Apologies were received from Councillors: WLS Bowen; MAF Hubbard; P Rone; SJ Robertson and Mr P Sell.

To receive details of any Member nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

Councillor EMK Chave substituted for Councillor MAF Hubbard.

6. Management Options For Cultural Services.

Councillor AM Atkinson, Personal, As Council's representative on HALO.

6. Management Options For Cultural Services.

Councillor EMK Chave, Personal, As a member of the Arts Fund; Friends of Herefordshire Museum and Arts and Hereford Three Choirs Festival Committee..

6. Management Options For Cultural Services.

Councillor PJ Watts, Personal, As Council's representative on HALO.

6. Management Options For Cultural Services.

Councillor TM James, Personal, As a Regional Board Member of Arts Council England.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

(There will be no discussion of the issue at the time when the matter is raised.  Consideration will be given to whether it should form part of the Committee’s work programme when compared with other competing priorities.)

No suggestions were made.

To note questions received from the public and the items to which they relate.

(Questions are welcomed for consideration at a Scrutiny Committee meeting so long as the question is directly related to an item listed on the agenda.  If you have a question you would like to ask then please submit it no later than two working days before the meeting to the Committee Officer.  This will help to ensure that an answer can be provided at the meeting). 

No questions were received.

To explain the process of the review of Cultural Services to enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider the management options for cultural services.

The Committee considered the management options for cultural services following a review of the service.

The Director of Place and Communities reported that on 15 December 2011 Cabinet had considered a report on options for the future management and delivery of a range of cultural services and Cabinet requested that the options be considered by this Committee.  The services ‘in scope’ were largely non-statutory but were highly valued by the public and contributed to the health and economic wellbeing of the county.  Many of the services had already been subject to budget reductions. He emphasised that the options sought to reduce management costs without reducing the level of delivery to the public.

The Financial Services representative provided a brief overview of the budget position for the services in scope and expanded upon appendix 2 to the Cabinet report.

Questioned on where budget reductions had been made the Committee were informed that these had been achieved through efficiency saving and unfilled staff posts across the services. Significant changes had been implemented to the Music Service which was now on track to achieve targeted budget reductions which would be shown in future reports.

The Chairman introduced Ms Jenny Peevers, Relationship Manager, Arts Council England.  Ms Peevers gave an overview of the current climate and the outsourcing of services in relation to cultural services from the Arts Council England perspective. Herefordshire had a good reputation for partnership working and in securing funding streams. She reported that the Arts Council England were currently gathering evidence on how local authorities were strategically commissioning services.   She considered it inappropriate to comment on Herefordshire’s ‘options’ but cautioned against rushing into a new model until all the costs involved had been established and accurately analysed and prospective tenderers had been thoroughly researched.

The Chairman introduced Mr Stephen Brewster who provided a brief overview of cultural services from The Sports Partnership’s point of view. He said that the number of sports related development programmes had been reduced due to national budget reductions and that Herefordshire was not unique in reviewing its management options.  Surveys indicated that 49% of people in Herefordshire were not involved in sport or physical activity. However, the Active People Programme indicated that the County was better than many other areas in this respect.  He highlighted some of the health and financial benefits to the County of keeping its citizens active.  People were more likely to get involved if an attractive range of activities was provided in good facilities/resources. 

The Committee noted that an increasing number of ‘softer sports’ e.g. tag rugby, were being offered to encourage people to re-engage in activities. It was also noted that while 49% were not involved in sport they may be physically active through their employment.

Councillor RJ Phillips, Cabinet Member – Enterprise & Culture, commented that many local authorities were in the same position of having to manage reduced budgets.  He re-emphasised the Directors comment that this was not about reducing front line services but making savings through how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.