Agenda and minutes

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda notes.

There wereno declarationsof interest.

To declare if any issues to be covered in the Agenda are under party whip.

There wereno declarationsof partywhipping.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th January 2022.

RESOLVED- Thatthe minutesof themeeting heldon 10thJanuary 2022were approvedand signedas acorrect record by the Chair.

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

·       Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings or

·       Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers.

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 26^th January 2022 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

There wereno publicquestions.

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

·       Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·       Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

To present a petition or deputation at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 26^th January 2022 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

There wereno petitionsand deputations.

To note the outcomes of action points arising from previous meetings.

RESOLVED– Thatthe Overviewand ScrutinyCommittee NOTEtheupdates.

To receive the latest version of the Committee’s work programme and the Council’s Forward Plan.

95.1    The Chair introduced the latest version of the Council Forward Plan andinvited suggestions as to any items Members wanted to add to the Overviewand Scrutiny Committee Work Programme.

95.2    It was agreed that the Cultural Strategy Update would be addedto the agenda for the meeting on 28th February 2022. Due to adjustments to the review timetable, it was explained that Members would receive a writtenupdate on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Review New ChargingSchedule to note for information.

95.3    The Chair explained that following a request from a Member, a CommunitySafety meeting had been added to the Work Programme for the meeting on4th July 2022, and that a range of organisations from the Community SafetyPartnership wouldbe invitedto attend.

93.4    Councillor Hiltonrequested anupdate onarrangements forthe scrutinysession on Gloucestershire Airport. The Democratic and Electoral ServicesOfficer confirmed that contact had been made with theChairman of the Airport and that this session would take place either on 28th March or 25th April2022, dependingon Director availability.

93.5    In response to a request from Councillor Gravellsfor an update on the Gloucester Commission to Review Race Relations report and resulting Callsto Action, it was agreed that enquiries would be made with the relevantofficers.

          RESOLVED –

1)    That the Overviewand ScrutinyWork Programmebe amendedto reflectthe above and

2)    To NOTEthe Work Programme.

To consider options and identify an area for investigation with a view to forming a Task and Finish Group.

96.1    The Chair referred to the discussion during the previous meeting of theOverview andScrutiny Committeeand explainedthat Taskand FinishGroups provided an opportunity for Members to consider a specific problemand make recommendations to Cabinet. He confirmed that Task and FinishGroup enquiriesshould befocused witha narrowtime scaleand referred Members to the list of suggestions outlined in Agenda Item 9, which had been put forward at the previous meeting.

96.2    The Chair also confirmed that a motion had recently been approved by theCouncil to look to establish a Task and Finish Group to consider how theCouncil consults and engages with young people. He noted that Task andFinish Groups could include any Members other than those with Cabinetpositions, andthat theywere notrestricted toOverview andScrutiny Members.

96.3    Councillor Pullen and Councillor Wilson confirmed that they felt that a Taskand Finish Groupfocusing on youngpeople wasa priority.

96.4    Councillor Gravells referred to the suggestion of forming a Task and FinishGroup to review how young people from racially minoritized backgroundsliving in Gloucester were being encouraged to apply for university, and noted hissupport for this suggestion.

96.5    Councillor Durdey noted that the motion approved by full Council had abroader scope and suggested that Councillor Gravells’ idea could be treatedas a separate enquiry. It was pointed out that the Overview and ScrutinyCommittee had the option to establish a Task and Finish Group during thatmeeting, witha view offorming another in6 months’ time.

96.6    Councillor Sawyer expressed the view that engagement with young peopleand issues experiencedby people fromracially minoritized backgroundsshould be priorities for the Council and queried whether it would be possibleto establishtwo Taskand FinishGroups runningconsecutively. Itwas explained that due to the focused and time-limited nature of Task and FinishGroups, it would be difficult to get the most out of two separate consecutivegroups dueto resources and officer time.

96.7    It was agreed that theOverview and ScrutinyCommittee wouldopt for a Task and Finish Group focusing on how the Council engages with youngpeople. The Committee also agreed to look to establish a further Task andFinish Group in 6 months’ time considering how young people from raciallyminoritized backgrounds living in Gloucester were being encouraged to apply   for university.

