Agenda and minutes

No Declarations of Interest were made. 

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism held on 17^th December, 2013, were discussed. 

Resolved: -  That the minutes of the previous meeting be agreed as an accurate record. 

Councillor A. Rushforth, Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism, welcomed Dee Marshall, Head of Communications, Welcome to Yorkshire, and Rotherham Council’s Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing, and the Regeneration Manager to the meeting.  A presentation had been prepared informing the Cabinet Member on Rotherham’s subscription to Welcome to Yorkshire and the benefits that this membership brought to the Council and Rotherham’s wider economy. 

Further to Minute No. F25 (The Future of Tourism and the Visitor Economy in Rotherham) of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism held on 19^th November, 2013, the update that had been prepared for this meeting responded to the agreed actions.        

Dee Marshall spoke about the remit of Welcome to Yorkshire: -

·         Welcome to Yorkshire worked with twenty-one local authorities across the Yorkshire region.  A Service Level Agreement was in place with each local authority, and each paid a subscription to Welcome to Yorkshire;

·         Welcome to Yorkshire was 100% funded from member subscriptions;

·         The aims of Welcome to Yorkshire were: -

o   The increase the number of people visiting Yorkshire;

o   To encourage the visitors to Yorkshire to spend more money;

o   To encourage the visitors to Yorkshire to stay in the region for longer.

·         To accomplish these aims, Welcome to Yorkshire undertook a number of activities: -

o   Promotion of Yorkshire;

o   Visitor economy infrastructure;

o   Working with Visitor Information Centres (previously called Tourist Information Centres);

o   Understanding and defining visitors.

·         It was estimated that 8 out of 10 visitors to Yorkshire and Yorkshire attractions were from within the County.

Subscriptions: -

·         There were differing subscriptions amounts for local authorities, from the minimum of around £10,000 to five-figure sums;

·         Rotherham was paying near to the minimum contribution;

·         Different Service Level Agreements existed for the different levels of subscription fees;

·         Venues and businesses including bed and breakfasts paid a subscription of £200, £400 or £600 depending on their size, which were the lowest fees across the country;

o   The organisations across Yorkshire who had taken this type of subscription numbered in the thousands.

·         44 large organisations, including multi-national banks, paid an annual subscription of £10,000 and were classed as ‘Y30’ organisations;

·         Welcome to Yorkshire operated as a not-for-profit organisation;

·         Welcome to Yorkshire contributed the sub-regional Tourism Advisory Boards (North, South, East and West) but other ways of maintaining contact with the organisations who had taken a subscription were being explored.

Rotherham’s benefits from being involved with Welcome to Yorkshire: -

·         A list of attractions for Rotherham was maintained;

·         Rotherham had its own dedicated page on Yorkshire.com which had recently passed the two million views mark.  This made it the most visited tourism site outside of London destinations;

·         Member organisations also had access to a legal helpline, small businesses were given a cash card machine as part of their membership and Welcome to Yorkshire had organised events in response to emergency issues to support members;

·         The publication ‘This is Y’ was circulated in targeted areas through the Daily Telegraph.  This included information about the Rotherham  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing gave an update on communications issues in relation to marketing the Borough.

Issues discussed included: -

·         The afore-mentioned elected member task group;

·         A recent report by the LGiU in relation to the economic contribution of the tourist industry;

·         Welcome to Yorkshire’s 2014 conference entitled ‘Tour de Force’ that planned to look at the official tourism and business focus based on Yorkshire’s Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France.

Discussion ensued on the information presented. It was agreed that, although attendance was at no-cost, Rotherham would not attend the ‘Tour de Force’ conference as there would be other expenses associated with attendance, in line with the Council’s moratorium on non-essential spend. 

Discussion was also undertaken on the Council’s social media presence, including the policies governing its use and the added benefit that allowed Members, Officers and others close to communities to circulate useful and important information to their contacts, and how information reached a wider audience at low or no cost. 

Resolved: -  That the information shared be noted. 

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Leisure and Green Spaces Manager (Leisure and Green Spaces, Streetpride, Environment and Development Services Directorate) relating to the proposed fees and charges for Leisure and Green Spaces’ Services during the 2014/2015 financial year.

The Leisure and Green Spaces Manager described the background to the proposed charges.  Generally they had been increased by at least the rate of inflation.  Where this was not the case, it is either because implementing a price increase would incur additional costs (e.g. for changing ticket machines) or because managers felt that a unit price increase would reduce overall income due to its impact on levels of business.  Many Services operated a concessionary rate and, in some cases, a junior Rothercard rate. Concessions were not restricted to off-peak times, which was the case in many other local authorities.

In most cases the proposed charges would take effect on 1^st April 2014.  However, as indicated in Appendix B, proposed charges for allotments and Rother Valley Country Park water-sports would take effect on other dates. The proposed charges for allotments related to the financial year 2014/15 as legislation required twelve-months’ notice to be given of any rent increase.  The proposed charges for water-sports would start on 17^th February, 2014, when the service starts for the 2014 season. 

Discussion ensued on the proposed fees and charges within the submitted report. 

Resolved: -  That the proposed fees and charges for Leisure and Green Services in the financial year 2014/15, as set out in the detailed report, be approved. 

·         Tuesday 18^th February, 2014, to start at 10.00 a.m. in the Rotherham Town Hall. 

Resolved: -  That the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism take place on Tuesday 18^th February, 2014, to start at 10.00 a.m. in the Rotherham Town Hall.