Agenda item

It was reported that there had been 7 registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme in respect of agenda item 4 (Revenue Budge Estimates 2010-11 – Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion).

6 of the registered speakers those spoke in relation to the savings proposals, listed in Annex 3, with regard to reductions in the Arts Service Level Agreements and the proposal to cease funding in the Community Arts Service.

The Artistic Director of the Pilot Theatre, a national touring theatre based at the Theatre Royal, spoke against the proposed savings. He explained that the Pilot Theatre provides jobs for 47 paid staff and training placements for others. They had given 260 public performances in the past year, with their main target audience being young people. They had developed relationships and forged partnerships across the world through a range of international projects and were hosting the 3^rd International “Shift Happens” conference in July this year. At home, the theatre had set up links with schools, currently Manor and Joseph Rowntrees, and was involved in cultural exchanges. He advised Members that he was grateful for the support the Council gave the theatre and that they were a RFO (Regularly Funded Organisation), funded by the Arts Council with support from the local authority and stressed that loss of this support would be catastrophic to the organisation.

An Early Years Educator, Community Inclusion Facilitator and Singer stressed the benefits on the Community Arts Service in many of her projects. She suggested that if the money was not available to continue funding the service, it was important to seek creative alternative solutions, perhaps by establishing an independent not for profit agency which would allow them to retain skills and maintain part of current activity and draw down the funding they currently attract. She stressed the importance on not losing the existing team and associated infrastructure.

A former secondary school teacher explained that the Community Arts Service works with diverse groups, including families, and children at risk, as well as older people including those living alone and in care homes who have been stimulated to participate in activities by the Community Arts Service. She advised that the limited period of consultation was meaningless to these groups of people who often fear speaking out. She stressed that the Community Arts Service was made up of a small team of dedicated professionals and they offered paid work to freelance artists and encouraged volunteers and all the expertise would be wasted if the service was disbanded.

The General Manager of Accessible Arts and Media stated that she had been involved with Community Arts for over 25 years and had seen many changes though none as catastrophic as this would be. She explained that they had benefited through their relationship with the Council. She noted that the intention was to retain officer support within the service for the purpose of fundraising activities, but stressed that when fundraising it is important to be able to prove that you are touching the groups you are working with and explained that this is better done by a small community organisation, such the Arts Action Team, rather than as the Council itself. She asked the Executive Member to think creatively and explore other options and added that the Arts Action Team was needed to deliver festivals in the city, without which York would not be a vibrant and inclusive city.

The Chief Executive of York Theatre Royal stressed that it was important to remember that York was not just a historic city but also a living city. She stated that Service Level Agreements should not be underestimated as they make a difference to obtaining support from other sources and explained that the Arts Council would find it difficult to offer support to arts organisations which were not supported by the Local Authority. She noted that their most important artistic partner was the Pilot Theatre which delivers over 40 performances each year to York audiences and is reputed for innovation, technology and arts participation and which has brought significant projects to the city. She concluded by saying that the aspirations and values of people of city of York form the basis of the city’s claim to be a city of culture and give York its international reputation.

A Unison Representative spoke on behalf of Unison and those members whose jobs were at risk of being cut. He informed the Executive Member of his following four main areas of concern:-

·        Procedural - the timetable was not sufficient in order to allow consultation, however they had received a large amount of written responses to the proposals (these were published with the agenda). He asked for more time for to allow discussions to take place.

·        Legal – there appears to be full time redundancies but officer capacity remaining to seek funding. He questioned whether this could be done legally and advised he would be seeking advice on this issue.

·        Substantive – Although Community Arts Service is a non statutory service, it helps to deliver on statutory objectives. The proposed cuts would also impact on availability of funding from the Arts Council and other external funding.

·         More work is required before proposals are put forward. He urged that cuts are referred back on that basis to ensure the rights of staff and to determine the effect of the proposed cuts on the City of York.

The final speaker, a representative of Scarcroft Green Association spoke in response to the proposal to remove maintenance support from self-managed bowling greens and croquet facilities at Scarcroft Green and the Retreat, in order to make a saving in staff time. He advised the Executive Member that the Scarcroft Green Association comprised 5 bowling clubs who used the greens at Scarcroft Road, with nearly 100 members in total, from 23 to 83 years of age although the majority were retired. He stated that the association had invested time and effort into the grounds and clubhouse to maintain them at a high standard, whereas other greens which it has been suggested they could use were not of the same standard. He pointed out that Hull Road Park had been neglected and had no parking facilities or pavilion, and Rowntrees Park (which was closed due to flooding 2 years running ) only had restricted parking, no pavilion and suffered from the problem of goose droppings. He also pointed out that the proposed cuts would impact on the Croquet Club which used the croquet lawn at Scarcroft Road, and these were the only croquet facilities in York. He stated that if the clubs vacated the greens, the Council would still have to pay to maintain the area and there would be a cost associated with this.