Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive, Place, and the Coventry City of Culture Trust

The Scrutiny Board received a Briefing Note and presentation at the meeting which outlined the City’s preparations to be UK City of Culture 2021 following the award of the title in December, 2017.

The Scrutiny Board were updated on the following key work strands supporting the preparations:-

• Great Place Scheme and Cultural Destinations – Coventry was awarded Great Place and Cultural Destinations funding from Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund.  Partnership activity across these grant funded programmes is being considered by the Great Place Project Manager at the Coventry City of Culture Trust. This activity will support the City’s build up programme and preparations from 2017 to 2020. The current work streams supported by this funding, including the development of Coventry’s Destination Management Plan, were detailed.

•BBC – The Director General of the BBC, Lord Tony Hall, visited Coventry in March with key staff and spoke openly about the BBC’s commitment to supporting the City of Culture and collaborating with the City on new commissions.

•British Council – The British Council want to establish clear benchmarks for Coventry’s international profile and have committed to funding a whole city audit which will be led by the two universities.

•Arts Council England (ACE) – Discussions have started around ACE’s support for 2021.

•Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) - The Trust has met with the HLF to discuss the £3m revenue commitment HLF made to the City of Culture programme before the award of the title.

•Cultural Capital Plans – The Trust has supported the City Council in developing a brief for an overview of cultural capital plans with a view to helping direct and prioritise bods to potential funders of capital schemes.

•Media Value – The Coventry City of Culture media value achieved since commencing bidding for the title now stands at over £27.7 million.

•Recruitment – Chenine Bhathena has recently been appointed as the Creative Director and recruitment for the Executive Director is currently being undertaken. Laura McMillian has now taken up the position of Director of Operations and Legacy at the Trust.

•Public Meetings – A series of public meetings are being held across Coventry and sign up for attendance has been high. The contents of the meetings includes what the UK City of Culture is; the journey so far; what happens next; and how the public can get involved. A public summary of the Bid has been published outlining the next steps in preparing for 2021 and copies of this were available at the meeting.

•Visit of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Independent City of Culture Judging Panel – An update and the positive feedback on progress made so far following the visit on 24 April, 2018 was provided.

The Scrutiny Board questioned the officer and Trust representative on a number of issues including:-

  •Work on destination management and developing the “Coventry brand”

  •City Council preparations, particularly in relation to ensuring the City

  looks its best in terms of cleanliness and ensuring the correct signage is

  provided in advance of 2021.

The Scrutiny Board welcomed the presentation and all of the work undertaken so far and asked that their thanks be passed onto the Trust, particularly to David Burbidge. 

RESOLVED that the contents of the Briefing Note and presentation be noted and welcomed and that the Scrutiny Board support the promotion of opportunities for local people and partners to support the preparations for Coventry 2021.