Agenda item

(To receive an update report from William Mason, Head of Culture and Nicole Hilton, Assistant Director – Communities, on the actions undertaken in regard to the recommendations relating to the future of the Council's heritage service approved by the Executive on 3 September 2019)

The Committee considered an update report from the Head of Culture, on the actions undertaken in regard to the recommendations relating to the future of the Council's heritage service approved by the Executive on 3 September 2019.

The Head of Culture updated the Committee since the last meeting on the arrangements following the termination of the lease of Gainsborough Old Hall and the return of the Hall back to English Heritage. He reminded the Committee that the majority of English Heritage staff had been furloughed due to Covid-19 and discussions on an operational plan had therefore been impacted by this. The handover would take place in the next week and English Heritage had confirmed that they would retain the majority of the loan collections, set dressings and infrastructure and so the Council would not be handing over an empty Hall. English Heritage had recently notified Lincolnshire County Council that the Old Hall was unlikely to open before the summer of 2021 at the earliest.

The impact of Covid-19 on culture and tourism across the country had been significant, however the report demonstrated how the Cultural Services had maintained engagement with audiences and local communities and had provided safe and enjoyable spaces for communities and tourists to return. This had resulted in post lockdown visits significantly higher than the national average. Progress towards a sustainable commercial model was illustrated, including hosting the two most popular blockbuster exhibitions in LCC history whilst generating 70% of service costs compared to a national average for local authority run heritage Services of 30%.

The report highlighted that despite extensive and on-going work undertaken by Council officers with regards to the recommendations relating to the Usher Gallery, it had not yet been possible to find common ground with The City of Lincoln Council. The Council’s position remained that, other than the proposal in the original business case, the only sustainable model that fitted with the wider vision was joint use of the building. It was still possible for an option to be considered where the majority of the space was used for art and functioning as a single supersite, however there were limitations associated with the Gallery in terms of space, security and environmental controls. If those options were taken up, then it would be a different model of supersite, with a likely mix of public and community service space.

The vision for the Culture Service was to move to a Cultural Enterprise Model that delivered culture-based products and services to generate earned income and ensure the enterprise's long-term sustainability and development. The report also made reference to changes to the portfolio of heritage sites.

It was reported that the County Property Services were in discussions with a group of local organisations who were looking to take over Alford Windmill. The service would continue to focus on a sustainable way to protect the future of Ellis and Burgh le Marsh mills.

Conversations were on going about Trust status to ensure the Council was fully informed about whether this was the right model for the future.

It was noted that Lincoln Castle had performed well in terms of visitor numbers and income considering the pandemic restrictions and compared to other tourist sites within the county and also compared to national attractions. The statistics for October showed a level of 68% of normal visitor numbers for this time of the year, with income at over 90% of what was normally expected. It was also noted that The Collection had experienced its busiest day of the year recently.

RESOLVED:   The Committee receive the report and endorse continued work on the recommendations previously approved by the Executive in September 2019.