Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Moorgate Street, Rotherham. S60 2TH

Contact: Hannah Etheridge Ext. 22055 

Items
No. Item

39.

Declarations of Interest.

Minutes:

No Declarations of Interest were recorded. 

40.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 14th January, 2014. pdf icon PDF 56 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism held on 14th January, 2014, were considered.

 

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

41.

Receipt of a petition. pdf icon PDF 25 KB

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism noted receipt of the petition containing 400 signatures requesting that the play area on the site behind the Robin Hood Public House leading to Horsefair Park, Swinton, be reinstated.

 

The petition was formally referred to the Leisure and Green Spaces Manager (Streetpride, Environment and Development Services Directorate) to investigate and research the request and listen to the views of the local community.  The Cabinet Member requested that a further report be prepared in relation to the issue.    

 

Resolved: -  (1)  That the petition requesting that the play area on the site behind the Robin Hood Public House leading to Horsefair Park, Swinton, be reinstated, be received and formally noted. 

 

(2) That the petition be referred to the relevant department in Environment and Development Services Directorate for investigation and a further report be presented to a future meeting of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism. 

42.

Renewal of Library Management System Contract. pdf icon PDF 39 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Customer and Cultural Services Manager (Planning and Regeneration, Environment and Development Services Directorate) that outlined a proposal to exempt Standing Order 48.2 in relation to the Library Management System Contract. 

 

An existing contract was in place with Capita for the reporting requirements for Rotherham’s libraries’ day-to-day operations.  The existing contract was due to end on 31st March, 2014, and an Exemption from the provision of Standing Order 48.2 (the requirement to invite between three and six written quotations for contracts valued between £50,000 - £500,000) was proposed as there were no alternative suppliers who could provide a compatible licence for the existing system in place in Rotherham.  It was proposed that the new contract be signed for a three-year period from 1st April, 2014. 

 

The cost of the contract with Capita and other contributions was considered in the submitted report. 

 

Resolved: -  That Exemption from Standing Order 48.2 (the requirement to invite between three and six written quotations for contracts valued between £50,000 - £500,000)  be agreed, and the Library Management System contract be awarded to Capita for a three-year the period from 1st April, 2014, as set out in the submitted report.   

43.

Communication update.

 

·         Officer to report. 

Minutes:

The Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing (Environment and Development Services Directorate) provided an update on marketing the Borough and tourism.  The information shared included: -

 

·         Colleagues in the Communications and Marketing Team were collating a single plan to bring together all of the work underway across various Departments within the Council so that the Borough could benefit from the run-up and the Grand Depart of 2014’s Tour de France.  The single plan would include activities around health, sports and development and arts and culture;

·         The work being undertaken by the Local Government Yorkshire and Humber to develop work on a Visitor Economy Strategy was to be chaired by Councillor R. Stone, Rotherham’s Council Leader.

 

Discussion ensued and it was agreed that the single plan of activities and benefits relating to the Tour de France would be a useful resource for Rotherham. 

 

Resolved: -  (1)  That the information shared be noted.  

 

(2)  That the Tour de France activity Communications plan be brought to the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism. 

44.

Heritage Services - Service offer 2014-2015. pdf icon PDF 39 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Customer and Cultural Services Manager (Planning and Regeneration, Environment and Development Services Directorate) that outlined a review of the current service delivery model of Heritage Services that was continuing whilst achieving budget savings proposals. 

 

An initial review had identified two options that could be taken forward and they had been reached following consideration of the Service’s statutory requirements, and alongside an assessment of local need (including visitor surveys, current usage and a report produced on behalf of the Service by Museum Development Yorkshire ‘Understanding Potential Audiences’), a

variety of performance indicators and consideration of the impact of the recent

relocation of celebratory services to Clifton Park Museum. It had also taken into account the statutory requirements of the Service and the available resources.

