Agenda and minutes

To note the appointment of Councillor Jim Armstrong to the Committee.

Councillor Josh Cook – other council business

Councillor Sue Johnson – other council business

Councillor Gul Nawaz Khan – leave

Councillor Ginny Klein – personal

Councillor Jackie Morris – personal

Councillor Brian Parbutt – personal

Councillor Mohammed Saghir – personal

Councillor Marcia Watson - personal

None.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2017

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2017 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, updated the Committee on his red and amber Council Plan priorities, budget challenges, and successes. Councillor Trimble highlighted the following:

Red and amber Council Plan priorities

(a)  the only red Council Plan priority is on rejuvenating Nottingham Castle and developing the Castle Quarter as a major national heritage attraction. All other priorities are green;

(b)  further funding is required for the redevelopment of Nottingham Castle, although the majority has been secured. £6.1m is still required through the Nottingham Castle Trust and other sources;

(c)  tender prices for construction are due back in January and once these are available the project will have more certainty;

Budget challenges

(d)  the service charge for Victoria Market was increased in 2014 from £60,000 to £380,000 which was an increase of 600%. This was not all passed onto traders by the Council but the charges were increased by 15%;

(e)  other markets across the city are doing well and increasing, but markets generally are in decline due to the increase of convenience supermarkets and lack of interaction with younger people;

(f)  there has been a strong events programme over the past 3 years, funded by the Good to Great programme but this funding concludes in 2017/18. The Council aims to continue a strong events programme whilst seeking to deliver it in different ways and commercialise;

(g)  security and safety costs are a pressure in light of recent increased terrorist threats on streets and at event locations;

Successes

(h)  Nottingham is on target to become the fastest growing city for disability sports, with a 2% year on year increase in attendance by disabled users. All leisure centres are CredAble approved;

(i)  Nottingham has the highest number of Green Flag Award winning sites in the country, and this may increase as 37 sites are to be submitted for Green Flag awards in 2018;

(j)  14 play areas across the city have been refurbished to a high standard, against a target of 15 by 2018/19, with 2 more in progress;

(k)  there has been a strong programme of national, international and city-wide events this year, which have been very successful and attracted many visitors;

(l)  architects have been engaged to produce a new Central Library. This is currently at the feasibility stage, and will move to consultation soon. It is proposed that the library will be on one of two possible identified sites.

The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:

(m)although there is a shortfall in funding for the castle project, it is expected that the Trust and Council will be able to raise the amount required. Regional and national funds will be explored next year. Not all of the funding is required for work to begin;

(n)  80% of leisure centres nationally have been transferred to trusts but this is something that has been avoided in Nottingham to date. The leisure centres in Nottingham do very well and are highly respected, as they try to offer more than private centres would;

(o)  the Council is trying to protect libraries by including them in joint service centres. Some new libraries are opening and others have closed in a rationalisation programme;

(p)  a new markets manager has been recently appointed, and market traders are regularly consulted on issues and changes;

(q)  if targets are not met at for the castle project, the scheme will have to be financially re-engineered or re-tendered but will still proceed;

(r)  libraries and parks have a strong social benefit and it is important that the Council continues to support them despite funding cuts. Nottingham is fortunate as it owns facilities such as theatres which generate income;

(s)  the beer festival will be moving away from the castle during redevelopment, but the Castle Trust is keen for it to come back once the works have finished.

RESOLVED to thank Councillor Trimble for the information provided.

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Craig Lane, Head of Business Development and Commercial Innovation, gave a presentation on commercialisation at Nottingham City Council, highlighting the following:

(a)  being more commercial is important to:

·  reduce cuts to frontline services;

·  make sure of a fair salary for a fair day’s work for Nottingham City;

·  ensure quality of service for traded services;

·  have no pressure to reduce costs and pay dividends to shareholders;

·  keep children fed with at least one substantial meal a day at Nottingham City schools;

(b)  the four main options for commercialism are to outsource or commission services, go into a joint venture with a commercial partner, trade through a new company or commercially develop the Council’s existing services. It is important to carefully consider which of these options is most suitable as often commercially developing the Council’s own services delivers better value for money than outsourcing;

(c)  in order to commercially develop the Council’s services, the Business Development and Commercial Innovation Team will develop in-depth business reviews and create targeted action-plans. Every business unit has a 5 year growth plan with goals, to make sure that they are fit for the future;

(d)  a new Salesforce Customer Relation Management system has been developed which collates all customer information in one place, so that you can see who the most important customers are and to keep details up to date;

(e)  further options for commercial growth include bids for additional work, joint service reviews with other local authorities, opportunities through the Metro Strategy with Derby, new business acquisitions and mergers. Additional work will only be agreed if there is capacity to take it on and still undertake statutory duties;

The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:

(f)  with some services it is difficult to compete on price with the private sector so the Council must make sure that the quality of its service remains high;

(g)  rates of return on investments are critical, and a usual expectation is that a service will begin to make a profit after 2.5-3 years. Interest is factored into this;

(h)  people trust the Council’s name when using services and know that they will be reliable;

(i)  a marketing manager has been brought in from the private sector as traditional marketing skills in the Council are not geared towards commercialisation. The team now works well together, with a successful blend of skills;

(j)  Nottingham is seen nationally as a leader in the commercialisation agenda, but there is still more work to be done.

RESOLVED to thank Craig for the information provided.

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Laura Wilson, Senior Governance Officer, introduced the report concluding the review of how the Council’s waste services work together to combat fly-tipping in Nottingham.

RESOLVED that the Head of Waste Management, and Head of Street Scene and Grounds Maintenance

(1)  work with Area Committees to discuss individual ward needs/issues in regard to waste management, and ascertain how/if ward budgets could contribute to specific projects within the wards;

(2)  investigate possible ways of data sharing between all relevant services to ensure that issues are reported and dealt with;

(3)  provide a response to the recommendations at the March 2018 meeting of the Committee.

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Laura Wilson, Senior Governance Officer, introduced a report setting out the Committee’s work programme for 2017/18.

RESOLVED to note the report.

To agree to change the date of the next meeting from 3 January 2018 to 10 January 2018

RESOLVED to change the date of the next meeting from 3 January 2018 to 10 January 2018.