Agenda item

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment submits a report updating the current position on the draft strategy and noting how it links to other major initiatives and emerging government policy.

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment submitted a report updating the current position on the draft strategy and noting how it links to other major initiatives and emerging government policy.

The Assistant City Mayor for Culture, Libraries and Community Centres introduced the item and noted that:

• Leicester had recently been identified as the fifth most creative city in the country.
• The city was strong on being enterprising in culture and creative industries.
• There was a good range of businesses and opportunities across the city.
• A growing number of organisations were receiving funding from Arts Council England.  Recently representatives from Arts Council England had been at events at libraries and museums in the city.  They were investing in the city as they knew it would pay dividends and they would get good value.  The Council and Arts Council England worked well in partnership.
• There was always more that could be done, and the strategy was not yet complete.  By bringing the strategy to scrutiny, the Commission could get a good feel for what was being done and they were given an opportunity for dialogue.

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment then presented the report. Key points highlighted included:

• This was a partnership initiative supported by Arts Council England and both the University of Leicester and DeMontfort University who had been involved and contributed financially. 
• The strategy was aimed to be complete in the coming months.
• The number of arts and cultural organisations supported by the Arts Council had tripled in the city in the last decade and they were now an important core revenue funder.
• This was the first time in nearly a decade that a strategy was developed with partners.
• Creative industries were growing at twice the pace of the rest of the UK economy over the last decade.
• The key target for the strategy was to grow employment by 25% by 2030 which equates to roughly 4,500 jobs.
• The strategy also aimed to create hooks which could be used to bring in investment from other partners.
• In Spring 2025, the government plan to release a programme called ‘Creative Clusters’ an opportunity for our area to bid, especially linking university research and development with creative industry growth.

The Commission was invited to ask questions and make comments and the officers and the Assistant City Mayor for Culture, Libraries and Community Centres to respond. Key points included:

• In regard to a point made about joining up the historical and artistic attractions in Leicester to help make it a destination, it was commented that Leicester was a compact city which made it easier to walk between the main attractions.  Work was being done by the Visit Leicester team to link the attractions.  Universities were being worked with in terms of scope to keep families who were visiting students longer.  The importance of having such information on what was available in the city was stressed.
• Further to this, information was available on the Visit Leicester website, containing itineraries for visiting the city within different lengths of time (i.e. a day or a week).  These itineraries had been downloaded over 30,000 times.  There was also a series of trails such as heritage trails and restaurant trails.  Some were aimed at children.  A guide was due to be released about the Old Town to encompass Jewry Wall, the Guildhall, the Cathedral and the King Richard III Centre.  A similar package would be produced for the Cultural Quarter.
• Leicester had been nominated in the National Group Travel Awards for the second year running and had come second for the second year running.  The city had a profile with the national travel industry.  This showed how much progress had been made.
• It was suggested that directions between attractions could be stencilled on pavements.
• In response to a point made about celebrating the city’s industrial heritage, it was noted that there were heritage information panels next to industrial buildings that celebrated much of the city’s industrial heritage.  Additionally, it was aimed to tell the story of the industrial heritage of the city in the social history galleries in museums, especially with regards to the textile industry.
• In addition to this, the importance of bringing the story out to communities was stressed.  It was noted that there were many relevant items in storage that lent themselves to display in venues in communities such as libraries and community centres.  Collaborative work between libraries and museums had commenced.  It was also noted that there were paid tours of the museum stores.
• The potential of the National Heritage Lottery Place fund programme was noted as Leicester was identified as one of nine places to benefit from additional earmarked funding which would be several million pounds. There would be a consultation over the coming months to discuss with communities what they wanted from the strategy and what was appropriate.
• Further to this, it was suggested to set up a small meeting between some of the Commission members, the Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment and the Assistant City Mayor for Culture, Libraries and Community Centres in order to inform the final report.

AGREED:

1)    That the update be noted.

2)    That comments made by members of this commission to be taken into account by the lead officers.

3)    That a meeting be convened between some of the Commission members, the Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment and the Assistant City Mayor for Culture, Libraries and Community Centres in order to inform the final report.

Councillor Singh Johal joined the meeting during the discussion of this item.