Issue - meetings

The Senior Democratic Services Officer summarised that the Overview and Scrutiny had requested an update on the progress of the Cultural Strategy and received a presentation from the Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities at their meeting on 20 February 2024. She highlighted the recommendations in the report from Overview and Scrutiny and invited Members to ask any questions.

The Chairman explained the context surrounding work on the Cultural Strategy and that Members were keen for grassroots work to be in place in the district before setting the strategy. There had been a significant amount of work undertaken to improve the cultural offerings in the district, by building connections and partnerships in communities, and it was highlighted that the recruitment of cultural development officers to embed and continue the work in the district was important. The next steps would be to update the Cultural Strategy to reflect Member feedback, with a final review by the Leisure, Culture, Events and Tourism Group (LCET). The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was recommending for the Cultural Strategy to be re-included on the work plan for the Prosperous Communities Committee and for the Terms of Reference for LCET to be reviewed.

Members expressed the importance of continuing the Cultural Strategy work and enquired whether there was a timeframe for the next steps work that had been identified. The Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities shared that an update would be brought to the next meeting, subject to approval by the Committee.

Having been proposed and seconded, the Chairman took the vote, and it was unanimously

RESOLVED that

a)    the Cultural Strategy be included on the Prosperous Communities work plan for a future meeting; and

b)    the terms of reference for the Leisure, Culture, Events and Tourism Member Working Group be reviewed for approval by the Prosperous Communities Committee.