Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in relation to the business on the agenda or any other general interests they may have within the remit of the Committee, other than those standing interests listed in the agenda.

At this point in the meeting Members were asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in relation to the business on the agenda or any other general interests they might have within the remit of the Committee.  The following was reported:

·        Regarding York 800 discussed in item 5 Cllr Taylor declared a personal non prejudicial interest as he is an Employee of York City Screen.

·        Regarding the Queens visit discussed in item 5 Cllr Levene declared a personal non prejudicial interest as he is a Member of Republic and regarding Libraries discussed in items 5 and 6  he declared another personal non prejudicial interest as he is an Employee of Social Enterprise Yorkshire and the Humber.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2012.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Learning and Culture Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 March 2012 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record subject to the following changes:

·        Cllr Jefferies was not at the meeting and sent her apologies

·        In minute point 50 middle of the second paragraph the word parcel should read unparcel.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak on an item on the agenda or an issue within the committee’s remit can do so.

Anyone who wishes to register or who requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer for this meeting, details of whom are listed at the foot of this agenda.

The deadline for registering to speak is 5.00pm the working day before the meeting, in this case 5.00pm on Friday 27 April 2012.

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

To progress work on the review, the Committee will receive a verbal update from the Task Group members on their findings from their visit to YMTs storage facilities.  Members are asked to consider and agree a method for progressing the review in the new municipal year.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Task Group members on their findings from their visit to the York Museum Trusts (YMTs) storage facilities. The Task Group were given a tour of the storage facilities at the Castle Museum, Art Gallery, Yorkshire Museum  and three of the four external storage facilities by the Head of Collections Management.

The Group confirmed that all the storage facilities were very well managed and varied greatly as different collections required different types of care. Some collections had been re-homed in modern storage facilities to ensure they were stored in the appropriate environment and manner.

The Task Group stated that in their view, the tour had been   a worthwhile exercise as it had helped them gain a thorough understanding of the logistical storage issues faced by YMT at each site.  They were pleased to discover the Trust were well on with cataloguing the various collections and had started recording items online. They were made to feel very welcome and all questions were thoroughly answered.  The Task Group Members were looking forward to completing the tour by visiting the Fulford Cross storage facility on 3 May 2012.

It was agreed that once the Task Group had carried out their final visit, they would hold an informal meeting to discuss and agree their findings.  They would also consider whether YMT had achieved appropriate collections management standards, in line with the Collections Loan Agreement & Collections Management Protocol agreed in 2002, in order to answer the question raised in the remit for the review.   The Task Group agreed to report back to the Committee at the first formal meeting in the new municipal year. 

RESOLVED:  i.  That the update be noted.

 ii. That the Task Group report back their findings at the next formal meeting of the Committee

REASON: Progress the work of the Review.

Members are asked to consider the information provided by the Cabinet Member, to inform their debate on the next agenda item.

The Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion attended the meeting and gave an update on her portfolio area which included:

Neighbourhood Management

The Cabinet Member confirmed she had undertaken the review of the Neighbourhood Management Unit and was actively working on providing Councillors with a clear channel to report any ward issues as currently Members had far too many options.  This new model would allow a more effective and efficient way of working by streamlining staff time and allowing Members to take the lead on any Ward issues and budget proposals.

In answer to Members questions it was confirmed that:

·        herself and Chief Officers were currently considering a new structure for the Neighbourhood Management Unit.

·        officers would be available to support Members when  considering different ways of engaging residents.

·        Members were currently receiving group briefing sessions on the new model and further sessions could be arranged if Members felt this was needed.

·        a handbook would be produced to support members to move the project forward.

·        details of future ward committee dates would be announced and delivered as an insert inside the Your Voice publication.

EFLG – Diversity and Inclusion

It was verified that EFLG stood for Equalities Framework Local Government.

Leisure and Culture

The Cabinet Member highlighted some activities she had been involved in such as:

·            Launching York 800 civic celebrations

·            The Queens visit

·            Mystery Plays in York Museum Gardens

·            Hamilton Panthers Football Club fundraising events for new facilities

·            City of Quilters Festival

·            Chocolate Festival

·            Holocaust  Memorial Day

·            Olympic Torch Relay

·            Illuminate York

·            York Wheel

·            Arts Development 2012 Conference

·            West Offices Art Work.

In answer to Members questions, they were informed that:

·               the Holocaust Memorial event stayed within the allocated budget.

·               officers would confirm how much the consultants and the artists had been paid for the art work in West Offices.¹

·               the Council would only contribute a minor budget to cover things such as barriers and stewards when the Olympic Torch was in York. The core costs were not funded by the Council.

·               Hamilton Panthers Football Club was still continuing to raise funds to either build a new or improve the current club house.

·               officers would confirm the budget that was set for the Queens visit and produce an estimate of costs the City gained from the visit.²

Cultural Collaboration – Blackpool

The Cabinet Member stated that around £15,000 worth of savings had been made as a result of the collaboration, and she would be meeting the Police and the social inclusion manager from Blackpool Council to investigate how they tackle hate crime.

Parks and Open Spaces

Members noted that improvements had been made to many parks and open spaces within the City and that £15,000 had been awarded to Bootham Allotments to allow new lots to be opened.

Libraries

Members were informed that:

·             the cafe’s at York and Acomb Explore Centres had been refurbished and takings were up by 25%

·             a reading cafe in Rowntrees Park would be open in the Summer.

·             free WI-FI  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

Members are asked to consider a draft workplan for the next municipal year and to suggest a number of possible topics for review for further consideration at the forthcoming Scrutiny Work Planning Event on 2 May 2012.

Members considered the committee’s draft work plan for the municipal year 2012-13 and proposed a possible future topic on ‘How to make local Libraries work in the Community’  for consideration at a forthcoming Scrutiny Work Planning Event.

Members were encouraged to forward any other suggestions to the Scrutiny Officer.

RESOLVED:       That the draft workplan for 2012-13 be noted.

REASON:            To progress the work of the Committee.