Agenda item

(To receive a report by Louise Egan, Library and Heritage Client Lead, which describes the initial work streams and timeframe for exploring potential future governance models for the Heritage Service following Executive approval on 4 October 2016 to assess and analyse these options)

Members were advised that the Council had been exploring ways of reducing the costs of its Heritage Service whilst improving and enhancing its public offer.  Consideration was given to a report which described the initial work streams and timeframe for exploring potential future governance models for the Heritage Service following Executive approval on 4 October 2016 to assess and analyse these options.  Officers requested the involvement of the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee in exploring potential future options.

It was reported that a whole service restructure had been completed, and this had affected every level of the Heritage Service.  This had been a very challenging and difficult restructure, but it was a very considered restructure, and now had the right staff in the right positions delivering the right priorities.

Members were advised that the Council would need to make the decision as to whether its preference was to keep control and build business, income and market or cede control of these assets but realise the immediate savings.  Officers expressed gratitude to the Council for allowing the time to form a considered opinion and not make a quick decision.

The Committee was provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         Concerns were raised by members as LCC had been hugely successful in how it had managed these assets.  There had also been an increased sense of public ownership towards some of the assets, e.g. Lincoln Castle.

·         Concerns were also raised that educational aspects of the Service were being lost at Gainsborough Old Hall for a more light touch approach.

·         It was queried whether discussions had been held with the City of Lincoln Council as many of the attractions were in Lincoln.  It was confirmed that this had taken place.

·         It was queried whether there was a steer towards outsourcing the Service, and members were advised that this was not the case, and this work would be about learning lessons from the past and bringing in the views of councillors and the public at the early stages.  The Executive Councillor for Culture and Emergency Services was very open minded about the future of the Heritage Service.

·         It was noted that there was a lot of complexity around the options and status and it was this that officers would want to explore further with members during the working group.  There was a lot of complexity at a lot of different levels for each of the options.

·         Officers were liaising with neighbouring authorities including Derby, Nottingham, Norfolk, York and Liverpool on different approaches.

·         Caution was expressed when looking at other authorities, as those which were not 'shire' counties would not have the same funding issues as Lincolnshire.

·         It was commented that the Castle, with the vault and the skills academy, was an example of what should be done in other areas and had put Lincolnshire on the map.  Whichever option was chosen would have to keep this mind and also be able to open up additional funding.

·         It was suggested that there was a need for the Council to be more commercially minded, and to maximise grants and access to private funding that could make the heritage service better than it already was.

·         There was a need to make use of the opportunities which were out there, and councillors would not want to see it diminish as a service if it remained in house.  Ideally, the Council needed to maximise opportunities whilst retaining control of the asset.

·         It was commented that there had been changes in legislation around commercialisation in relation to improving tourism and the economy.

·         In relation to Grantham Museum, which was run by a charitable trust, it was queried how archived stock would be protected.  Officers advised that there was a similar situation with Stamford Museum, where there was a need to look at what materials were there that could be better placed within the community.  Officers confirmed that the Council would continue to support Grantham Museum.

·         It was noted that benefactors and donors trusted the council, for example, being chosen to display the Domesday book as it not been out of the storage facility in London for decades, yet Lincoln was chosen.  Lincoln was the only place that was chosen to display it and it was likely that it would be only place to display it.

·         Following concerns from members, it was confirmed that there was no intention to remove the educational programme from Lincoln Castle, but it would be reviewed as it was felt that it was too Lincoln – centric.

·         It was queried whether there was a comprehensive list of all materials which had been archived on behalf of Stamford Town Council, and it was acknowledged that the collection was not 100% catalogued.  However, as the Archive Service was at 100% staffing, managers had re-prioritised staff to start work on conducting a three year programme to catalogue each item.  In the Lincolnshire Life Museum, there was a 100% record of the physical stock, but not the paper materials.  It was queried whether there was a risk management issue in terms of not having records of stock, but members were advised that officers knew where each item was and it was stored under lock and key.  It was also noted that there was a Collection Development Policy which set out the type of material that the Council would collect and keep.  Members were also advised that there were no plans to dispose of any stock at this stage in time.

RESOLVED

1.    That the initial work and timeframe of future actions included as part of the report be supported.

2.    That the formation of a Working Group to consider potential future options, bringing recommended options back to this Committee in October 2017 be approved.

3.    That the following members be part of the working group – Councillors B Adams, C J T H Brewis, Mrs  Brockway, A N Stokes and M A Whittington.