Agenda and draft minutes

To receive and note apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest or other registerable interest they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it

becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

[Please see attached sheet for further guidance for Members]

Members were asked to declare at this point in the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest or other registerable interest they might have in respect of business on the agenda if they had not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.

Councillor Cuthbertson declared an interest in relation to item 5 of the agenda, York Museums Trust Report, in that he was a former trustee of York Museums Trust (YMT). Councillors Crawshaw and Knight declared that in relation to item 5, York Museums Trust Report, they were trustees of YMT, and that they had taken advice from the Monitoring Officer and would not participate within the consideration of this item. In relation to item 6 of the agenda, REACH Report, Councillor Crawshaw declared an interest in that he was a member of the steering group working with the REACH partnership.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2025.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting of the committee held on 4 March 2025 be approved and signed as a correct record subject to the following amendment:

·       That within Minute No.51, “The Head of Children and Education received feedback from members in that language surrounding the term “exacerbated by tribunal decisions” should be avoided as these decisions were needed and effort should be made to not put people off them” would be amended to read: “The Head of Children and Education Finance received feedback from members in that language surrounding the term “exacerbated by tribunal decisions” should be avoided as these decisions were needed and effort should be made to not put people off them. This feedback would be taken back to Children and Education Services”.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines are set as 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings. The deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Friday, 28 March 2025.

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting, please contact Democratic Services. Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report provides an update on York Museums Trust’s performance during the year 2024-2025.

The Director of Housing and Communities, City of York Council (CYC), Strategic Services Manager, CYC, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of YMT presented the report and in response to questions from members confirmed that:

·       There was a desire for the letter of credit from CYC to not be needed from summer 2025 onwards but that this would only be possible once a new financial plan was in place.

·       75% of YMT’s income was self-generated.

·       During the COVID-19 Pandemic 60 employees were lost due to cost cutting exercises but there was a new understanding that cost-cutting could also affect revenue and therefore there was a focus on efficiency of how budgets were spent and how contracts were procured.

·       Accessibility was a big factor in which schools visited YMT’s sites as most schools which did visit were those which were within walking distances. Transport costs were an issue, but considerations were ongoing into how digital engagement could improve accessibility.

·       Exhibition preparations take time and money and so it was necessary to allow plenty of time for efficient exhibitions to be planned.

The CEO of YMT then informed members of the Melsonby Hoard artefacts which had been uncovered in 2021 and of which there was a campaign led by YMT to Save the Melsonby Hoard and keep it on show at the Yorkshire Museum, protected from private sale. The campaign had raised upwards of £28k at the time of the meeting.

Resolved: That the work undertaken by YMT be noted.

Reason: So that members are aware of YMT’s progress.

This report provides an update on the work of the York Cultural Education Partnership, REACH.

The Assistant Director, Education and Skills, and the Chair of REACH (the York Cultural Education Partnership Reconnecting Education, the Arts, Culture and Heritage) presented the report.

The Chair of REACH discussed how essential the arts were to education in the United Kingdom (UK) and how enrichment and needed to be improved.

The Chair of Reach then informed the committee that REACH had not received any recent government or local authority funding as it was viewed as being successful, however funding would help to improve access to the arts and reduce the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children in York. Also, REACH was working with various organisations in York to spread its influence more widely across the city.

Members discussed the work of the REACH partnership and in response to questions from members, the Assistant Director, Education and Skills, and the Chair of REACH confirmed that:

·       Since funding for the partnership ended in July 2024, the partnership had not been able to retain employment of their manager.

·       The REACH partnership believed that schools’ curriculum needed to have a balance of maths and English as well as the promotion of the arts.

·       It was essential to work with parents and carers in improving accessibility of the arts for children and young people, as an example a recent event at York Barbican received great engagement from parents and carers.

Resolved: That the work undertaken by the REACH partnership be noted.

Reason: So that members were aware of REACH’s progress.

This item provides an update on the work of the York Citizens’ Theatre Trust.

The CEO, York Theatre Royal, and the Head of Creative Engagement, York Theatre Royal presented the item and reported that following the COVID-19 pandemic the theatre was mainly a presenting theatre, but it was recently becoming more of a producing theatre again, as before the pandemic.

The CEO, and the Head of Creative Engagement of York Theatre Royal reported that most of York Theatre Trust’s work was done in communities bring theatre out to people who wouldn’t otherwise experience it and to increase engagement and inclusion – it was more cost effective for schools to received productions in school rather than the theatre. It was noted that the funding the Trust received allowed activities to be free of charge and for translations and training to be available.

In response to questions from members, the CEO, and the Head of Creative Engagement of York Theatre Royal confirmed that:

·       The Trust was connecting with York Museums Trust, and York Explore to investigate and improve working together. It was essential for the Trust to have efficiency in staffing as its marketing team only had five members of staff compared to other theatre companies such as Theatre Royal Plymouth which had 13 members of staff.

·       The Trust had moved away from a way of working in which only those who could afford to volunteer would in order to improve engagement.

·       There was a desire to offer free transport to the theatre for schools through relevant funding.

·       The Trust was working with York College in their introduction of T-Level courses as there was a big skills gap in the arts sector regarding technical work.

·       Creative Engagement work was expanding, and investment had been made in community projects, however available funding was limited as York Theatre Trust received just 50% of the funding received by other similar sized theatre trusts.

Resolved: That the work undertaken by York Theatre Trust be noted.

Reason: So that members were aware of York Theatre Trust’s progress.

Members are asked to consider the Committee’s work plan for upcoming meetings.

Members discussed the committee’s work plan, and it was resolved that:

i.                 The Children Safeguarding Partnership Annual Report scheduled for 5 June 2025 would be postponed to a future meeting.

Reason: To keep the committee’s work plan for the upcoming municipal year updated.