MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

cabinet

 

14 MAY 2014

 

REPORT OF THE economic & Commercial development overview & Scrutiny committee  

 

Report prepared by Clare Wood 

 

 

1.           Events Review

 

1.1        Issue for Decision

 

1.1.1   To consider the recommendations within the ’Events Review’ report attached at Appendix A.

 

1.2        Recommendation of the Economic & Commercial Development Overview & Scrutiny Committee

        

1.2.1   That Cabinet considers and responds to the following recommendations:

 

a.   That where MBC provide funding for an event, it should take on the role of Event Organiser (and the legalities involved in this as set out in the report) and delegates the event management to a responsible person/s.

 

b.   That the event documents should be reviewed in conjunction with the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) with the aim of creating an Events Pack for anyone wishing to hold an event which includes a checklist.

 

c.    That the Committee supports the compiling of an Events Calendar by the Cabinet member for Economic & Commercial Development.

 

d.   That once in place, the Economic Impact Assessment online tool should be used for all regular events that happen in the borough that receive funding or support from the Council.

 

e.   That once in place, the Economic Impact Assessment tool should be publicised to event promoters and those who have held events in the borough over the past three years. 

 

f.    That a debriefing should happen with the relevant Head of Service following each Council funded or supported event to capture feedback and understand what lessons can be learnt.  

 

g.   That the Council works with Maidstone Area Arts Partnership, and other partners, to create an Economic Impact Assessment tool for smaller events; including a matrix to determine which tool should be used for each event.

 

h.   That there should be a single point of contact at the Council for Event Organisers.

 

i.     That an Event forum is set up to facilitate better sharing on information between the relevant event organisations/partners.

 

j.     That consideration is given to resurrecting the database of leisure and cultural based organisations, including the possibility of sharing the maintenance and administration of this database with another agency.

 

k.   That the possibility of sending out an Events Pamphlet with the Annual Council Tax bill be investigated for 2015 and beyond. 

 

l.     That investigations be carried out into the feasibility of extending sharing arrangements with items from Maidstone attractions and events to promote and signpost to other attractions. For example, by having a piece from Kent Life displayed at the Hazlitt.

 

m.  That consideration is given to introducing an early warning system to inform residents about events taking place in their area.

 

n.   That a mechanism for signposting people in the Town Centre to events happening elsewhere in the borough be introduced, as well as exploring opportunities for cross marketing of events.

 

o.   That the council should compile a list of all the event equipment it holds and publish this list accordingly, and encourage other event organisers/providers to do the same.  

 

p.   That arrangements for hiring event equipment, when it is not in use, to partners and other event providers in the borough be investigated.

 

1.3        Reasons for Recommendation

 

1.3.1   At the meeting of the 22 October 2013, the Committee decided to undertake a review of events in the borough. The scoping document for this review can be seen in Appendix A. Subsequently, the scope of the review was expanded to include an assessment of how the council supports those who run events in the borough. This was because during the meeting of 28 January 2014 Dawn Hudd, the Head of Commercial and Economic Development, informed the Committee of a toolkit to measure the impact of events that the Council will be introducing. It was explained to the committee that this toolkit would not be able to measure the impact of past events. Therefore the committee decided to increase the scope of the review.

 

1.3.2   The committee interviewed a wide variety of witnesses to gather evidence for this review, including:

 

•      Dawn Hudd, Head of Commercial and Economic Development at Maidstone Borough Council;

•      Jennifer Hunt, Local Economy Project Officer at Maidstone Borough Council;

•      Alan Reading, Chairman of Maidstone Tourism Association;

•      Ken Scott, Chairman of Maidstone Area Arts Partnership;

•      Emily Hirons, General Manager, and Natalie Kirk, Events Manager of Kent Life; and

•      Natalie Price, General Manager of the Hazlitt Arts Centre.

 

1.3.3   The recommendations set out in the report are recommendations suggested by members as a result of the evidence heard from the above witnesses.

 

1.4        Alternative Action and why not Recommended

 

1.4.1   Cabinet could decide not to endorse any of the recommendations within the ‘‘Events Review” report, however the recommendations are based on evidence from a range of sources and support the Council’s objectives with regard to being a decent place to live.

 

1.5        Impact on Corporate Objectives

 

1.5.1   The Council’s Strategic Plan 2011 -15 lists “For Maidstone to be a decent place to live’ as a key priority, under which sits the outcome ‘Continues to be a clean and attractive environment for people who live in and visit the borough’. The recommendations within the report contribute to the fulfilment of this outcome.

 

1.6        Risk Management

 

1.6.1   The recommendations contained within this report will need to be risk assessed as part of reviewing whether they should be accepted or not.

 

1.7        Other Implications

 

1.7.1    

1.      Financial	X
2.           Staffing	X
3.           Legal
4.           Equality Impact Needs Assessment
5.           Environmental/Sustainable Development
6.           Community Safety	X
7.           Human Rights Act
8.           Procurement	X
9.           Asset Management

 

 

1.7.2   Depending of the acceptance of the recommendations within the report there could be financial, staffing, procurement and asset management implications.

 

1.8        Relevant Documents

 

1.8.1   Appendices

 

Appendix A – Economic & Commercial Development Overview & Scrutiny Committee Events Review Report.

Appendix B – Scrutiny Committee Response Action Implementation Plan (SCRAIP).

 

 

IS THIS A KEY DECISION REPORT?                  THIS BOX MUST BE COMPLETED   X     Yes                                               No     If yes, this is a Key Decision because: ……………………………………………………………..   …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….     Wards/Parishes affected: …………………………………………………………………………………..   ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..