Agenda and minutes

To be notified of the appointment of any Substitute Members

There were no substitute members reported.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations reported.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2021.

Resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 September 2021 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

To provide an overview of proposals for consulting on a Cultural Strategy for the Borough and to outline the framework within which consultation will be undertaken.

The Sub-Committee received a report on the development of the Authority’s Cultural Strategy.

The Senior Manager, Cultural Services, presented an overview of the proposals for the Borough and outlined the framework within which consultation would be undertaken.

The four strategies which formed the basis of the Council’s cultural offer all conclude in 2021, these were:-

·         Great Art for North Tyneside - Arts Development Strategy 2014 -21

·         Visit North Tyneside - Tourism Strategy 2014-21

·         Past, Present and Future - Heritage Strategy 2014-21

·         Words, Wellbeing and Wifi – Library Strategy 2016-21

All four strategies had been successful in demonstrating, to both funders and professional bodies in the cultural sector, the Authority’s commitment to its cultural offer, as well as being a guide to the delivery of service plans and objectives for the periods of the respective strategies.  However, much had changed in the seven years since these strategies had been initiated and it was appropriate that they were individually and collectively reviewed, in the light of new developments and new challenges within the sector.

North Tyneside Council’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) had accepted the principle, endorsed by the Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Leisure, that the way forward in the period ahead should be to embrace a single strategy for the cultural sector.  SLT and the Cabinet Member were also of the view that, while the Council should take the initiative in providing a framework for the cultural offer, the active engagement of the private and voluntary sector would also be vital.  The strategy should be one for the Borough, not just the North Tyneside Council.

This approach was consistent with that of Arts Council England (ACE), as outlined in its ten-year strategy Let’s Create (2020-2030), which emphasised partnership working and the development of broad based cultural compacts in developing the cultural offer of an area.

ACE Chief Executive, Darren Henley states in his summary,

“…if we’re going to support the cultural sector to be fit for the future, we have to make sure that everyone, everywhere, benefits from it and can be part of it. If we fail at this, we won’t succeed at anything else.”

It was also consistent with the approach recommended by the Local Government Association, Cultural Strategy in a Box (March 2020), which notes:

“A cultural compact is a strategic cross sector partnership that is driven by a shared ambition for culture and place. This ambition links arts and culture with broader strategic plans for local social and economic development. These partnerships seek to bring together local authorities, businesses, education providers, cultural and community leaders, to co-design and consult upon a vision for the role of culture within a place and deliver against shared priorities.”

These priorities were consistent with the way in which the Authority had worked in practice over the period of the previous strategies, as engagement in broad partnerships such as the Culture Health and Wellbeing Network, Local Cultural Education Partnership, Libraries Connected and North East Tourism Alliance all illustrated.

The development of  ...  view the full minutes text for item C&L16/21

6pm on Wednesday 19 January 2022.