Resolved: That all items on the agenda would not be web-cast, due to technical issues.

No apologies were received.

There were no substitute members.

It was noted that Councillor Vizzard was a visiting Member, as a Trustee of the Bentlif Foundation, and was interested in agenda items 9 and 10.

It was noted that Councillors Mrs Smith and Pickett declared a personal interest in agenda items 9 and 10 by virtue of their membership of Maidstone Area Arts Council (MAAC).

Resolved:  That all items be taken in public as proposed.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 and 26 October 2010 be agreed as a correct record and duly signed by the Chairman.

Interview with Councillor Malcolm Greer.

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Malcolm Greer to the meeting, and invited him to present the update to the Committee.

Councillor Greer summarised that the river and heritage had been a big success so far but work was ongoing with respect to further planting and work to the sluice area. With regard to the river, £2500 from the Growth Point Revenue had been allocated to provide a Feasibility Study for the provision of a cycle path from Maidstone to Tonbridge. In answer to a question Councillor Greer informed the Committee that the cycle path will go from Maidstone to Tonbridge via East Farleigh and Teston and that although this extends out of Maidstone Borough area, Maidstone would be funding the feasibility study within its boundaryrather than Kent County Council. The Chairman asked how this project related to Kent County Council's £50,000 project to re-line and hard surface the towpath between East Farleigh and Maidstone, which is due to happen this financial year and is awaiting Environment Agency approval. Councillor Greer said there was a chance the funding could be lost and the project cancelled if this was not secured before the end of the financial year. The Committee asked what was next for the development of the river; Councillor Greer stated that the feasibility study will advise what the next stage should be.

The Committee was informed of changes that have happened within Building Control to comply with Building Charges Regulations 1998. This included making it more commercial, for example the hourly rate had been increased for services and in future, it would address other functions  such as fire assessments etc.Likewise with Development Control, Councillor Greer informed the Committee that although planning fees were subsidised by the Council they too were focussing on being more commercial with a new service level introduced offering applicants gold to standard service agreements. This included changing the level of service provided at planning committees by reducing the amount of input given, and to use the delegated decision making powers more, this had resulted in saving of more then £1000 per case.Councillor Greer informed Members that the number of Enforcement cases outstanding had reduced considerably to 90. It was noted that this was a vast improvement and the Committee requested further information on how this had been achieved.

Councillor Greer informed the Committee that the company G Force had received planning permission, which allowed them to create 60 new jobs, of which 90% would be for Maidstone residents. A further 15 jobs were expected to be created in the near future, which marked a 66% growth rate in the last year, 9 new work placements with Kent Educational Institutions , the start of an Academy for local young people, and at present a benefit to the local economy of £5 million per year. This is expected to increase to £10 million in the next 12 – 24 months.

It was noted that MidKent College is redeveloping in the next year following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

Interview with Councillor Richard Ash.

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Richard Ash to the meeting, and invited him to present the update to the Committee.

Councillor Ash gave a brief overview of the leisure and culture topics that had been under review in the past six months, making Members aware that the public view this as the best place to make cuts. He suggested that sport and recreation should not be actively promoted to young residents, as in his view, they either wished to participate in such activity and therefore already knew of activities in the borough, or they did not. The Committee expressed concern at this view and stated that they did not feel this was the case, as many young people either new to the borough or wanting to try new things would not necessarily know where to go without local advertisement and therefore strongly advised that this was to continue.

The Committee was informed that whilst £100m of income was from tourists, the council was looking to review leisure and cultural services to identify savings and new more cost effective ways of working. Councillor Ash informed the Members that he was having ongoing discussions with Brian Morgan, Simon Lace, Mandy Hare, John Foster to identify savings for the next four years.

Councillor Ash stated that the East Wing project of the Museum was on schedule and within budget. The Museum was still able to provide an array of events and artefacts throughout the building works. It was noted that the £2m that had been pledged including lottery funding was not enough to cover the improvements, regardless of cut backs from the original plans.

