Agenda and minutes

Any apologies for absence will be noted at this point.

To approve the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 20 September 2022.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2022 were agreed an accurate record.

The Chairman will announce any urgent items that due to special circumstances are to be dealt with under the agenda item below relating to late items.

There were no urgent items.

Members and officers are reminded to make any declarations of disclosable pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests they may have in respect of matters on the agenda for this meeting.

The Chairman declared an interest as a Friend of Chichester Festival Theatre and a trustee of Pallant House Gallery.

Cllr Sharp declared an interest as a member of West Sussex County Council and Chichester City Council.

Cllr Graves declared an interest as a Friend of Chichester Festival Theatre.

Cllr Bangert declared a prejudicial interest in relation to the Part 2 Agenda Item 14, paragraph 2.5. The Chairman advised therefore, when the item was discussed Cllr Bangert would not be able to participate in either the discussion or the vote. She also declared a personal interest as a member of the advisory board at Pallant House Gallery.

Cllr Moss declared a personal interest relating to the Part 2 Agenda Item 14 discussing the Future Services Framework.

The Chairman, in consultation with Mrs Rudziak, indicated she would take further advice from the Monitoring Officer regarding Cllr Moss’ declarations ahead of hearing the item noted above.

The Chairman will hear any public questions.

There were no public questions.

The Committee is requested to:

1.    Agree the Budget Task and Finish Group Terms of Reference

2.    Appoint members and a Chairman.

The Chairman invited Mrs Belenger to outline the Terms of Reference for the Budget Task and Finish group to be held on 5 January 2023, a report from which will be brought back to this Committee at the meeting to be held on 17 January 2023.

Members were asked to nominate three members of the Committee to sit on the Task and Finish Group.

RESOLVED

1.    In a vote, it was agreed that Cllrs Bangert, Graves and Purnell would attend the Task and Finish Group as representatives of the Committee.

2.    The Committee unanimously agreed the Terms of Reference.

Recommendation

The Committee is requested to:

1.    Receive the 2021/2022 annual report from Pallant House Gallery and assess performance in line with the monitoring framework.

Ahead of Item 7 the Monitoring Officer advised the Committee, in relation to Cllr Moss’ earlier declaration of interest, that as a personal interest the only requirement on Members was to identify it to the Committee. He confirmed that Cllr Moss, having done so, may participate in the relevant discussion and vote.

The Chairman welcomed Simon Martin, from Pallant House Gallery (PHG), and Mrs Peyman, and invited her to introduce the report.

Mrs Peyman advised that following review of PHG’s annual report, that it had achieved all the activities identified within the monitoring framework. She added no concerns had been raised following a Council review of the gallery’s finances.

Mrs Peyman invited Simon Martin to provide further details for the Committee of PHG’s activities over the last year.

Mr Martin thanked the Council for the continued funding and support provided, especially in light of the disappoint news that PHG would not receive further Arts Council funding. He further highlighted some of the ongoing difficulties faced by the gallery associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Martin presented a slide show for the Committee detailing some of the exhibitions and work carried out in the past year. Giving particular mention to the valuable work done in collaboration with organisations including MIND and Stonepillow.

The Chairman thanked Mr Martin and congratulated him on his achievements.

RESOLVED

The Committee noted that 2021/2022 annual report from Pallant House Gallery and its performance in line with the monitoring framework.

Recommendation

The Committee is requested to:

1.    To receive the 2021/22 annual report from Chichester Festival Theatre and assess performance in line with the monitoring framework.

The Chairman welcomed Kathy Bourne and Daniel Evans form Chichester Festival Theatre (CFT). She expressed her regret that Mr Evans would soon be leaving CFT and expressed her congratulations on his new appointment.

Mrs Peyman introduced the report, noting that CFT were working very hard to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic, noting also that no concerns had been raised following a review of CFT’s accounts.

Ms Bourne and Mr Evans highlighted to the Committee some key activities carried out by CFT in the past year, noting ongoing challenges which had resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Particular attention was given to the some of the community work carried out by CFT in particular the hiring of a new creative therapist for young people, aiming to help in alleviating mental health struggles.

