Agenda item

Question Time with the Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport, Councillor Oliver Lewis.

The Committee is asked to consider the information provided by the Cabinet Member and decide if it wishes to make any recommendations

The Committee considered a report together with a presentation delivered at the meeting from the Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure & Sport, Councillor Oliver Lewis, which provided an overview of the key activities within the Culture, Leisure & Sport portfolio over the past year.

A copy of the presentation can be found at the following link:-

https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/b7156/Question%20Time%20Cabinet%20Member%20for%20Culture%20Leisure%20Sport%20-%20Presentation%2010th-Feb-2020%2018.30%20Scru.pdf?T=9

During the course of the presentation the following points were noted:-

·         £42,600,000 had been invested in the restoration of Fairfield Halls which had resulted in the provision of an inclusive space for all of Croydon.

·         There was a growing cultural calendar in the borough with the Pride and Mela events attracting 22,000 people to Wandle Park. There had also been larger events such as the Ends Festival in Lloyd Park. Work continued on growing and developing the local music scene.

·         There was a thriving cultural network in the borough with 500 people on the Council’s cultural database

·         The Council was being held up as an example of best practice for the creation of its Night Time Plan, which had been developed in consultation with the Scrutiny and Overview Committee.

·         There had been a £5,000,000 capital investment in the borough’s libraries to create modern digitally enabled spaces, with the Selsdon Library the most recently upgraded.

·         There were a number of threats to the continued growth of culture in the borough such as the economic uncertainty making finding new investment challenging, historic underinvestment in the cultural sector and the wider economic issues restricting the public’s spending on non-essentials such as theatre tickets.

·         There were active Friends Groups in the parks across the borough and investment continued to be made in parks with data being used to inform this approach.

·         It was due to be confirmed on 11 February whether Croydon had been named the London Borough of Culture for 2023.

·         There had been historic underinvestment in sport in the borough which was changing with the Park Life project and the installation of outdoor gym equipment in parks, most recently in Norbury Park. The New Addington Leisure Centre had opened in January, providing a modern sports and leisure facility for the local community.

·         The Museum of Croydon was working towards reaccreditation, following the loss of its status in 2013. The future of the museum would be closely linked to the Clocktower development.

Following the presentation the Committee was given the opportunity to question the Cabinet Member about his portfolio. The first question concerned the provision of cafes in the borough’s libraries and how the success of these would be reviewed. It was advised that the provision of café facilities was decided on a case by case basis depending on the space available and whether there were existing alternatives in the near vicinity. As the provision of cafes in libraries was a new approach, each location would be reviewed and if they proved not to be successful the space would be utilised for another purpose.

An update was provided on the installation of three all-weather cricket pitches in the South Norwood, Sanderstead and Norbury parks. Two had been installed, but the installation of the pitch at Norbury Park had been delayed from last summer due to weather conditions damaging the ground. It was still planned that the pitch would be installed this year.

It was highlighted that some of the paths in the borough’s parks were not sufficient to support maintenance vehicle, which had resulted in tyre damage on the surrounding grass. As such it was questioned whether there was anything that could be done to address this. In response it was advised that there would be differing views over widening the paths in parks with some people not in favour of reducing the amount of green space available to do so. There was no budget available to commit to widening the paths in parks across the borough, but the width of any new path could be designed with this provision in mind. As an alternative it was suggested that there could be a conversation with the contractors about the size of the vehicles used to ensure that they were suitable for the space available.

It was confirmed that money had been set aside for the provision of play spaces in parks across the borough with the team working on this at the moment. It was highlighted that as well as affecting the budget, austerity had also had an impact upon the number fs staff in the Parks team which meant that projects sometimes took longer to be delivered.

It was advised that groups such as the Local Study Forum were important to promoting and preserving the history and heritage of the borough, and the Cabinet Member was happy to engage with these groups.

It was questioned whether when upgrading Council facilities such as libraries consideration was given to the needs of users with specific sensory sensitivities such as those with certain forms of autism. The Cabinet Member highlighted that he had met with the Minister for Disabled People, Justin Tomlinson MP, at the Fairfield Halls to discuss the inclusive pantomime performances that were being delivered. This example could be used as a good model for other service areas such as gyms and leisure centres. It was acknowledged that further work was needed to understand the needs of the autistic community in the borough which could be informed through the work of the Council’s Autism Champion, Councillor Jerry Fitzpatrick.

The community engagement in the Selsdon library was welcomed with it noted that the community was preparing a plan for cultural events at the facility. The Cabinet Member confirmed that he was happy to engage with and support local groups who were taking the initiative to promote culture in their own areas.

