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Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, The Rhadyr USK. View directions

Items
No. Item

1.

Election of Chair

Minutes:

We elected County Councillor P. Pavia as Chair for this meeting.

2.

Appointment of Vice-Chair

Minutes:

We appointed County Councillor A. Webb as Vice-Chair for this meeting.

3.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

4.

Future Monmouthshire: Preferred Delivery Model for Tourism, Leisure, Culture and Youth Services pdf icon PDF 148 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Context:

 

To receive a presentation and scrutinise the preferred option for the future of Tourism, Leisure, Culture and Youth Services (TLCY) and to undertake pre-decision scrutiny of the evidence base and business case to support the preferred option.

 

Key Issues:

 

In considering the need of the future delivery model of Tourism, Leisure, Culture and Youth Services (TLCY) the following options had been thoroughly researched and considered:

 

a)            Delivery Option One:  Do Nothing.

b)            Delivery Option Two:  Transform the Services ‘in house’.

c)            Delivery Option Three: Move the Services into an Alternative Delivery Model (ADM).

d)            Delivery Option Four:  (a) Outsource the services to a private sector operator or (b) existing Charitable Trust.

 

Member Scrutiny:

 

  • The impact of VAT changes would breach the partial exemption calculation in the sum of £200,000, but the Authority would be required to repay a higher amount. The Authority would need to be mindful when undertaking its investment which would limit the Authority when it could make potential changes. Monmouthshire’s VAT advisers have stated that it does seriously breach Monmouthshire’s partial exemption calculation and the recommendation would be that the ADM would be the preferred alternative.

 

  • In response to a question raised regarding commercial failure, it was noted that failure does occur in commercial ventures, the differentiating factor is how the steps are taken to convert this to success.

 

  • These service areas have been one of the top contributors to the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

 

  • The ADM will be customer focussed with the citizen being placed at the centre of the service being provided. Initially there will be a period of consolidation followed by providing sustainability and optimising performance. Each building will require significant investment to make the customer experience better.

 

  • The Head of Tourism Leisure, Culture & Youth is the chair of the region for leisure and sports development and works collaboratively with nearby local Authorities. The sharing of resources is a good opportunity.

 

  • With regard to the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in schools, a productive meeting had been held with the four head teachers and the Chief Officer for Children and Young People.  All agreed that there was a need to understand the operational management of the sites. Schools have an opportunity to generate income and will continue to do so.

 

  • It was a financial consideration for removing Events Management from the ADM. One of the main considerations was that if we went outside the Authority the VAT for the artists and infrastructure would have to be paid. The ADM would not be best placed to host major events due to the financial aspects required up front in order to undertake this type of work. However, the ADM will still hold community events.

 

  • Clydach Ironworks and similar sites require development.  It was noted that the countryside team has been looking at these sites with a view to looking to work with partners to establish sustainable development of these heritage sites.