It was reported that the Youth Theatre now has 898 children registered.

Referencing CFT’s green agenda, the Committee was informed that CFT have planted 25 new trees in Oaklands Park to offset their carbon footprint. It was also highlighted during the meeting that a fleet of bicycles was made available when actors are staying locally to encourage greener modes of transport around the City.

Responding to a question from the Chairman, Ms Bourne advised that students do have to pay to be part of the Youth Theatre, but that CFT are offering more bursaries than ever before.

Members raised concerns that the outreach regarding the Youth Theatre should reach beyond schools such as Bishop Luffa.

Members also offered their thanks to CFT for participating in the ‘warm spaces’ scheme, allowing members of the public to use the entrance foyer during the day in Winter.

Mr Evans raised a very serious issue relating to incidents of racism experienced by actors visiting CFT. Members expressed their horror and sorrow at hearing this.

Mrs Bushby advised that CFT staff could emphasise the importance of reporting these incidents to the Police as hate crimes, acknowledging that it sadly reflected a rise in racially motivated hate crime.

(Cllr Johnson arrived at 3.11pm)

The Chairman expressed her deep sadness at this situation, explaining that education is the secret to dealing with such unfortunate racism.

Mr Bennet explained that there is new guidance on civility and respect from Central Government. He assured Ms Bourne and Mr Evans that CDC will always call out bullying and hate crimes.

The Chairman expressed on behalf of the Committee that such issues must never be ignored, and that the Council would be committed to looking into this further.

Concluding, the Chairman congratulated Ms Bourne and Mr Evans on their achievements at CFT and thanked them for attending.

RESOLVED

The Committee noted the 2021/22 annual report from Chichester Festival Theatre and its performance in line with the monitoring framework.

Recommendation

The Committee is requested to:

1.    Note the update relating to Chichester Business Improvement District (BID).

Recommendation:

1.    The Committee is requested to note this report from the Corporate Plan Task and Finish Group and to confirm that it is satisfied that the Council is achieving satisfactory levels of performance against the targets and activities in the 2022/23 Corporate Plan mid-year progress report.

The Chairman invited Cllr Purnell to present the report from the Corporate Plan Task and Finish Group.

Cllr Purnell highlighted the key outcomes from the group, and thanked officers for their work.

There was some discussion regarding the Council’s Climate targets.

Recommendation:

In a vote, with 2 abstentions from Cllrs Moss and Sharp, the Committee:

Noted the report from the Corporate Plan Task and Finish Group and confirmed it is satisfied that the Council is achieving satisfactory levels of performance against the targets and activities in 2022/23 Corporate Plan mid-year report.

Members are requested to review the updated Work Programme and make any comments.

RESOLVED

Members reviewed the updated Work Programme.

Consideration of any late items as follows:

a)    Items added to the agenda papers and made available for public inspection.

b)    Items which the Chairman has agreed should be taken as matters of urgency by reason of special circumstances reported at the meeting.

There were no late items.

The Committee is asked to consider in respect of the following item whether the public, including the press, should be excluded from the meeting on the grounds of exemption under Parts I to 7 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as indicated against the item and because, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption of that information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The reports dealt with under this part of the agenda are attached for members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and senior officers only (salmon paper).

Cllr Apel proposed the Part II resolution in relation to Item 14, the Future Services Framework Report.  This was seconded by Cllr Purnell.

 In a vote the following resolution was agreed: That in respect of Agenda Item 14 that the public including the press should be excluded from the meeting on the grounds of exemption in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 namely paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)) and because in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption of that information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Recommendation:

1.    The Committee is requested to consider this part 2 report and its appendices and make the recommendations as set out within sections 2.1 to 2.9 of the report.

Mr Buckley presented the part 2 Future Services Framework Report.

Members held a discussion and the Chairman thanked Mr Buckley for his report and attendance.

RESOLVED:

The Committee agreed Recommendations 2.1, 2.7 and 2.9 as stated in the report.

The Committee agreed Recommendations 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 and 2.8 as amended.