Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12^th December, 2018 were signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

Councillors O’Boyle and Welsh, Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item 

The Committee considered a briefing note and presentation of David Nuttall, Strategic Lead (European City of Sport, UK City of Culture and Commonwealth Games) which provided an update on progress with implementing the action plan and priorities within the Coventry Tourism Strategy 2019-23, which was approved by Cabinet at their meeting on 27^th November, 2018. Councillor O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration and Councillor Maton, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The presentation set out the current position for tourism in the city which included a £385m spend per annum; supported 6,921 fte jobs which represented 5.9% of local employment; saw 94% of visitors saying they would recommend Coventry to a friend; and 95% of visitors saying they would return. The presentation also highlighted a number of concerns including the reason why 77% of people who had not visited stated that they were not sure what was there; visitor spend was low (£5 per hour for day visitors); nightlife and variety of things to do scored lowest for satisfactions; and there were gaps in the accommodation offer. The presentation highlighted that there was huge potential for tourism growth.

The Committee were informed of the vision for the tourism strategy as follows: 

‘By 2023 perceptions and awareness of Coventry as a leisure and business tourism destination will have grown and residents will be even more proud, active ambassadors of their city.  The city will be recognised as a host for major events and the city will be attracting more than 10 million visitors a year”

There were seven measures of success for the Strategy:

i) Development of a successful delivery partnership to manage the DMP

ii) Increase in overall visitor numbers

iii) Increase in overnight visitors

iv) Increase in yield per visitor

v) Growth in jobs supported via the visitor economy

vi) Increase in awareness of Coventry as a destination

vii) Improved perceptions of Coventry as a destination.

The Action Plan had been framed around the following four areas: Partnership, Product, Place and Positioning. The presentation set out the initial priorities for the first six month of operation to June 2019 under these four areas. An update was given at the meeting on the actions to date.  

Members questioned the officers on a number of issues and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  The opportunities to involve Councillors with the implementation of the strategy

·  Further information about the proposed Destination Partnership Board

·  Details about the marketing of Coventry outside of the city and suggestions for promoting Coventry, including at Birmingham Airport

·  Relationships with the BBC

·  The requirement to have a better offer to attract visitors to the city, especially young people

·  Concerns about the night club offer in the city

·  How to encourage a busy evening night time culture in the city centre, not just a day time retail offer

·  The use of social media and the development of a digital calendar for the promotion of events.

Members discussed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Report of Dr Julie Nugent, WMCA, who has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item.

Councillor Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership, Councillor Maton, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and Councillors O’Boyle and Welsh, Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration have also been invited to attend.   

The Committee considered a report of Dr Julie Nugent, Director of Productivity and Skills, West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) which provided an update on the WMCA Productivity and Skills Strategy. Dr Nugent attended the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Councillor Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership, Councillor Maton, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and Councillor O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration.

The report indicated that the Productivity and Skills Portfolio had been an area of focus since the development of the WMCA and was a key part of the first devolution agreement signed in November 2015. Councillor Duggins became the first portfolio lead for Productivity and Skills in June 2016 and had since overseen the delivery of the productivity and skills elements of two devolution agreements (second deal agreed November 2016), the West Midlands Skills Deal (July 2018) and the publication of the Regional Skills Plan in June 2018. These deals had brought new investment to the region, the details of which were set out in the report and included:

The WMCA Skills Deal with Government secured £69m investment for meeting productivity and skills challenges:

£40m Apprenticeship funds

£5m Digital Retraining Fund

£20m planned investment from the WMCA

This was in addition to funding already secured through the two devolution deals: £120m+ Adult Education Budget (annually, from 2019); 5m Construction Retraining Fund; £4.7m Employment Support Pilot; and £2m Career Learning Pilot.

To support the development of the skills strategy, the West Midlands Productivity and Skills Commission was set up in 2017 to: identify the skills and productivity challenges in the region; identify the causes of low productivity and skills; and make practical recommendations to address these. The challenges facing the West Midlands included low productivity; low employment rate; high youth employment and low educational attainment. The Committee were informed that figures demonstrated a more favourable employment and skills situation in Coventry compared to the West Midlands average, although there were pockets of deprivation with correspondingly poor employment and skills profiles.

The report referred to the WMCA Regional Skills Plan which set out the priorities for the next three years to address the challenges highlighted. The development of the plan had involved extensive engagement with key stakeholders and stakeholder groups. The plan deliberately focused on actions – what the WMCA and key stakeholders could and would do to improve the regional skills base. It aimed for:  more people in employment; more people in higher skilled jobs; more skilled employees to support business growth and productivity; all communities benefitting from the region’s economic growth; and an agile and responsive skills system that is more aligned to the needs of business and individuals.

The Committee noted that the Plan also fulfilled a key role in commissioning the future delivery of the Adult Education Budget. This would transfer to the WMCA from 2019/20, however, for 2018/9, the region’s colleges and adult and community learning providers would set out how they intended to respond to key  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Committee considered their work programme for the current municipal year. Members were informed that following consideration of the ‘LGA Corporate Peer Challenge – Outcome of Peer Challenge’ report at Cabinet on 8^th January, 2019 it had been agreed that Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee would monitor progress on the delivery of action plans arising from the Peer Review.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The work programme be noted, including that the two ‘if required’ meetings scheduled for 6^th February and 17^th April will now be needed.

(2) Progress on the delivery of action plans arising from the Peer Review be included as an item on the work programme.

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.