Issue - meetings

The Committee heard from the Director of Planning, Regeneration & Communities who presented the report seeking approval for the drawdown of the Cultural Reserve for activity required to deliver the Cultural Strategy and Action Plan. It was highlighted that the Cultural Strategy and Action Plan was approved by the Prosperous Communities Committee in April 2024, and the associated action plan identified that in year one the Council would seek to create a new role, the Cultural Development Manager. This would be a key role for the Council, seeking to recruit a highly skilled and experienced officer to provide strategic capacity to deliver the Cultural Strategy and support a range of activity to move the Council’s cultural work to the next stage.

Building on the delivery of events over recent years, and in order to continue to grow the sector as set out in the strategy, Members were provided with a summary of events and activities which were programmed for 2025 / 2026. The required budget for each event was set out within the report. It was explained that for each event further funding would also be sought and Council funding would only be used when essential to deliver a quality offering. It was anticipated that there was potential to secure further Arts Council England funding for Go Festival / Illuminate.

With regard to use of the Cultural Reserve, Members heard that the Cultural Reserve was established in 2022 when the Council embarked upon work to re-ignite its cultural provision and activity. The report under consideration sought approval for the drawdown and expenditure of the Cultural Reserve to support ongoing work to deliver the Cultural Strategy. The reserve would be used to fund the two-year fixed term Cultural Development Manager role, and to fund the events and activity programme for 2025 / 2026. Where possible this would be supplemented by securing external funding.

The Chairman invited comments from the Committee. There was considerable consternation that the paper appeared to detail a Gainsborough-centric approach, with the remainder of the district receiving little funding in comparison. Additionally, Members enquired as to other funding streams for events, such as local event organisers or Parish and Town Councils. The importance of locally-run events was highlighted, with Members stating it would not be sustainable to continue funding such events, requesting that the emphasis be on supporting local communities to run their own cultural offerings, rather than the Council funding it all. The was further concern regarding the use of the Cultural Reserve, with mention of the uncertainty regarding the Local Government Settlement and the limited opportunity to ‘repay’ any monies drawn down for the reserve. Members of the Committee questioned the lack of detail in relation to recommendation two of the report, and requested detailed costings for the list of events to be funded. The importance of supporting local communities was further stated, with a Member of the Committee suggesting that even if funding was not available from West Lindsey District Council for smaller, community-led, events, there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55