funded from the Council’s capital programme, as well as sources such as developer contributions;

·           The location of outdoor gyms initially had been determined by identifying areas where access to resources was limited, (for example, due to residents’ economic situations, cultural reluctance to attend formal facilities, or a lack of formal facilities in the area).  Areas where a demand had been identified, or requests made, were then considered, to see if the new equipment would complement existing facilities, (for example, children’s play areas).  Some  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

The Chair will lead a discussion on the Task Group review of “Engagement with Leicester’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Offer”.

The Commission is recommended to endorse the scope of this review.

On behalf of the Commission, the Chair welcomed Suba Das (Associate Director, Curve), Tony Flint (General Manager, De Montfort Hall), John Rance (Chief Executive Officer, Phoenix) and Claire Ward (Director of Communications and Fundraising, Curve) to the meeting.

The Chair reminded Members of the scope of the proposed review of engagement with Leicester’s arts, culture and heritage offer.  He particularly stressed the desirability of considering how people with limited resources could be encouraged to engage, how the offer was publicised and gaps in exposure to certain communities.

The Chair then invited the representatives of Curve, De Montfort Hall and Phoenix to give a brief outline of the methods and initiatives used to communicate with, and engage, communities.

Mr Rance welcomed the review as proposed.  He explained that one of Phoenix’s charitable aims was to reach out to communities, but the ways in which this was done were not always obvious.  However, Phoenix was a small charity, so there was some concern about the amount of time that was available and work that would be required, to achieve these aims.  It therefore would welcome the opportunity to work with the Council to identify what the Council would like the charity to be doing and how this could be achieved.

In reply, the Commission recognised that resources were limited, but expressed the wish to see tangible outputs of a high quality that could be expanded as they developed.

Ms Ward noted that, for Curve, audience development was key to all areas of its work.  Feedback therefore was regularly sought from staff in all of the theatre’s departments and gaps in the market identified in order to direct effort.  As a result of this, some initiatives had been trialled this year, such as offering £5 tickets to students and £1 tickets for public dress rehearsals.  Other things already offered included family days and various free activities, but people did not appear to be aware of some of these. 

To help address this, it was hoped that, over the next year, Curve’s “harder to reach” plan could be rewritten.  This could include an examination of the prices of tickets.  It was recognised that people had limited resources, so had to prioritise expenditure.  Theatre attendance was not always a high priority and for many it was an occasional activity, so needed to be an enjoyable experience in a safe environment.  It was hoped that initiatives such as the availability of £10 tickets for Made at Curve productions could help address this.  Consideration also needed to be given though to issues such as whether access shows were on the right days to enable people to attend and were shows that they were interested in.

Mr Das advised the Commission that:

·           Curve made various offers, such as discounted tickets and a non-audition youth group;

·           The theatre was gold-rated for physical access to the building and for staff training in access issues;

·           The theatre was increasingly focussing on its community ambassadorial role.  One way of developing this could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

The current work programme for the Commission is attached.  The Commission is asked to consider this and make comments and/or amendments as it considers necessary.

The current work programme for the Commission was received and noted.

The meeting closed at 7.09 pm