The new track at Sutton Valence was completed in June 2008, in answer to questions it was noted that the Cabinet Member was not aware of whether there had been any record of usage maintained by the school. The Committee requested that the Council should be made aware of how many people use that facility on a regular basis.

The refurbishment of the Leisure Centre was completed in May 2010, and there had been a 40% increase in gym membership to date. The Committee asked about the facilities available for performers at the Leisure Centre it was noted that a new ‘green room’ had been created for performers.  The acoustics of Mote Hall were good for concerts although it was in fact a sports hall.  Members raised concerns that at this time there was no facility in Maidstone solely for concerts with seating for 1000 people This was supported by members of the public present from MAAC and Maidstone Orchestra Society (MOS). The members from MAAC and MOS also highlighted that they had not been consulted with regarding the changes to the Leisure Centre and cited issues including the payment of invoices on time.  Councillor Ash noted that more consultation with the users of the Leisure Centre should have taken place, and that he would investigate the contract with Serco. Several Members remarked that the contract manager should be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

Interview with:

·  Mandy Hare, Theatre and Events Manager; and

·  Simon Lace,  Museum and Heritage Manager

The Museums and Heritage Manager, Simon Lace, and Theatre and Events Manager, Mandy Hare, provided Members with an update on Maidstone Museum and the Hazlitt Arts Centre highlighting a number of key points around increasing visitor numbers and the progress on the East Wing extension project.

Mr Lace informed the Members that the Leisure and Culture Strategy was being produced by Angela Woodhouse, Head of Change and Scrutiny in conjunction with officers and includes a statement of where they are, and where they are going. It was highlighted that culture was integral to community cohesion and leisure and culture supported the economy through attracting high valued jobs within the Borough.

Mr Lace informed the Committee that the Council had not promoted the Museum and Hazlitt together in the past however they had now created one team for this purpose this included a joint Marketing Manager. In relation to promotion they had been using a customer insight tool to learn about their audience. In answer to a question Ms Hare informed the Committee that they were on the Social Network site ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ and need further direction of how to take this forward.  The Chairman enquired if websites such as ‘lastminute.com’ and ‘apps’ are sources suitable for the Museum and Hazlitt, or whether they were already on similar sites. The Chairman also asked that if such an ‘app’ or website could be developed locally, with 'What’s On' from the KM for example, could it be shared with independent cultural and arts groups such as those who we have consulted regarding the Leisure and Culture Strategy. The issue of websites getting outdated and requiring a manager was mentioned, but the Chairman highlighted that 'web 2.0' websites are built by the users adding their own events to it, and this was the same for some ‘apps’ for smartphones which are proving popular. Both Mr Lace and Ms Hare confirmed that they were not on those specific sites, but had made enquiries about possible deals with local restaurants to attract custom via ‘pre-theatre dinner’ and were seeking guidance on how to utilise local bus stops for advertisement.

The Committee was informed that despite 40% of the Museum being closed for refurbishment, they had, had their second busiest August ever recorded. The only items they had sold were either duplicates or broken artefacts.

The Committee noted that the Museum had free admission and queried if this downgraded the perceived value of the museum.  Mr Lace stated that his main aim was to increase participation. However, they were becoming more commercially minded by; charging admission for exhibitions, guidebooks, room hire, shop goods, café,  school activities, and will pursue a possibility of charging visitors from outside the Borough only, using the Dover Museum as an example of how this could be achieved.

The Chairman asked Mr Lace if there was a possibility of a partnership with John Lewis, similar to that of Tunbridge Wells which brought experienced businessmen into running the gift and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

The Committee considered the future work programme, and noted that as per the minutes from 26 October suggestions for future reviews were due for discussion at this time. However, it was felt that more consideration was needed by each Member and it was requested that suggestions from Members be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Officer prior to the next meeting. It was noted that the Contracts Manager for Serco would be interviewed at the next meeting as part of the Leisure and Culture Review.

a)  Resolved: That suggestions for future reviews be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Officer prior to the next meeting.

6.30pm to 9.38pm.