The Head of Policy, Culture and Communication submitted a report and draft strategy to the City Executive Board on 12 March 2015 (attached here).

This details the development of the draft Culture Strategy 2015 – 18, an overview of its vision and priorities and reports on the results of public consultation. It proposes approval of the strategy in the light of consultation.

The relevant minute (152) of the City Executive Board meeting on 12 March is attached later in this agenda. The Board agreed to approve the strategy as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

The City Executive Board recommends Council to APPROVE the Culture Strategy 2015 – 2018 as set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

Council had before it a report, the draft Culture Strategy, and the recommendations of the City Executive Board on 12 March 2015.

Councillor Simm moved and Councillor Price seconded the adoption of the Culture Strategy.

Council resolved to approve the Culture Strategy 2015 – 2018 as set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

The Head of Policy, Culture and Communication has submitted a report which details the development of the draft Culture Strategy 2015 – 18, an overview of its vision and priorities and reports on the results of public consultation. It proposes approval of the strategy in the light of consultation.

Officer Recommendation: That the City Executive Board considers the draft Culture Strategy 2015 – 2018 as set out at Appendix 1 and recommends it to Council for approval.

The Head of Policy, Culture and Communication has submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which detailed the development of the draft Culture Strategy 2015 – 18.

Cllr Simms, Board member for Culture and Communications presented the report.

Cllr Sinclair asked if the encouraging words from Oxford University had resulted in any of the colleges making their open spaces available to cultural groups. The Head of Policy, Culture and Communication explained that 6 colleges had agreed to allow cultural groups to use their open spaces free of charges through the University Open Spaces initiative.

The City Executive Board resolved to

1.    APPROVE the amended draft Culture Strategy 2015 – 2018 as set out at Appendix 1.

2.    RECOMMEND to Council the amended Culture Strategy 2015-2018 for approval.

The Scrutiny Officer has submitted a report which presents comments from the Scrutiny Committee on the Culture Strategy 2015-2018

Scrutiny Committee Recommendations to the City Executive Board:

1. We recommend that there is an objective to extend cultural opportunities to excluded communities under priority for culture 2.

2. We recommend that the City Council asks Experience Oxfordshire to convene a seminar with elected members.

The Scrutiny Officer submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which detailed comments from the Scrutiny Committee on the Culture Strategy 2015-2018

Cllr Simmons, Chair of Scrutiny Committee presented the report. He elaborated on recommendation 1, the Scrutiny Committee felt the Culture Policy should encourage people from excluded groups to be involved in cultural events as artists as well as the audience.

Cllr Simm, Board member for Culture and Communities agreed to amend the Culture Strategy to include Scrutiny’s recommendation 1.

The City Executive Board resolved to APPROVE:

1. That there is an objective to extend cultural opportunities to included communities under priority for culture 2.

2. That the City Council asks Experience Oxfordshire to convene a seminar with elected members.

The Head of Policy, Culture and Communications presented a report (previously circulated, now appended) on the adoption of the Culture Strategy. The City Executive Board will be asked to approve the strategy on 12 March.

 The Head of Policy, Culture and Communications when through the Committee’s recommendations made at their meeting in October 2014.

1.    That non-council culture offerings in the city had been added to the Strategy.

2.    That a paragraph had been added to the strategy acknowledging the affects that licencing and planning and Direct Services can play in delivering cultural events.

3.    That the list of organisations invited to contribute to the Culture Strategy had been  shared with elected members.

4.    He explained that in regards to encouraging visitors to spend more time in Oxford, It had been agreed that this was not the primary purpose of the Culture Strategy but was the responsibility of Experience Oxfordshire. Experience Oxfordshire where prepared to brief members on their role.

The Committee recommended that

A briefing from Experience Oxfordshire be arranged for members.

An objective be added to extend cultural opportunities to excluded communities under priority for culture 2.

The Head of Policy, Culture and Communications has submitted a report which explains the development of the Draft Culture Strategy and an overview of the vision and priorities of the proposed Culture Strategy 2015-18.

Officer Recommendation: That the City Executive Board approves the consultation of the Draft Culture Strategy as set out at Appendix 1.

The Head of Policy, Culture and Communications submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which explained the development of the Draft Culture Strategy and an overview of the vision and priorities of the proposed Culture Strategy 2015-18.

Cllr Simm, Board Member for Culture and Communities presented the report. She explained the importance of the Council investing in cultural groups so they could leverage additional funding from elsewhere.

The Cultural Development Manager explained that the strategy aligned with the objectives of the Arts Council which will enable us to make clearer links between cultural projects and grant requests in Oxford, and national priorities for arts and culture.

Cllr Simm went through the Scrutiny Committee’s report and agreed with recommendations 1 to 3. In terms of recommendation 4 - encouraging visitors to spend more time in Oxford, Cllr Price outlined Experience Oxford’s planned initiative to link tourism with the cultural offer of the city. There were also plans to link this with hotels to encourage visitors to stay longer.

The strategy will go out for consultation and will return to the Board for approval early next year.

The City Executive Board resolved to approve the consultation of the Draft Culture Strategy as set out at Appendix 1.

Contact Officer: Ceri Gorton; Tel 01865 252829, cgorton@oxford.gov.uk

The Head of Policy, Culture and Communications presented the report (previously circulated now appended) which detailed the revised Culture Strategy 2015-18. The strategy outlines the Council’s vision and priorities in regards to culture and the arts. The strategy’s priorities have been carefully aligned with the Art’s Council’s objectives to make seeking funding easier.

The Committee made the following comments:

·         The Committee felt that the Culture Strategy does not provide the fullest picture of the City’s cultural offering.  For example, cultural events missing from the strategy included the Oxford Literary Festival, Lieder Festival and the Oxford Punt Festival.

·         There needs to be a focus on making sure cultural venues don’t shut. Council needs to offer support to cultural venues through the planning and licensing regimes, and this should be reflected in the strategy.

·         A request was made to see the list of arts organisations the Council held. The Head of Policy, Culture and Communications will circulate and members are asked to add any missing organisations.

·         It was noted that very little was mentioned about Oxfordshire County Council’s contribution to the arts. It was agreed that the chair of Scrutiny would send a letter to the County seeking comment on the draft Culture Strategy.

·         The Committee felt that extending the time that visitors and tourists spend in Oxford is crucial to maximising the economic benefits to the City, and that more thought should be given to how to encourage longer stays.

An evaluation report will be presented in April 2015.