Agenda item

Report of the scrutiny task group from Councillor John Payne with a covering report prepared by the Democratic Services Manager

Councillor Payne, a member of the task group, introduced the report.  The issue had been raised by the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles and the committee had decided that a one-off workshop with representatives from O&S and the members of the Public Art Panel should be arranged.  The workshop gave everyone that attended a feel for how it worked and the recommendations provided a framework for how it should work moving forward.

At this stage, Councillor Sudbury declared an interest, as she was a newly elected member of the Public Art Panel, though she noted that she had not yet attended any meetings.

The following responses were given to questions from members of the committee;

·         The £6k figure for refreshing the Public Art Strategy was an estimate based on discussions with two individuals who had previously drafted a Public Art Strategy.  Previous Legal advice was that no sums could be top sliced from the 106 monies to support strategy development, but consideration was being given to whether this could be done in the future if included  within the 106 agreement with the developer.

·         In the past, decisions had been captured within the minutes of meetings of the panel, but these were only available on the intranet and not visible to the public.  This process would be formalised as part of the officer/member decision process.

·         The members’ fortnightly briefing would be used to publicise achievements by the panel and an annual report/update could be produced for the committee if it so wished.

·         The ToR would be amended to clearly demonstrate that the panel received public art funding from the 106 monies, rather than, as it currently suggested by the existing wording, all 106 monies.

·         The panel were aware that project management was important and whilst this had been weak in the past, there had been improvements.  The word ‘evolve’ related to the piece of art itself, rather than the project, as until an artist was appointed, there was an element of uncertainty as to what the piece of art would actually be.  

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles was pleased with the recommendations of the group, which had addressed her concerns by providing transparency to the process, where previously there was none.  She was grateful to officers and members and commended the work of the panel.   

The Chairman thanked the group and officers for their work on bringing the report together. 

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that the recommendations set out in the Scrutiny task Group Report be endorsed and it be recommended to Cabinet that;

      i.        The achievements of the Public Art Panel to date in support of Public Art in the borough be commended.

    ii.        The revised terms of reference for the Public Art Panel as set out in the Appendix be approved for adoption by the Public Art Panel at their next meeting and that the revised terms be communicated to the organisations represented on the Public Art Panel. 

   iii.        A representative from the Cheltenham Trust be invited to the Public Art Panel and if accepted, the membership of the Public Art Panel be extended accordingly. 

   iv.        The non-councillor members of the Public Art Panel be formally appointed at the next meeting of the Public Art Panel and a review date set for 3 years (2018).

    v.        A sum not exceeding £6000 be allocated to enable the Director of Environmental and Regulatory to carry out a refresh of the Public Art Strategy.

   vi.        The Public Art Panel be consultees on the Community Infrastructure Levy project.

 vii.        The project management process for Public Art be reviewed by officers with the council’s business development team. 

viii.        Officers supporting the Public Art Panel work with Democratic Services and One Legal to agree when and by whom decisions are being taken and which decisions should eb published as part of the democratic process.

   ix.        The Townscape Manager use the Members Briefings following Public Art Panel meetings to provide an update to all Councillors and make minutes of the Public Art Panel available on the intranet subject to any confidentiality and produce an annual report on behalf of the panel.