Agenda item

Report of the City of Culture Trust

Members of the Management Team of the City of Culture Trust have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Councillor G Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership

The Committee considered a report of the City of Culture Trust which provided an update on the plans of City of Culture 2021. Chenine Bhathen and Martin Sutherland, City of Culture Trust, attended the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Councillor R Brown, a member of the Committee and the Council’s representative on the Trust. Councillor G Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership also attended for this item.

The report referred to the governance arrangements for the City of Coventry 2021 highlighting that the Trust team was taking an active role in City Readiness Board and it’s Sub-Group’s meetings as well as engaging with the Place Board, the Destination Management Partnership and the Cultural Education Partnership.

The Trust had recently confirmed funding from West Midlands Combined Authority (£4m), from National Lottery Heritage Fund (£3m) and an additional £450k from Arts Council England. On 12^th October funding of nearly £7m was announced from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Committee were informed that an application to the National Lottery Community Fund (£2.2m) was to be submitted this month. The Trust was now working to secure additional corporate and Trust and Foundation support and had recently appointed a new Head of Sponsorship to assist with this task.

The Trust had been working to deliver a build-up programme and building community partnerships and were now working on a series of activities for late 2019. All the Trust’s Producers had been working within their host organisations and within their wards to co-create programme ideas for 2021. The Trust had continued to invest in capacity building and sector development programmes, to support individuals, artists and organisations get ready for 2021. The Committee noted that the Trust’s Creative Director and Producers had been working closely with organisations involved in developing the bid as well as several other local, regional and national partners to develop the shape of the programme for 2021. This was to be presented at the Trust’s Board meeting in October, with the expectation that from November 2019 onwards the key elements of the programme would be confirmed.

The Trust had also been working with a consortium of partners, including the BBC, to devise the plans for the Opening event for 2021. This consortium had been working very effectively to ensure that the impact of these events was felt locally, engaging multiple communities across the city, as well as showcasing Coventry to the world through multiple broadcast opportunities.

The Committee noted that the Trust, working with City Council partners, was developing a culture clash diary, to ensure that all events planned for 2021 (particularly those not delivered by the Trust) were recorded to ensure good communication and co-ordination and to minimise travel disruption whilst maximising visitor accommodation levels.

Recently the Trust had agreed to co-fund a new Chief Inspector to support the collaboration between the police and the City of Culture Trust. They were now working on a broader package, which should result in the Trust also co-funding a new cohort of PCSOs and Special Constables from 2020 onwards.

In relation to marketing and communications, the Trust had been working with its Creative Agency to develop the marketing and communications campaign plan for 2021 and were now working towards a February, 2020 deadline to launch the refreshed brand and the new website. This website would incorporate the new ticketing system that would link up all the existing ticketing providers across the city as well as providing a cost-effective ticketing solution for all events promoters involved in 2021.  

Regarding the legacy from 2021, working with the university and city council partners, the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework had been developed which identified 15 outcomes that were expected to be achieved by the end of 2021. Additionally, four longer term impacts had been developed which activities should assist in achieving. These were closely aligned to the priorities of the local authority, with the expectation that the legacy would be delivered through a strong partnership.

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

·  Support for the work undertaken to date by the Trust  

·  Further details about how members of the public and local organisations could include their events on the culture clash diary

·  The opportunities to visit Hull and Liverpool to learn from their previous experiences

·  Details of the involvement of local residents in the development of the programme of events

·  The importance of liaison with between the Trust and local Ward Councillors

·  Further information about the 15 outcomes and the four longer term impacts

·  Further details about the development of a digital archive for the city

·  Engagement with the private sector

·  The support to be given to existing facilities and the role of the city’s heritage in the cultural programme

·  Details about the working practices for artists and musicians who would be engaged in the City of Culture events

·  The opportunity to promote City of Culture at next year’s Annual Mayor Making ceremony

·  Sustainability and the legacy

·  The plans for constant evaluation of events to enable continuous improvement of the programme.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The contents of the report and the update be noted.

(2) Opportunities be sought for members of the Committee to meet with Councillors from Hull and Liverpool, to share experiences and any lessons learnt, including a visit to Hull in November 2019 for their City of Culture 2017 evaluation event.

(3) Improvements to be made in communications between the Trust and City Councillors, with all Councillors being updated on progress

(4) Regular progress reports on City of Culture 2021 be submitted to future meetings of the Committee.

(5) The Committee be provided with a briefing on security arrangements and emergency planning for 2021 at a future date.