Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests made.

(a)  To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 16^th March 2016

(b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 16^th March 2016 were agreed and signed as a true record.

Further to Minute 39/15, headed ‘ Feedback on the Local Plan and City Centre Area Action Plan Periods of Public Consultation (18 January 2016 - 29 February 2016)’, the Board noted that the representations and summary notes of public meetings, ward forums and drop in sessions and the schedule of proposed minor changes had been submitted to the Secretary of State for further consideration on 1st April 2016 and an inspector had been allocated. Progress could be viewed at www.coventry.gov.uk/local plan.

Further to Minute 40/15, headed ‘  Parks and Friends Groups Task and Finish Group Recommendations’, the Board noted that with the agreement of the Chair, the recommendations, that would be submitted to the Cabinet Member for Business, Enterprise and Employment meeting on 21^st April 2016, had been amended to ensure they were included in the refreshed Green Space Strategy.

Note: Further to consideration of the matter headed ‘  Recommendations from the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) Task and Finish Group on Discretionary Licensing’ (minute 31/15 refers), the Board noted that the Cabinet Member for Business, Enterprise and Economy had considered the report at his meeting on 29^th March 2016 (his minute 63/15 refers) and had made a change to recommendation 1) to ensure that Ward Councillors were involved in discussions regarding promoting the implementation of the Scheme, including meetings with local resident and landlord. The Board also noted that Discretionary Licensing would be a future agenda item for the Board to enable them to consider the outcome of the consultation on the local scheme.

To consider a briefing note of the Executive Director of Place providing a progress update following on from consideration of the Tourism Strategy by Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee.

(Note: Members of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4) and the Cabinet Member for Community Development, Co-operatives and Social Enterprise, have been invited to attend the meeting for consideration of this item.)

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a presentation and briefing note of the Executive Director of Place that provided background detail of the linked areas of destination and tourism, events and Coventry’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021. Professor Jonothan Neelands, Associate Dean Creativity, Warwick University Business School who was leading the City of Culture bid and Laura McMillan, Manager of Coventry City Culture of Trust, attended the meeting to support this item. Members of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4) and the Cabinet Member for Community Development, Co-operatives and Social Enterprise, were also invited to attend the meeting for consideration of this matter.

·  Coventry as a Destination – the objectives of Coventry City Council’s Plan 2014-2024 (‘Coventry – A Top Ten City’); The Coventry Tourism Economic Impact Assessment 2013 that evaluated the economic impact of tourism in the city; Recruitment to the Conferencing and Business Relationships posts and Destination Information and Marketing posts in the Council’s Destination and Business Relationships Team; and promoting Coventry as a destination for leisure visits and tourism

·  Cultural Strategy - the development of a new ten-year partnership cultural strategy for the city, due for renewal in 2017; matters to be included in the strategy process; and the establishment of a Cultural Strategy Steering Group

·  Tourism and Audience Development Research – the work of the University of Warwick in leading on commissioning: a new tourism profile study for the city to generate a better understanding of the visitor market and implications of recent trends, to identify new product and marketing opportunities and to incorporate opportunities into regional and local strategies; and new audience development research to map audience profiles across the city’s and County’s cultural venues building a view of cultural audiences, highlighting areas of commonality, difference and migration between venues.

·  City Centre Destination Leisure Facility - The brief for the facility and details of the external design of the building reflecting the city’s ribbon-weaving history with the internal central core of the building designed around a spiral ramp serving as an active entry to the waterpark area.

·  Coventry’s bid to be UK City of Culture – The role and remit of the Coventry City of Culture Steering Group; details of the Cabinet report in February 2016 on progress in developing bid governance structures; formation of the Coventry City of Culture Trust; recruitment of the bid Co-ordinator to the Coventry 2021 bid team; research; fundraising; marketing and communications; university support; workshops and open events; competing cities;  and key milestones and priorities in the bid work programme for 2015, 2016 and 2017

·  City-Wide Events Programme - samples of additions to the diverse Programme provided through the city’s cultural destinations and open spaces including: last year’s Coventry Godiva Festival successes including the Tourism Event of the Year award 2015 presented at the inaugural Coventry and Warwickshire Tourism and Culture Awards 2015 and the Best Live Event award in the Coventry Telegraph’s People’s Choice Awards, and this year’s Festival dates  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

Outstanding Issues are included in the Work Programme below.

Outstanding issues were included in the Board’s Work Programme.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note of the Executive Director of Resources that reviewed the work of the Board carried out during the course of the Municipal Year 2015/2016 and requested that the Board identified any priorities or issues for consideration when planning next year’s scrutiny work programme.

During the year the Board met seven times and considered the items set out in the Work Programme detailed in Appendix 1 to the Briefing Note. The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) have also carried out two Task and Finish Groups on Discretionary Licensing and Friends of Parks.

Recognising that the Board could not cover everything, the Work Programme was used to prioritise issues for consideration. There were some issues on the Work Programme that were not covered during the year and some areas of Cabinet Member portfolios that were not addressed. The national and local policy landscape was also constantly changing.

During the year, Scrutiny Boards carried out their business through a range of activities including traditional Board meetings, Task and Finish Groups and visits. Boards gathered evidence from and engaged with Cabinet Members, council officers, partner organisations from the public, private and third sectors and with members of the public.

The Board discussed the business they had transacted during the year highlighting the issues and meetings where there had been positive outcomes, and identified matters that should be taken into account and prioritised when planning arrangements for next year.

The Chair thanked Members and Officers for their support and contributions to meetings during the year and the Board placed on record their appreciation for the work of the Chair.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) reviewed the activities and issues covered by the Board during the year and agreed:

1)  That the following items be added to the Board’s Work Programme for the Municipal Year 2016/2017:

•  City of Culture bid – Progress Update

•  Employment Support Service – Update

•  European Funding for LEP Projects – Outcome of bids for funding

2)  That the following recommendation be submitted to Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee:

A Working Group, comprising cross-party Scrutiny Members, be established in the New Municipal Year to consider and review the role and remit of scrutiny to ensure an effective scrutinising function for the future.

 3) The following work, carried out by the Board in 2015/2016, be referenced in the Annual Scrutiny Report:

•  Discretionary Licensing

•  City Centre

•  Environment and Sustainability

•  The Employment Support Service

There were no other items of public business.