MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL
Communities, Leisure and Arts Policy Advisory Committee
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON Tuesday 5 March 2024
Attendees:
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Committee Members:
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Councillors Forecast (Chairman), Bryant, Eagle, Fort, Mrs Gooch, Hinder, D Naghi and T Wilkinson
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Cabinet Members:
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Councillor Russell (Cabinet Member for Communities, Leisure and Arts)
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93. Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hinder.
94. Notification of Substitute Members
There were no Substitute Members.
95. Urgent Items
There were no urgent items.
96. Notification of Visiting Members
There were no Visiting Members.
97. Disclosures by Members and Officers
There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.
98. Disclosures of Lobbying
There were no disclosures of lobbying.
99. Exempt Items
RESOLVED: That all items be taken in public, unless any Member of the Committee wishes to discuss Exempt Appendix to Item 14: Arts Hub & Maker Space, in which case the Committee would enter into closed session due to the possible disclosure of exempt information, for the reason specified having applied the public interest test.
100. Minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2024
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed.
101. Forward Plan relating to the Committee's Terms of Reference
RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan relating to the Committee’s terms of reference be noted.
102. 2024/25 Events Programme
The Cabinet Member for Communities, Leisure and Arts introduced the report setting out the events programme for 2024/25 and advised that it was the largest brought to the Committee to date. The appendices had been separated to show an overview of all events in the Borough and events specifically run by the Council.
Members thanked the team for their hard work in producing the comprehensive report. In response to queries, the Culture and Arts Officer explained that residents who live close by to potentially noisy events were advised in advanced and given invites as a courtesy.
RESOLVED: That the report be noted.
103. 3rd Quarter Finance Update & Performance Monitoring Report 2023/24
The Cabinet Member for Communities, Leisure and Arts introduced the report setting out the 2023/24 financial and performance position for the services reporting to the Committee as of 31 December 2023 (Quarter 3).
The Cabinet Member explained that there had been two overspends: a) the Leisure Centre, where under the terms of the current contract, the Council is responsible for the utility costs, which are at a high level; and b) Lockmeadow Complex, which still had vacant units the team were working to fill. She went on to highlight some of the positive aspects of the report, including: the rise in ticket sales at the Hazlitt; the fall in number of households in financial crisis according to LIFT data and; projects funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund monies. Although there was a decrease in footfall to the Museum, this was attributed to staff attention being on the new archaeology gallery, anticipated to open in June 2024.
In response to queries the Information and Analytics
Manager advised the following:
·
It
was suggested that footfall at the Museum may have fallen due to the Visitor
Information Centre being moved. It was agreed to attempt to have these KPIs
separated as part of the recommendation for the Draft Key Performance
Indicators if possible;
· It was also agreed to follow up on community involvement data with the Hazlitt theatre, which had started being collected in Quarter 1.
In response to queries, the Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement advised the Committee that the current Lockmeadow tenants were performing well and the new letting agent was working to identify suitable tenants for the vacant units. The unit previously occupied by Feathers had been cleared to attract interest from more varied tenants.
Members were pleased with the contents of the report and officer feedback and supportive of the recommendations.
RESOLVED: That
1. The Revenue position
as at the end of Quarter 3 for 2023/24, including the actions being taken or
proposed to improve the position, where significant variances have been
identified, be noted;
2. The Capital position
at the end of Quarter 3 for 2023/24 be noted;
3. The Performance
position as at Quarter 3 for 2023/24, including the actions being taken or
proposed to improve the position, where significant issues have been
identified, be noted; and
4. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund update, attached at Appendix 3 to the report be noted.
104. Draft Key Performance Indicators
The Cabinet Member for Communities, Arts and Leisure introduced the report and outlined that most of the KPIs were remaining the same with a proposed additional one for footfall at the Carriage Museum with the Committee’ agreement.
In response to queries from Members:
·
The
Head of Insight, Communities and Governance explained that there were two
dashboards used to provide data including the Office of Local Government
(OFLOG) which compiles data from across the country and a Council dashboard, in
development, which would compare KPIs from all the Policy Advisory Committees
and update monthly.
·
The
Information and Analytics Manager advised that updates for extra visits to the
Borough for events was provided by a company called Huq, which was only
available annually as a one-off piece of information. This was why it was
removed from the report.
· The Cabinet Member agreed to request information about correlation between events and visitor numbers following the meeting.
Picking up from the 3rd Quarter Finance Update and Performance Monitoring Report 2023/24 item, it was requested to consider splitting footfall at the Museum and Visitors’ Information Centre as part of the recommendations.
RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to CABINET: That
1. The draft Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) at Appendix 1 to the report be agreed subject to
consideration being given to the feasibility of splitting Footfall at the
Museum and Visitors’ Information Centre into two separate KPIs; and
2. That the changes to reporting changes be noted.
105. Preventing Financial Exclusion
The Cabinet Member for Communities, Leisure and Arts introduced the strategy explaining that it had been refreshed to reflect the changes in needs since its implementation in response to the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 in 2021. She outlined the achievements of the strategy so far as detailed in point 2.4 of the report and the four priority areas to support the Borough’s most vulnerable going forward, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.
Members were pleased with the report overall but had a few suggestions on typographical and presentational changes. A question was also raised concerning the referenced ward names in Appendix 1 to the report, which would be different following elections. The Head of Insight, Communities and Governance confirmed that these would be updated as needed.
RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to CABINET: That
- Progress on
actions supporting financial inclusion highlighted at paragraph 2.4 of the
report and set out in the Strategy (Appendix 1 to the report) be noted;
and
- The refreshed Preventing Financial Exclusion Strategy and action plan (Appendix 1 to the report) be agreed, subject to typographical and presentational amendments and updating the ward-based statistics to reflect the new wards.
106. Arts Hub & Maker Space
The Cabinet Member for Communities, Leisure and Arts introduced the report requesting Committee comments and approval for an Arts Hub and Maker Space with hireable studios and an exhibition space. This was included as part of the 2021 investment plan and would be funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Following a feasibility study, the bottom of Granada House was suggested as an ideal space being Council owned and with a tenant currently vacating.
It was raised that the Adult Education Centre, currently up for auction, could be a viable alternative as it already had many facilities for creatives. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that its status as a listed building, associated required maintenance and the cost to purchase would make this a less suitable option with risk being minimised by use of a building the Council already owns. Members were supportive of Arts Hub and Maker Space and agreed this would be a positive, different kind of addition to the town and bring foot traffic to the small businesses in the same area with its ideal location.
RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to CABINET: To approve the creation and trial of a Creative Maker Space and Arts Hub in Granada House in 2024/25 to run for a three year trial period.
107. Duration of Meeting
6.30 p.m. to 7.37 p.m.
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