 

The submitted report noted Heritage Service’s continuing priorities, which included increasing income and visitor numbers, to continue to develop work with partner groups, continue to re-locate the York and Lancaster Regimental

Museum to Clifton Park Museum and make it available through the search room facility, and to continue to provide a useful presence to members of the public accessing the Museum through a variety of means. 

 

Discussion ensued and the following points were raised: -

 

·         Feedback from the members of the public who had married at Clifton Park Museum had been positive and the venue was becoming a ‘venue of choice’;

·         Had full consideration been given to ensuring that the proposed days when the facilities would be closed would have the smallest impact on visitor numbers?

 

Resolved: - (1)  That Option One be approved: -

 

·         Reduce the opening hours at Clifton Park Museum by three hours a week on a seasonal basis between the months of October –March;

·         And, reduce the opening hours of the Archives and Local Studies search room by four hours per week.

 

(2) That consultation with customers and stakeholders on the allocation of the

Archives and Local Studies opening hours takes place to determine when the reduced hours should be applied, as outlined in Options One (a) and (b) of the submitted report. 

45.

Arts Service - future delivery. pdf icon PDF 44 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Theatre and Arts Manager (Customer and Cultural Services, Environment and Development Services Directorate) and the Customer and Cultural Services Manager (Environment and Development Services Directorate).  The report outlined the history of Arts Service and the current context of required budget savings. 

 

The Council had published an Arts Strategy for the period 2012 -15 to provide a framework for development and promotion of the arts in Rotherham. 

 

As a non-statutory service, and in order to release required efficiency savings

for the 2014-15 financial year, a proposal to cease funding for the Arts Service from 31st March, 2014, had been made.  This would require effective managed withdrawal from appropriate projects alongside a period of formal consultation with affected employees would take place. 

 

The impact of losing the well-regarded Service was considered, along with the impact this would have on the Borough.  It was likely that the Arts Strategy would also case as the resources to fulfil its aims would not be available. 

 

Discussion ensued and the following points were made: -

 

·         What would be the Council’s interface for liaison with external bodies?;

·         The risks and uncertainties to the Council and Borough including duplication of efforts, the loss of a joined-up approach and the loss of specialism;

·         The loss of the Council’s networking ability used to generate additional funding and negotiate match funding. 

 

Resolved: - (1)  That the Arts Service’s funding cease from 31st March, 2014, and appropriate periods of formal consultation be undertaken. 

 

(2)  That any possible opportunities for mitigating the impact on the local community be utilised. 

 

(3)  That the potential risks and uncertainties of ceasing the Arts Service’s funding to the Borough be noted.  

46.

Use of the Civic Theatre. pdf icon PDF 34 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Theatre and Arts Manager (Customer and Cultural Services, Environment and Development Services Directorate) that outlined a request that had been received on behalf of the Acorn to Oaks Drama Group for them to access subsidised use of the Civic Theatre. 

 

Minute No. F40 (Use of the Civic Theatre) of the meeting of the Former Cabinet Member for Lifelong Learning and Culture held on 6th December, 2011, agreed a policy whereby charitable organisations could receive subsidised use of the Civic Theatre, from an agreed budget allocation.   

 

Acorns to Oaks, a group based at the Oaks Day Centre in Wath-upon-Dearne for adults with learning difficulties and disabilities, currently had two dates booked for performances at the Civic Theatre in September 2014. The group had previously accessed one night’s worth of subsidised funding for an earlier performance and the submitted request now requested funding on the same basis. 

 

The proposed costs associated with this application were considered and could be met from the available budget allocation for 2014/2015.  

 

Resolved: - That the application by Acorns to Oaks Drama Group for subsidised use of the Civic Theatre, as outlined in the submitted report, be approved. 

47.

Date and time of the next meeting: -

 

·         Tuesday 25th March, 2014, to start at 10.00 a.m. in the Rotherham Town Hall. 

Minutes:

Resolved: - That the next meeting of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism take place on Tuesday 25th March, 2014, to start at 10.00 a.m. in the Rotherham Town Hall.