Agenda item

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 would still be a role for the Council to play in advertising and promoting those events to ensure their success, with an action requested that this be taken forward.

Note:              Councillor P. Key left the Chamber at 7.01pm and returned at 7.03pm

In response, Officers explained that the lack of district-wide focus within the paper was solely due to the events requiring funding being located in Gainsborough, and noted some of the other events which took place outside of the town, such as the Churches Festival and the Wolds Festival. Members were invited to review the calendar of events on the West Lindsey District Council website, with Officers acknowledging that there was scope for wider communication regarding how to advertise a local event through the District Council. With regard to the funding breakdown, the Committee was offered an additional paper to be presented at a future meeting which would provide a review of the events programme in 2024/25 and further budget information. This offer was welcomed by all.

Through the course of debate, Members were in agreement that they would not be able to support the second recommendation contained within the report, and furthermore, there was obvious need for additional information to be provided. Officers voiced concern regarding the risk to the continuation of the listed events should funding not be available, in particular, the Go Festival.

It was therefore proposed that recommendation two be amended to read:

“Committee approve the drawdown and expenditure of £25k from the Cultural Reserve to support the delivery of the go festival event 2025.”

The following additional recommendation was also proposed:

“That a review of events in 2024/25 is provided to Committee in December 2024 with a further consideration of reserve for events”

With both motions seconded, the Chairman sought agreement from the Committee that Members were content to vote on the amendment and additional recommendation together. Seeing no dissent, he took the vote and it was

            RESOLVED that

a)    recommendation two contained within the report be amended to read: Committee approve the drawdown and expenditure of £25k from the Cultural Reserve to support the delivery of the go festival event 2025; and

b)    an additional recommendation be included, that being: That a review of events in 2024/25 is provided to Committee in December 2024 with a further consideration of reserve for events.

With no further comments or questions, and with Members of the Committee indicating their contentment with the amended approach, the Chairman re-confirmed that all three recommendations had been duly moved and seconded, and so he took the vote. It was

            RESOLVED that

a)    the drawdown and expenditure of up to £109,300 from the Cultural Reserve to fund the Cultural Development Manager role on a fixed term basis for 2 years be approved; and

b)    the drawdown and expenditure of £25,000 from the Cultural Reserve to support the delivery of the Go Festival event 2025 be approved; and

c)    a review of events in 2024/25 be provided to Committee in December 2024, with a further consideration of reserve for events.