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 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 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.