As Croydon was bidding to become the London Borough of Culture for 2023, it was questioned what this would mean for the borough should the bid be successful. It was confirmed that should it be awarded it would help to raise the cultural profile of the borough. It would also deliver funding of £1,350,000 from the Greater London Authority as well as opening up additional opportunities to bid for funding from organisations such as the Arts Council, which could result in an externally funded budget for the project of approximately £4,000,000.

Should the Council be successful in being named as the London Borough of Culture for 2023, it was questioned whether there should be a Public Art Strategy created to use as a guide for any newly commissioned public art. It was confirmed that the Council was in a position to reflect on the current public art in the borough, with work underway on the Croydon Collection of Public Art which would help to inform future public art.

It was questioned whether there was a comprehensive strategy for play spaces in the borough. In response it was highlighted that there was over 50 play sites across the borough with a limited budget for maintenance and improvement works. As such work had been undertaken to identify the sites most in need of maintenance or with health & safety issues. This information was then taken into account along with other information such as accessibility and childhood obesity data to draw up a list of the ten sites most in need of investment. It was confirmed that on a wider level the Administration was keen to ensure that the general environment of the borough could be made as child friendly as possible.

In response to a question about the pricing of memberships for the Council’s leisure and sports centres it was advised that these facilities were operated by GLL on the Council’s behalf and the pricing structure was based on their experience. There had been an increase in the membership fee for the New Addington Leisure Centre as prior to the rebuild the fee had been held at the same level from when GLL took over the contract. Whereas other centres had gradually increased membership fees, the New Addington Leisure Centre had increased from a previously low level to a more standard cost with the opening of the new facility. It was advised that it could be explored with GLL whether there was any support that could be provided to previous users of the old facility who were struggling with the new charges.

Concern was raised about the scope of the Music City project with it highlighted that it only seemed to focus on the musical history of the borough since the late 1970’s when there was a significant history prior to this in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It was confirmed that the list was not definitive and instead outlined the key musical genres that had been highlighted as important for the borough. Other genres of music would also be celebrated though the musical heritage trail and the Music City project.

It was highlighted that the Committee had previously recommended that the by-laws covering the Council’s parks be reviewed and as such it was disappointing to note that apart from a couple of small changes a wider review had not been undertaken. In response it was acknowledged that some of the by-laws were outdated, for instance those that prevented cycling in parks as there were many locations where this activity should be encouraged. As such this could be updated on a park by park basis with a wider review undertaken to ensure the Council’s parks were available for a wide range of activities.

It was noted that Croydon Central library seemed to be well used by people wanting to find a quiet study space and as such it was questioned whether there were plans to upgrade the facilities and increase the opening hours to include evenings and weekends. In response the importance of the provision of study space in the borough’s libraries was acknowledged. It was agreed that the possibility of Sunday opening would be explored and there was a possibility that the Open Plus scheme would allow access to libraries outside of the standard opening hours. Consideration was given to current technology requirements when refurbishing libraries to ensure that the facilities delivered met the expectations of library users. Given the diverse nature of the borough consideration was also given to the availability of books and other resources in a variety of different languages.

It was noted that £12,000,000 had been raised from the sale of the Riesco Collection which had originally been intended to fund the restoration of the Fairfield Halls. As the cost of the restoration had been met by Brick by Brick, it was questioned whether this money should continue to be allocated for cultural use. In response it was highlighted that the sale of the Riesco Collection in 2013 had a significant negative impact for culture in the borough, which it was only now starting to recover from. The money raised by the sale had not been ring fenced for cultural activity and had instead been transferred to the General Fund by the previous Administration and used for the wider Capital Programme.

At the conclusion of the item the Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for his attendance at the meeting and his engagement with the questions of the Committee.

Conclusions

Following discussion of the report, the Committee reached the following conclusions:-

1. That the portfolio is particularly cross cutting in nature and has interdependencies across the majority of Cabinet portfolios.
2. That there are examples of where more co-ordination between portfolios would be of benefit, such as the use of inappropriate vehicles by other council services in the borough’s parks.
3. That while the evolving cultural programme in the Borough was to be commended for promoting Croydon’s youth culture, the programme should also be inclusive of all ages and celebrate the many historical aspects of culture in Croydon.
4. That the trailing of extended library opening hours was to be commended and likely to provide a beneficial study environment at evening and weekends.
5. That the previous recommendation requesting a review of the Council’s by-laws in parks had not been undertaken and remained outstanding.

Recommendations

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to the Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport that:- 

1. That the musical heritage trial be developed to include Croydon’s rich musical heritage in the genres of rock, R&B and folk music.
2. That the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources and the Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport expedite the review of by-laws in the Council’s park and open spaces.
3. That the Cabinet Member be asked to provide an update in 12 months on the success of the implementation of the Library Plus programme.
4. That the use of Council vehicles in its parks be limited to vehicles that are appropriate and sensitive to the park environment.