Agenda and minutes

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To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2024

Confirmation of the Minutes of the meetings held on 4 December 2024 was deferred, pending the clarification of a query raised in relation to item 31 (Shape the Vision - Consultation on Library Service Budget Proposals).

Report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer

Councillor Corall Jenkins, Executive Member for Communities, Waste and Equality; Councillor Sam Lux, Executive Member for Carbon Reduction, Leisure and Culture; Colin Parr, Corporate Director for Communities, Environment and Resident Services; Mary Lester, Strategic Director of Resident Services; and Colin Wilderspin, Strategic Director of Communities, presented a report on the potential impacts of the savings proposed within the Communities, Environment and Residents Services (CERS) directorate as part of the Council’s upcoming 2025/26 budget. The following points were raised:

a)  Five proposals totalling £1.685 million have been put forward within the CRES directorate that do not form part of the wider 2025/26 Council Budget proposals currently under public consultation: a redesign of the Sport and Leisure Service; a revised management model for the Museums and Galleries Service; efficiencies at the Theatre Royal Concert Hall; a reduced subsidy for the commissioned events programme; and managing Government-funded programmes focused on sustainability and reducing carbon emissions. The potential outcomes of these proposals for service users have been reviewed to seek to ensure that the impacts are as limited as possible, risk assessments have been carried out and Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) have been produced where required.

b)  In the area of Sports and Leisure, savings of £500,000 will be achieved over the next two years through the deletion of posts that have been vacant for the last year and an associated Service re-design. Engagement is taking place with staff at all levels to ensure that the right capacity will be in place for the effective operation of the Council’s leisure centres. Currently vacant posts will also be deleted at the Theatre Royal Concert Hall, along with a restructuring of the ‘front of house’ service. An optional ticket insurance product will be introduced to enable ticket cancellation refunds beyond the basic context of the current terms and conditions, which is standard across the wider sector. This will create an overall saving of £93,000 next year.

c)  A revised management model will be implemented for the Museums Service, with the establishment of a charitable development trust and an exhibitions company to run exhibit events more efficiently, to achieve savings of £800,000 over two years. The charitable trust model is used by many other Local Authorities as it enables access to a wider range of funding opportunities and has the ability to deliver major grant-supported projects. However, all elements of the management of the Service will remain fully within the Council, with no changes to staffing required. A charge will be introduced for admission to the Wollaton Hall museum (but not for the wider grounds) and benchmarking is being carried out to set a ticket price that is commercially viable, while also ensuring that the museum remains as accessible as possible to Nottingham people. All possible options are being explored to maximise income generation within the Museums estate, to ensure that it is kept in good repair and reduce the level of subsidy required.

d)  In terms of Events and Tourism, there will be a reduced subsidy for the commissioned events programme, with funding refocused towards the delivery of cost-neutral or commercial events, achieving savings of £85,000. As a result, the Council’s Bonfire Night event will stop, as there are other alternative events available in the city. The Riverside Festival will continue on the basis of it being a cost-neutral event to hold. An EIA has been produced in relation to these proposals and is available online.

e)  As the Government has announced significant long-term funding over a three-to-five-year period for the Midlands Net Zero Hub, and there continues to be a strong appetite in the region for the Council to continue to lead on delivering the access to this funding, the Council’s management fee should increase to fully cover its administration costs, resulting in a saving of £200,000.

The Committee raised the following points in discussion:

f)  The Committee asked how best value would be delivered in relation to the operation of Nottingham Castle. It was reported that a holistic business plan is being developed to support the Council’s in-house operation of the castle site, which is generating an income for the Council, that will consider how the opportunities for commercialisation can be maximised – including through making best use of the current café facilities. The establishment of a charitable trust within the Council’s direct control will enable many more sources of funding to be pursued, and the current repair and maintenance liabilities of all of the Council’s cultural assets will be taken into account as part of planning for a sustainable future Museums Service.

g)  The Committee queried how income from the current car parking charge at Wollaton Hall was used for investment in the site.

h)  The Committee asked how the Midlands Net Zero Hub would be managed sustainably in the long-term. It was set out that the Hub is performing well, with its administration and operation being strongly resourced within the Council so that its expansion can be managed effectively. The Council’s management fee represents 10% of the Hub’s operating costs, which is calculated on the basis of a national formula. However, as the national funding for the Hub is now increasing, this will result in growth in the management fee received from 2025/26.

