Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest or other registrable 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 Clarke declared an interest in that a family member was involved in a bidding process in relation to item 4, REACH Progress Report, and that his employer, York Traveller’s Trust, was mentioned within the report of item 5, York Museums Trust Report.

Councillor Crawshaw declared that in relation to item 5, York Museums Trust Report, he was a trustee of York Museums Trust, and that he had taken advice from the Monitoring Officer and would not participate within the consideration of this item.

In relation to item 6, York Citizens’ Theatre Trust Update, Councillors Crawshaw and Knight declared that they were observers to the board of York Theatre Royal, and Councillors Cuthbertson and Runciman declared that they were trustees of York Theatre Royal.

In relation to items: 4, REACH Progress Report, 5, York Museums Trust Report, 6, York Citizens’ Theatre Trust Update, and 7, Discussion - York City Football Club and York City Football Club Foundation, Councillor Waller declared that he was a governor at both York High School and Westfield Primary School.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2024.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting of the committee held on 5 March 2024 be approved and signed as a correct record subject to the following amendment:

·        That Minute No. 44, paragraph 2, be amended to read: “Councillor Wilson confirmed that Councillor Clarke had recently joined Councillor Cuthbertson and herself as members of the Education, Health, and Care Plan Task and Finish Group, as a replacement for Councillor Crawshaw, and that feedback would be brought to the committee following their next meeting”.

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, 5 April 2024.

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.

The committee will receive an update on the progress of the REACH (Reconnecting Education, the Arts, Culture and Heritage) project.

The Chair of the REACH partnership presented their report and noted that REACH was a partnership working with various organisations within York with a commitment to children and young people.

He reported how the partnership was working with the University of York on a ‘Bags of Creativity’ scheme which had resulted in 2050 bags being sent into schools,He also described how events such as DrawWithDenmark supported communities and young people. Members discussed the possibility of Allerton Waste Recovery Park supporting REACH’s ‘Green Bags of Creativity’ scheme.

In response to questions from members, the Chair of REACH confirmed that:

·        Although funding for the partnership would end in July 2024, they were optimistic of what they could achieve without this funding. There was a priority on keeping their manager employed once funding ends.

·        There were conversations ongoing on the subject of working with the Media Arts Curriculum, and there were discussions on the curriculum becoming a digital arts curriculum.

·        REACH connected people who had a professional role in the arts, and brought professional art forms into schools for accessible consumption by children. REACH could also support teachers in teaching arts and culture.

·        REACH and Make it York were working together and improvements had been incorporated online to promote the support available.

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

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

The committee will receive an update from York Museums Trust.

The York Museums Trust Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Finance Officer (CFO) presented the report and in response to questions from members confirmed that:

·        With support of the Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care, they had written to the York Central MP, and York Outer MP concerning Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) found in the roof of York Castle Museum, which had resulted in them becoming a case study for Historic England.

·        The RAAC found within the castle museum roof was structurally stable at the time of the meeting, but there was a need to cover the roof to avoid moisture effecting this.

·        Yorkshire Museum had the facilities to teach the entirety of Key Stage 2 (KS2), although during the COVID-19 pandemic learning programmes were stopped. The museum was working with REACH and other partners to encourage schools to visit.

·        Work was continuing with the British Museum to support frameworks such as the ‘Time Odyssey’ programme where schools could visit and study museum artefacts, including a digital element allowing learning to continue away from the museum.

·        25% of YMT artefacts were on display, with the rest in storage – this was not uncommon for museums.

The committee thanked YMT’s CFO for his time at YMT and commended him on his retirement.

Resolved:

i.             That the work undertaken by YMT be noted

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

ii.            That the Chair would write to the York Central MP, and York Outer MP on behalf of the Committee to advocate for further government support for YMT.

Reason: To encourage further support for YMT.

Members will receive an update on the work of the York Citizens’ Theatre Trust.

[Documents to follow]

York Theatre Royal’s CEO, Creative Director, and Head of Creative Engagement presented their report and in response to questions from members confirmed that:

·       Free School Meals was used as a criteria of where to target efforts of engagement.

·        There were examples of people growing up with and staying within the programme, such as one youth practitioner who came to youth groups as a young person.

·       Some Youth Groups were being run at York St. John University to promote aspiration of attending university.

·       There were funded places on their regular programmes, and they worked with schools where possible to promote this.

·       Their clubs were attracting people who had not been to York Theatre Royal before.

There was a hub available to local artists, and a monthly artist surgery was also held to engage with and connect local artists.

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

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

As a result of a motion of Council on 23 November 2023, Minute No. 51(ii) The Fair Game campaign for football clubs, the committee will discuss the important role that York City Football Club plays in the culture and heritage of the city, and members will explore ways in which City of York Council can work together to support the York City Football Club and York City Football Club Foundation with its work in the local community.

The Chair opened discussion on this item and noted that this item’s inclusion on the agenda was a result of a motion approved at Full Council on 23 November 2023, Minute No. 51(ii) The Fair Game campaign for football clubs, asking members to discuss the important role that York City Football Club plays in the culture and heritage of the city, and asking members to explore ways in which City of York Council (CYC) could work together to support the York City Football Club and York City Football Club Foundation with its work in the local community.

The York City FC Foundation Manager reported that the Foundation had been established for 26 years with the aim of using sport and physical activity to make a difference within the local community, with an emphasis on engaging those in the hardest to reach areas. She added that the Foundation ran as a separate entity to the Football Club.

The York City FC Foundation Manager detailed their three aims:

i.             Community, emphasising on engaging with young people, schools, and grassroot organisations.

ii.            Inclusion, offering programmes for all ages to engage with sport, by running youth clubs and the City Kickabout in recent years.

iii.          Female, overlapping the first two aims, with reference to their Girls Resilience Project.

In response to questions from members, the York City FC Foundation Manager confirmed that:

·        Walking Football was offered by the Foundation, and was open to any age. A session had been started in partnership with Parkinson’s UK to build a closed group for people living with Parkinson’s.

·        The stadium no longer hosted children’s parties, but they were seeing an increase in engagement from young girls.

Members discussed ways in which CYC could work together to support York City Football Club Foundation. Members noted that networking benefitted both CYC and the Foundation, and that funding was key to the Foundation’s success. The York City FC Foundation Manager reported that the Foundation was not funded by York City Football Club and that relevant funds were received via successful bids and research, and their reputation for delivering aided the bidding process.

Members discussed the difficulty voluntary community organisations like the Foundation faced due to financial circumstances, and from a lack of certainty surrounding ward funding.

Resolved:

i.             That the important role that York City Football Club played in the culture and heritage of the city be discussed and noted.

ii.            That ways in which CYC could work together to support York City Football Club and York City Football Club Foundation with their work in the local community be explored.

Reasons: To fulfil the commitment made in Minute No. 51(ii) of Council on 23 November 2023.

Members are asked to consider the Committee’s work plan for the 2023/24 municipal year.

Resolved: That Members considered the committee’s work plan for

the 2023/24 municipal year.

Reason: To have kept the committee’s work plan for the 2023/24

municipal year updated.