Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

(a)  To agree the minutes of the Cabinet Member (Policing and Equalities) meeting held on 10^th October 2019

(b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 10^th October 2019 were agreed and signed as a true record.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

Note: A briefing note from the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee is attached at page 25, setting out its recommendations following consideration of this report at its meeting on 8^th January 2020.

The Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People), which set out proposed new Equalities Objectives for the period 2020 to 2022.

The report indicated that the Council is committed to fulfilling its duties as a public authority under the Public Sector Equality Duty.  As part of this general duty, the Council is required to comply with a specific duty to publish a set of equality objectives every four years.  The current set of equality objectives were set in 2016 and therefore expire in 2020. 

The five equality objectives proposed for 2020-22 were:

  Equality Objective 1 – Create a foundation to drive improved access to services through better use of equalities data.

  Equality Objective 2 – Develop and deliver in partnership a whole-city approach to ‘Building a Coventry that works for all’.

  Equality Objective 3 – Increase the diversity of the Council’s workforce at all levels so that it is more representative of the community it serves and better able to meet their diverse needs.

  Equality Objective 4 – Increase the number of 18-24 year olds getting into employment.

   Equality Objective 5 – Increase the number of disabled relatives taking part in sporting and cultural activities in the City.

The proposed objectives had been subject to a process of rigorous scrutiny by both Corporate Leadership Tam and Strategic Management Board.  In addition, public consultation on the proposed equality objectives ran from 30^th September 2019 to 9^th October 2019 and then from 13^th October 2019 to 22^nd November 2019.  The consultation was paused for a total of four days, in order for a conversation with stakeholders to take place on the scope of the consultation.  In order to compensate for the pause, an additional week was added to the total length of the consultation.  The consultation revealed broad support for each of the objectives and the report submitted provided a summary of the responses.  It was noted that the results of the consultation would be fed into the development of actions plans for each objective.

In addition, the report indicated that the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing, as corporate lead for equalities, would receive regular progress reports against each objective and that an annual report would be presented to the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities.

The Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities noted a briefing note from the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, who had considered the report at its meeting held on 8^th January 2020.  The briefing note set out a number of recommendations, including:

1.  That the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities considers the evaluation process of the objectives over a period of time, including this in future reports.

2.  That future reports are more specific in relation to referring to accountability by elected members.

3.  That the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities considers introducing mandatory training for Equalities Impact Assessments for all relevant officers.

4.  That the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee receive regular progress reports  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place), which set out proposals for admission and parking charges for the Godiva Festival in 2020-22.

The report indicated that the Godiva Festival is a hallmark annual event in the City calendar.  In 2019, the Council reduced the core budget for the Festival as a part of agreed measures to address financial challenges and it piloted initiatives to establish the potential for a more commercial approach, while underpinning the event with a one-off budget allocation.

The Council tested the market for income to be generated to support the event in future by charging for car parking, improving merchandising and seeking increased sponsorship.  Ticketing was also introduced, along with other measures, to address public safety concerns.  Ticketing enabled an accurate assessment of attendance and profiling of customers, which has been used to inform projections for earned income in the future. 

After the 2019 results were known, the Council reassessed its core contribution to the Festival, and included proposals in its corporate budget consultation for 2020/21 to increase the net contribution to the festival in order to provide a realistic and robust financial model.

It was proposed to increase the agreed resources by £200,000 per annum for the Festival in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and increase the cost of entry to achieve an average net income of £4.70 per ticket.  The programme would be reconfigured to improve the family offer on Sunday to make it better value.  The mix of music would be broadened to increase appeal, whilst continuing to support local talent.  Market sensitive price setting would be introduced for Friday and Saturday.  The report set out the proposed ticket prices for single days and 3-day options based on Early Bird Tickets (up to 31^st April), Advance Tickets (from 1^st May to 2^nd July) and On the Day Tickets.  Under each purchase option there would be full price tickets (ages 17+), concessions (5-16 year olds and over 60’s), infants (4 and under) and carers, and family tickets (2 full price and 2 concession children).  There would also be Early Bird, Advance and On the Day car parking tickets available on a daily or 3-day basis for the Festival.

RESOLVED that, the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities approves the proposals for pricing of tickets and car parking for the Godiva Festival for the period 2020-2022, as set out in Section 2 of the report submitted, building on the additional core budget of £200,000 per annum to support the Festival, which is pending approval through the corporate budget process.

To consider any other items of business which the Cabinet Member decides to take as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no other items of public business.