Agenda and minutes

In light of the declaration detailed in Minute 14 below, Councillor Kelly chaired the meeting.

Councillor Brown declared an other interest in the subject of Minutes 17, 18 and 22 below concerning City of Culture 2021 in so far as he was a representative on the City of Culture Trust. He remained in the meeting for the consideration of these items but did not Chair the meeting.  

The minutes of the meeting held on 17^th July, 2019 were agreed and signed as a true record, subject to the inclusion of the indication that Councillor Skinner was acting as the substitute for Councillor Ridley in the attendance for the meeting. There were no matters arising.  

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee agrees to exclude the press and public under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 relating to Minute 22 below headed ‘Coventry City of Culture 2021’, on the grounds that the report involve the likely disclosure of information defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as it contains information relating to the financial and business affairs of the company and in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of the City of Culture Trust

Members of the Management Team of the City of Culture Trust have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Councillor G Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership

The Committee considered a report of the City of Culture Trust which provided an update on the plans of City of Culture 2021. Chenine Bhathen and Martin Sutherland, City of Culture Trust, attended the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Councillor R Brown, a member of the Committee and the Council’s representative on the Trust. Councillor G Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership also attended for this item.

The report referred to the governance arrangements for the City of Coventry 2021 highlighting that the Trust team was taking an active role in City Readiness Board and it’s Sub-Group’s meetings as well as engaging with the Place Board, the Destination Management Partnership and the Cultural Education Partnership.

The Trust had recently confirmed funding from West Midlands Combined Authority (£4m), from National Lottery Heritage Fund (£3m) and an additional £450k from Arts Council England. On 12^th October funding of nearly £7m was announced from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Committee were informed that an application to the National Lottery Community Fund (£2.2m) was to be submitted this month. The Trust was now working to secure additional corporate and Trust and Foundation support and had recently appointed a new Head of Sponsorship to assist with this task.

The Trust had been working to deliver a build-up programme and building community partnerships and were now working on a series of activities for late 2019. All the Trust’s Producers had been working within their host organisations and within their wards to co-create programme ideas for 2021. The Trust had continued to invest in capacity building and sector development programmes, to support individuals, artists and organisations get ready for 2021. The Committee noted that the Trust’s Creative Director and Producers had been working closely with organisations involved in developing the bid as well as several other local, regional and national partners to develop the shape of the programme for 2021. This was to be presented at the Trust’s Board meeting in October, with the expectation that from November 2019 onwards the key elements of the programme would be confirmed.

The Trust had also been working with a consortium of partners, including the BBC, to devise the plans for the Opening event for 2021. This consortium had been working very effectively to ensure that the impact of these events was felt locally, engaging multiple communities across the city, as well as showcasing Coventry to the world through multiple broadcast opportunities.

The Committee noted that the Trust, working with City Council partners, was developing a culture clash diary, to ensure that all events planned for 2021 (particularly those not delivered by the Trust) were recorded to ensure good communication and co-ordination and to minimise travel disruption whilst maximising visitor accommodation levels.

Recently the Trust had agreed to co-fund a new Chief Inspector to support the collaboration between the police and the City of Culture Trust. They were now working on a broader package, which should result in the Trust  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

Councillor G Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership, has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

The Committee considered a briefing note and received a presentation on Coventry’s preparations to be UK City of Culture 2021, with particular reference to the City Readiness Board and its Sub-Groups. Councillor G Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The briefing note detailed the recent delegations to officers in respect of the additional £5m to the cultural capital investment programme; the identification and  bidding for grant assistance to support the aims of the City of Culture and the European City of Sport; and to explore opportunities to provide a one-stop shop for Planning, Building Control and Licensing services and to simplify and streamline the decision making process to eliminate/ reduce delays for events.

Information was provided on the City Readiness governance structure. The City Readiness Board had been established by the City Council to lead on overseeing and co-ordinating operational management of the city’s preparations for hosting European City of Sport 2019, UK City of Culture 2021 and the Commonwealth Games 2022 programme. To date the Board has been Chaired by the Deputy Chief Executive (Place), but the position of Chair was due to pass to the Deputy Chief Executive (People). The Board had been founded with three sub-groups:

Infrastructure Group - Chaired by the Director of Transportation and Highways

Programme, Engagement and Evaluation Group - Chaired by the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing

Licensing, Operations, Planning and Safety Group - Chaired by the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services.

The Committee were informed that given the scale of the readiness programme (including the city’s infrastructure programme and cultural capital programme), a further Communications Group and Cultural Capital Group were proposed to be added to the governance structure supporting the Readiness Board. The Board and its sub-groups brought together relevant Council, Trust and operational partners to ensure that all areas of City of Culture readiness were covered. Each Sub-Group had their own Terms of Reference and was required to maintain their own action planner and risk register, reporting all key actions and challenges into the City Readiness Board.

The presentation referred to the City Readiness governance structure and detailed the direct investment secured since securing the title. In excess of £103m investment into the city was anticipated and over 86% of this had already been secured. The improvement works to be undertaken to the Upper Precinct, Smithford Way and Market Way were set out along with public realm improvements at the new Water Park.

The Committee were informed of the aims and objectives of the Sub-Groups along with the strengthening of cultural venues in readiness for 2021 and beyond. Further information was provided on the cultural capital investment fund which currently totalled £19.11m and the City of Culture Programme funding and outputs, the current total being £36.4m.

The presentation concluded with the challenges to be faced as follows:

·  An unprecedented scale of activity

·  Resources – prioritising recruitment and expenditure to key areas

·  Timeline – iterative processes with firm deadlines  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Councillors R Brown and L Kelly, the Council’s representatives on the WMCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee, will report at the meeting

The Committee received the feedback summary report from West Midlands Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee Mayor’s Question Time meeting held on 9^th October 2019.

RESOLVED that any questions on the report from Members to be submitted to Councillors Brown and Kelly who will then raise with the Mayor, Andy Street.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Committee noted their work programme for 2019/20.

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.

Further to Minute 17 above, the Committee discussed a number of private issues in respect of the plans of City of Culture 2021. Chenine Bhathen and Martin Sutherland, City of Culture Trust, attended the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Councillor R Brown, a member of the Committee and the Council’s representative on the Trust. Councillor G Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership also attended for this item.

RESOLVED that the content of the discussions be noted.