i)  The Committee asked how it was being ensured that the Council’s sports and leisure centres were competitive within the wider commercial market. It was explained that the Council’s sports and leisure centres are performing effectively and generating a surplus for wider investment, as membership numbers are strong and members feel that they are receiving good value for money. However, the Council’s facilities are often smaller in terms of size than those in the wider market, so a review of operations is currently underway to identify further development opportunities for the future, including the establishment of more café facilities and the maximisation of opening hours. The Council’s sports and leisure offer is competitive within the context of the wider market and effective contracts are in place for the regular renewal of equipment, but there is still scope to grow commercial activity further.

j)  The Committee asked how best value was being achieved though ticket sales at the Theatre Royal, while ensuring that it remained fully assessable to Nottingham residents. It was explained that information is collected on where people travel from to visit the Theatre Royal. These details can be used to identify areas of the city where patronage of the theatre is low, so offers can be targeted to those communities. A great deal of work is being carried out around how Nottingham people are engaged and involved in the life of the Theatre Royal.

k)  The Committee asked why EIAs had not been produced in relation to the restructuring of staff roles due to the deletion of vacant posts. It was reported that the EIAs produced to date related to the likely impact of the current income and savings proposals on service users. EIAs in relation to restructuring impacts on staff will be produced as part of a following Human Resources process.

l)  The Committee asked how best value was being achieved through the delivery of events in the city with commercial partners. It was set out that the Council’s Events team is able to deliver a great deal in relation to the relatively small amount of funding available. However, the team’s current size means that it can be difficult to devote sustained capacity to pursuing opportunities with commercial partners. However, development work is underway to ensure that the Council’s approach to events is as commercially-minded as possible. The use of commercial partners to deliver events does result in an income for the Council – but also adds value in protecting the Council from certain financial risks associated with delivering an event directly. Work is being started on how the Council can seek to develop a suitably competitive market amongst suppliers of commercial events within the city.

m)  The Committee asked how the Council was making use of sponsorship to support the delivery of its events. It was reported that sponsorship opportunities are being pursued wherever possible, including with the local universities and the wider private sector, to deliver events that are cost-neutral to the Council. A great deal of the current work has focused around achieving savings within the Council at a minimum impact to service users but, once these have been delivered, the focus will move to developing commercialised activity. However, a strong level of staff capacity is required to establish effective sponsorship and commercial partnerships, so planning in this area will need to begin following the completion of the current budget development process.

n)  The Committee asked how the Council’s commissioning processes ensured the negotiation of best-value contracts with commercial events providers. It was set out that current savings need to be supported by a reduction in direct commissioning activity. Nevertheless, the Council holds a number of important events venues and all options are being considered for the delivery of events with commercial partners in the future.

o)  The Committee considered that there was a strong need for the Council to generate an income from commercial events, but that this must be balanced against the level of control that it maintains with providers to ensure that events are nevertheless socially inclusive and affordable for Nottingham people to attend.

The Chair thanked the Executive Member for Communities, Waste and Equality, the Executive Member for Carbon Reduction, Leisure and Culture, the Corporate Director for Communities, Environment and Resident Services, the Strategic Director of Resident Services and the Strategic Director of Communities for attending the meeting to present the report and answer the Committee’s questions.

Resolved:

1)  To recommend that:

a.  To create a plan assessing the potential for further commercial activity to maximise the future commercial income generating opportunities across the Council’s existing sports, leisure and cultural assets

b.  That the Council does everything possible to collect appropriate attendance data for the Theatre Royal, to ensure that effective targeted discounts can be offered to City communities as part of ensuring good accessibility to local people

2)  To request clarity around whether the parking fees at Wollaton Hall are ringfence for maintenance at the site;

3)  To request feedback on how the Council is working jointly across directorates to pool resources around a commercial approach;

4)  Include for consideration on the Work Programme an item considering how to maximise commercialisation of events whilst maintaining affordability for Nottingham City residents

Report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer

The Chair presented the Committee’s current Work Programme for the 2024/25 municipal year. The following points were raised:

a)  The Committee discussed whether the business for is March meeting should be amended to consider an item on the proposed delivery of future public events in the city, rather than the currently scheduled item on the Prevent Agenda. The Committee also considered that it should return to the Council’s delivery of Carbon Neutral 2028 as part of its upcoming 2025/26 work programme.

The Committee noted the Work Programme.