Portsmouth City Borough Council Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Economic Development Meeting

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The report was introduced by Susan Ward, Curator of Art.

DECISIONS:

The Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Economic Development approved:

1. The Documentation Policy.

2. The Collection Care and Conservation Policy.

The report was introduced by James Daly, Cultural Development and Projects Officer.

The Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Economic Development agreed:

1. For the Metal Detecting Policy to be adopted.

2. For responsibility to be delegated to Culture, Leisure and Regulatory Services to consider applications to metal detect on Portsmouth City Council Land.

The report was introduced by Claire Looney, Partnership & Commissioning Manager. 

Councillor Pitt said that cultural venues have to promote shows to generate ticket sales months in advance and there were still many uncertainties around what the Government advice will be in terms social distancing, which would affect capacity of venues.  Most venues run on very tight margins and rely on every ticket being sold to generate an income for their organisations, so this would not be straightforward.  He also thanked Councillor Stephen Morgan for his lobbying to central government. The administration had also raised this through the Local Government Association. 

Councillor Morgan emphasised the importance of the core funding from the local authority to help with leverage for those organisations as this was vital.  He would continue lobbying for culture to aid with the cities recovery.

Councillor Pitt added that the city council had allocated £5k to the Groundlings Theatre towards assisting them to re-open.  He would continue to monitor this and a representative from the council attends the trustee board meetings and reports back.  Councillor Pitt had also met with their Chief Executive last week to assure them that there was support from the Council if needed.

It was noted that this was the second year that these grants have been frozen and not reduced which was very important for their stability.

DECISIONS:

The Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Economic Development:

Proposed the details of the funding levels for the Revenue Grants for 2021-2022 and outlined a different payment scheduled in order to reflect on the way in which the current pandemic circumstances are affecting cultural organisations.

The report was introduced by Claire Looney, Partnership & Commissioning Manager who explained that the Water Safety Forum are expecting an equally busy summer on the water again this year.  A meeting was held yesterday with the police to look at how to address this, which would feed into a Water Safety Forum meeting later this month.

Councillor Jonas said it was good to observe that the city council have taken a keen interest in maintaining the public safety devices.  

Councillor Morgan wanted to pay tribute to the RNLI volunteers and said that this work is more important than ever in a time where there is much more activity on the water.

Councillor Pitt advised Claire for the next Water Safety Forum that he had received some recent reports of jet ski activity at Eastney beach which was an ongoing issue.  Concerns were raised that this was not exercise or an essential journey and he would expect the support from the Langstone Harbour Master and Water Police. Claire said she would take that to the next meeting.  

The Cabinet Member noted the report.

The report was introduced by David Evans, Leisure and Sports Facilities Manager. 

Councillor Pitt gave his thanks to all the officers involved in this project.  He also thanked the Southern Co-operative who helped with the internal fit out.  He wished good luck to the team at St Philips Church who are helping to run this project.

The opposition spokespeople commended the project and hoped that this could be spread out to other areas of the city.  They looked forward to be able to visit soon.

Thanks were given to all people supporting food distribution across the city during the pandemic.  

The Cabinet Member noted the report.