          RESOLVED –

1)    That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee establish a Task and Finish Group to consider how the Council engages with young people.

To consider the report of the Leader of the Council outlining the findings of the project to review monuments in the City of Gloucester and identify connections with the Trans-Atlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans.

97.1    The Leader of the Council introduced the report and explained thatthe review was one of three resolutions from a Council motion passed in 2020,and tied in with the work of the Gloucester Commission to Review RaceRelations. He explained that the overall purpose of the report was to explainthe rationalebehind therecommendations ofthe monumentsreview which wereoutlined inAppendix A.  The Leaderof theCouncil confirmedthat Cabinet was being asked to agree the recommendations of the monumentsreview.

97.2    The Leader of the Council noted that the results of the monuments reviewwere set out in section 9 of the main report at Appendix B. He confirmed thatsome of the general recommendations from the review included the creationof a display in the Museum of Gloucester sharing the history of the City andobjects connected to the Transatlantic slave trade, the encouragement ofeducational projects to improve public understanding and for the Council toencourage partner organisations to identify contested heritage assets. TheLeader of the Council also referred to the specific recommendations whichwere discussed infurther detailin section 9of themain report.

97.3    It was confirmed that an estimated total budget of £30k to £40k would beneeded to implement the recommendations over a 3 year timescale, and thatchanges wouldlikely dependon thewillingness oforganisations withownership of those statues and monuments to agree to the changes. TheLeader of the Council paid tribute to the City Archaeologist for his work inundertaking thereview andfor whathe feltwas afantastic andcomprehensive report.

97.4    The Chair commented that the review was very exhaustive and that he hadlearnt a great deal from reading the report. He noted his interest in the statueof Queen Anne in Spa Fields Sports Ground and the Charles II statue in StMary’s Square, and asked for clarification on what the future plans were forthese statues. The Leader of the Council confirmed that both Queen Anneand Charles II were considered to be national figures and neither had adirect link to Gloucester. The Leader of the Council further noted that it wasmade clear in the report that moving these statues would cost the Council aconsiderable amount of money, and he therefore anticipated these statuesremaining intheir respective locations.

97.5    The Chair referred tothe narrativein thereport at9.35 and9.85, andhighlighted that Bathurst Road and Gladstone Road were in Moreland ratherthan Podsmead. It was agreed that these locations would be checked, andthe report amended accordingly.

97.6    Councillor Pullen expressed the view that the report was fascinating andwelcomed theengagement withpartner organisations,particularly theUniversity of Gloucestershireand the GloucesterCommission to ReviewRace Relations.Councillor Pullennoted hisagreement withthe recommendations and the courses of action, and expressed the view thatpublic consultation was important.

97.7    Councillor Pullen referredto the narrative at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure seeking approval for the 2022-23 Festivals and Events Programme.

98.1    The Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure introduced the report and notedthat despitethe challengesposed bythe Covid-19pandemic, manysuccessful events had taken place throughout 2021. He noted that examplesof these were set out in Appendix A and included Frank Turner concerts, theRooftop festival,Kings Jam,Gloucester GoesRetro, GloucesterHistory Festivaland Globoscope.

98.2    The Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure paid tribute to the Head ofCulture and his team and noted that there was a large programme of eventsscheduled for2022, includingthe reopeningof KingsSquare andsubsequent eventscalendar, included at3.9.2 inthe report.

98.3    The Chair asked for clarification on the insurance situation, given that manyevents throughout 2020 and 2021 had to be cancelleddue to Covid-19 restrictions. He queried whether it was now more difficult for organisers tosecure insurance.The Headof Cultureconfirmed thatthis hadbeen achallenge fororganisers throughoutthe pandemichowever followinglobbying of central Government, there was now a specific insurance schemein placewhich hefelt shouldmake apositive differenceto the sector.

98.4    Councillor Wilson referred to the narrative at 3.8 confirming that the previouscarnival artspartnership hadnot appliedfor fundingfor GloucesterCarnival in2022 andasked whetherthere wasa concernthat thecarnival wascoming to an end. The Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure confirmedthat there were some challenges posed by health and safety requirementsduring thepandemic butnoted thatthere wereproposals beingdeveloped fora different approach in thefuture.

