Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

(a)  To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 13 June, 2018

(b)  Matters Arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 13^th June, 2018 were signed as a true record, subject to Minute 3 headed ‘Child Poverty’ being amended by the insertion of Birmingham’s Child Poverty report in recommendation 4) and the deletion of recommendation 7).

There were no matters arising.   

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Board received a presentation from David Cockroft, Director of City Centre and Major Projects Development concerning the main priorities for the Place Directorate including the capacity to deliver the ambitious development programme for the city centre. Councillor J Mutton, Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources and Councillor J O’Boyle. Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The presentation set out the wide remit of the Place Directorate which involved approximately 1450 employees mainly involved with the delivery of front line services. Reference was made to the capital spend which had increased five- fold since 2013 and to the recent awarding of central and regional government funds and European funding.

Information was provided on the financial implications of recent developments including the Whitley expansion; the National Battery Centre; Broadgate; the Upper Precinct; and the Station Master Plan and to the future development at Friargate and the City Centre South.

Reference was also made to the work involved with hosting major events in the city such as Motofest, Godiva and the Biggest Weekend and to the opportunities presented by City of Culture 2021 and the European City of Sport. However, there was a concern about all these opportunities in terms of capacity and resource. Members were informed that a report was currently being drafted in relation to the City of Culture and capacity.

Members raised a number of issues arising from the presentation and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  A concern about capacity to enable delivery

·  The requirement to revisit the City Centre development plans in light of changing shopping habits and the drop in confidence in the retail sector

·  The importance of providing residents and visitors with different leisure activities and dining options to attract people into the city centre

·  Clarification that in the outturn report £4.5m had been set aside for the City of Culture

·  The suggestion that it was appropriate to review the membership of the City of Culture Trust to ensure that all the necessary expertise was covered including Council Member/ officer membership

·  The importance of promoting local community events as well as the large scale events

·  The benefits of opening up Hertford Street and the Precinct to provide more space for outside events

·  With the awarding of the European City of Sport, the opportunity to establish the city as a centre for youth sport

·  The potential to think outside the box and bring something different to the city centre

·  Concerns that car parking charges put people off visiting the city centre, particularly in light of the free parking offered by the out of town shopping centres and the need to consider this issue going forward

·  The benefits that Amazon provide for the city in terms of jobs and the resulting spend in the city and the income from business rates

·  The importance of providing new hotels to attract visitors to stay overnight when visiting Coventry for City of Culture events

·  The requirement to secure the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Committee considered their work programme for the current municipal year. A briefing note of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator was tabled at the meeting setting out the items put forward by members at the all Scrutiny Members meeting on 18^th June as potential items for consideration by the appropriate Committee/ Boards. Members also gave consideration for additional items to be included in the current work programmes.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The following items be included in the Committee’s work programme for the current year:

Review of Planning Procedures to include Selective Licensing and Article 4

FGM

Prevent Strategy

(2) The following items be included in the work programme for Scrutiny Board (4):

Illegal Car Washes and the Impact on the Environment

20mph Zones in Urban Areas

(3) Arrangements be put in place for an Informal Chairs of Scrutiny meeting to consider the allocation of items put forward at the 18^th June all Scrutiny Members meeting for inclusion in the appropriate Committee/ Boards work programmes for 2018/19   

Any other items of public business which the Chair decides to take as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no additional items of public business.