Issue - meetings

Report of the scrutiny working group (30 minutes)

The chair welcomed Councillor Duncan Smith to the meeting, and invited him to introduce the report as chairman of the working group.

Councillor Smith explained that the Cheltenham Festivals Joint Working Group (CFJWG) had been formed 18 months prior and members had included Councillors Smith and Hay (previously Rawson) from Social and Community and Councillors Barnes and Surgenor (previously Hutton) from Economy and Business Improvement, Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

He stressed the importance of Cheltenham Festivals to the town and that they are a valuable partner for the Council. The Festivals aim was to become a sustainable independent organisation which was less reliant on public funding.

The initial meetings of the group had focussed on the tender exercise for a new Box Office system at the Town Hall.  Despite considerable efforts from everybody involved, the Festivals had decided to purchase their own box office system with a potential financial loss to the council of £70,000 largely due to lost commission on ticket sales.  The Festivals had opted for a system which would provide a platform for their expansion in future years but was too expensive and offered far more facilities than the council needed.

Members had examined the three year business plan for the festivals and challenged various assumptions. They had concluded that the issues raised were answered satisfactorily and the plan was sustainable.  Cheltenham Festivals were confident that their projections were realistic. 

A number of key issues were identified that needed to be resolved urgently in order to allow progress (item 3.7 of the report).

The Chairman referred members to the six recommendations of the CFJWG, noting that recommendation 5 was put forward as a request from Cheltenham Festivals rather than a recommendation of the Working Group.  In response to a question about the likely impact on the business plan if the council funding was reduced earlier, he advised that the business plan was structured on the assumption that the Festivals would be in a position to access Arts Council funding and funding from other agencies in 2012.  For this to be achieved the Festivals would need to demonstrate a credible balance sheet and this is why the Festivals considered that the renewal of the council funding was critical at this stage.

Several members raised concerns that it was not acceptable to bind Cabinet to agreeing the funding outside of the budget debate.  In response the chairman of the working group advised that section 5.6 of the report circulated had since been amended to give clarity to this matter and would now read as follows:

 “Consequently the Review Group ask that Cabinet consider delaying any reduction to the grant until 2012 as part of the budget setting process, following a request by Cheltenham Festivals.”

A member asked for clarification on the legal status of Cheltenham Festivals. He also questioned why the Festivals were requesting an extension of their grant if the business plan was sustainable. Regarding the risk assessment he questioned why there was any risk for the council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7