98.5    Councillor Pullen referred to the draft calendar of events at 3.9.2 in the reportand notedthat theKings Squaredevelopment wasshortly dueto becompleted. Heasked whether theCabinet Memberintended torelocate some events which traditionally take place in The Docks into Kings Square.The CabinetMember forCulture andLeisure notedthat itwas nothis intention to encourage the relocation of events from The Docks but hopedthat the events taking place across the city would complementeach other. He confirmed his hope that the events team would receive recommendationsfrom the public as to how they wanted to use the Kings Square space, notingthat he waskeen to engage with young people in particular.

98.6    Councillor Organ commented that he would like the city to continue to bepromoted as a tourist destination. He expressed the view that the KingsSquare development would provide a good opportunity to link different areasof the city together and that it was important for Members to raise awarenessof events taking place in the city. The Cabinet Member for Culture andLeisure commentedthat theRetro Festivalwas aprime exampleof asuccessful city-wide eventand thatthe infrastructure was alreadyin place.

98.7    Councillor Hilton noted that he was pleased to see the Council using localcontractors for the development of Kings Square. Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 98.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure updating Members on the progress that has been made in achieving the Growing Gloucester’s Visitor Economy Action Plan during 2021 and presenting the Tourism and Marketing Plan 2022.

99.1    The CabinetMember forCulture andLeisure introducedthe reportand thanked the Tourism and Destination Marketing Team for their hard work. Heconfirmed thatthe teamcurrently consistedof just4 officersand commendedthem fortheir workin promotingGloucester asa touristdestination on the Visit Gloucester website, which he noted had seen a 5.6%increase from2019 inonline visitors.The CabinetMember forCulture and Leisure confirmedthat the team had been made permanentemployees ofthe Counciland expressedthe viewthat theyhad madeconsiderable achievementsin a short period oftime.

99.2    The Chair commented that the report was very detailed and that he wasparticularly impressed with the timescales. He expressed the view that theTourism and Destination Marketing Team seemed to work efficiently and thathe waspleased tosee regular content on thewebsite.

99.3    Councillor Hiltonexpressed theview thatthe reportwas excellent.He referred to previous difficulties with Marketing Gloucester and noted his viewthat itwas rightfor theCouncil tobring theservice backin-house. Hereferred to the target audiences of the Nordic market, North American andCanadian travellers outlined in Appendix 3, and asked whether thought hadbeen givento encouragingvisitors fromother Europeancountries. TheCabinet Memberfor Cultureand Leisureconfirmed thatthe Covid-19international travel restrictions had posed a challenge for European visitorsbut notedthat theGloucester Cajunand ZydecoFestival includedperformances fromDutch and Germanartists.

99.4    In response to a further query from Councillor Hilton as to whether there wasan expectation that the position would change as the city emerged from thepandemic, the Head of Culture confirmed that the target audiences had beenselected in response to how the market was recovering and that the Nordicmarket in particular had been singled out as an area of growth. He confirmedthat this was not at the exclusion of other countries but as the Tourism andDestination Marketing Team were a small team, there was a need to focustheir resources.

99.5    In response to a query from Councillor Hilton concerning the statement in thenarrative at 3.9 that the Council would not work with certain publications, theCabinet Member for Culture and Leisure confirmed that this was an error and thestatement wouldbe removedfrom thereport aheadof itbeing consideredby Cabinet.

99.6    In response to comments from Councillor Hilton regarding online tourismpromotion, the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure noted that he wasmindful that some residents, such as the older generations, still relied onnewspapers but confirmed that the pandemic had changed the way manypeople accessedtheir local news.

99.7    Councillor Pullen referred to the narrative in Appendix 3 concerning targetaudiences and requested clarification on whether this included students. TheCabinet Member for Culture and Leisure confirmed that students and peopleunder 25 were included in the target audience. In response to a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99.

Monday 28^th February 2022.

Monday28thFebruary 2022 at 6.30pm.