Agenda and minutes

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64.

The following apologies for absence were received:

·           Simon Goulden (Co-opted Member)

·           Alloysius Frederick (Co-opted Member)

·           Lesley Gouldbourne (Appointed observer)

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interests made.

To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

There were no deputations received.

To approve as a correct record, the minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 8 October 2018.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 8 October 2018, be approved as an accurate record.

None.

To receive a report outlining the vision and strategic objectives for the London Borough of Culture 2020.  The report also provides an opportunity for the Scrutiny Committee to review progress on development and implementation of the programme and to consider what its impact will be during 2020 and in the longer term.

Councillor Hirani (Lead Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure) introduced the report which provided an overview of the vision and the strategic objectives of the London Borough of Culture 2020 Programme. He highlighted that winning the bid for being the London Borough of Culture in 2020 had provided an opportunity to invest in the Brent’s rich cultural heritage, arts and young people. He reminded Members that the world’s attention would be focused on the Borough as games, part of the Euro 2020 Football Championship, would be taking place at Wembley National Stadium. Councillor Hirani stressed that young people had been at the heart of the bid which demonstrated the fact that the Council wanted to put focus on them despite the context of cuts to education budgets, raise in tuition fees and Brexit. Furthermore, being the London Borough of Culture in 2020 provided an opportunity to improve the lives of residents in the Borough and engage the diverse communities living in Brent. 

Councillor Hirani emphasised the importance of delivering the 2020 Programme and noted that Brent residents could participate in a project run by Vice[1] which would provide them with a global audience to discuss key issues. In addition, the possibility of national and international organisations investing in Brent was expected to increase.

Governance arrangements

In relation to questions on the governance arrangements and the delivery of the Programme, Members heard that Lois Stonock had been appointed Artistic Director, a wide range of posts had been advertised and 66 applications per role had been received on average. However, until the recruitment process had been completed, Council officers would continue to carry out preliminary work on the Programme in addition to their day-to-day jobs. Lois Stonock (Artistic Director, London Borough of Culture 2020) added that community engagement would be an important part of the seven projects to be delivered throughout 2020. Each project would be overseen by a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) accountable to the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive. SROs would build project groups which would be representative of the Borough and would consist of young ambassadors, community representatives and stakeholders.[2] Sophie Leer (National Management Trainee, Brent Council) added that 19 applications had been received for the 18 Community Advisor roles. However, the deadline had been extended in order to encourage more applications from across the Borough (the ones that had been received were focused on Wembley).

The Brent 2020 Culture Fund had been set up to develop high quality creative and cultural projects and events that would form part of Brent’s London Borough of Culture Programme for 2020. The Fund would open in January 2019 and it would provide three rounds of funding to both individuals and organisations in the following periods – January to March 2019; July to September 2019; and January to March 2020.  In addition, a new not-for-profit organisation (an independent cultural trust) would be established to oversee the Programme and ensure a continuing legacy for the celebratory year. Ms  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60.

None.