Agenda and minutes

Venue: This meeting will be held remotely. The meeting can be viewed live by pasting this link into your browser: https://youtu.be/xQRj-HBAF5Q

Contact: Suzanne Bennett/Liz Knight, Governance Services - Telephone: 024 7697 2299/2644  E-mail:  suzanne.bennett@coventry.gov.uk/liz.knight@coventry.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

37.

Councillor L Bigham

Minutes:

Councillor L Kelly welcomed Cllr L Bigham on her appointment as Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4) Chair

38.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no disclosable declarations of interest.

 

The Committee noted that Councillor L Bigham was a member of the Advisory Panel for EnV, an organisation who are partners with Coventry City of Culture Trust.

 

39.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 307 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 November, 2020 were agreed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

 

 

40.

City of Culture 2021 - City Readiness pdf icon PDF 212 KB

Briefing Note of the Director of Business, Investment and Culture and the Strategic Lead (European City of Sport, UK City of Culture and Commonwealth Games)

Presentation from the City of Culture Trust

 

The following have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item:

Councillor Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership

Martin Reeves, Chief Executive

Chenine Bhathena and Martin Sutherland, City of Culture Trust

Minutes:

Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive of Coventry City of Culture Trust presented the committee with information about the plans for City of Culture 2021. The aim of the year would be that “We will reimagine the role of culture in a diverse, modern Britain, demonstrating that culture is a force that changes lives, moving Coventry and the region forward”. The presentation covered:

  • Covid Impact and Response
  • Programme information including
    • The Story of Coventry
    • Investing in Local Artists and the Sector
    • Celebrating our Difference
    • City Voices
    • Coventry is a Music City
  • Six Months Milestones

 

Gail Quinton, Deputy Chief Executive of Coventry City Council and David Nuttall, Strategic Lead City of Culture, updated the committee on City Readiness. The presentation covered:

  • Governance
  • Capital Investment
  • Public Realm Programme
  • Cultural Capital Programme
    • Daimler Powerhouse Developments
    • Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
    • Belgrade Theatre Development
    • Draper’s Hall
    • St. Mary’s Guildhall
    • Unique Visitor Stay Places – Accommodation
    • Cathedral Project
    • The Box at Fargo
    • FarGo Village Remodel
    • Digital Gallery
    • Charterhouse – Heritage Visitor Attraction and Venue Development
    • Coventry Visitor Information Provision
  • Wider Cultural and Heritage Capital Works

 

Following the presentation, Members raised a number of questions and issues, and received the following responses:

 

·  The risks and threats to the capital and cultural programme were impossible to extract from the risks of Covid. The impact on capital projects and focusing on legacy were being managed closely. Also, the impact of Covid on vulnerable and excluded communities had brought the focus on inclusion even more to the fore.

·  The London Rd Cemetery project would work with Historic Coventry to make sure that the stories of local heroes were in included in this and the wider programme. There would be a call out to writers and storytellers for the cemetery project. A list would be circulated in the new year so any omission could be flagged to make sure all the key people are covered.

·  Although The Walk project would focus on the story of unaccompanied child migrants there would be opportunities throughout the wider programme to recognise the history of immigration from around the world in the city

·  The shared ticketing system had been tested with the ice rink at the Cathedral and had so far been a success. More widely joined up communications and What’s On guide would be live from February 2021. Venues at the moment were firefighting and not announcing new events. There was a shared approach to communications across the City.

·  The River of the World project was focused on SEND schools, but there would be a programme of other work with schools across the city which would be announced in the new year

·  There were plans for public art. These may not be the traditional sculptures and statues. There were curators and other artists working with the public realm team to create fixtures in a functional way that would attract visitors to the city. There it was noted that there needed to be an understanding of how public art can create a lasting legacy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

41.

Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee Work Programme 2020/2021 pdf icon PDF 270 KB

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

Minutes:

The Committee considered and noted their Work Programme for 2020/21. They requested that an item on Brexit be considered at a future meeting at an appropriate time.

 

 

42.

Any Other Items of Public Business

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

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent public business.