BLACKPOOL COUNCIL



BLACKPOOL COUNCIL

EXECUTIVE MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL

|Report of the Cabinet Member for: |Culture and Leisure |

|at the Council meeting held on: |17th January 2007 |

|This report provides the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Culture and |

|Leisure portfolio. |

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|Heritage |

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|I am pleased to be able to confirm that the Council are working closely with the Victoria and Albert Museum to locate a new National |

|Theatre Museum in Blackpool and build on Blackpool’s longstanding history of entertainment. The Victoria and Albert Museum and Blackpool |

|Council are jointly developing a feasibility study for a new museum devoted to British theatre which will complement the Museum's plans |

|to open a new permanent gallery for its theatre collections in Kensington. The current National Theatre Museum which has just closed |

|down its Covent Garden site has an extremely important national collection of costumes, props, set designs, programmes and photographs |

|which together represent the history of the British theatre, whilst Blackpool has the theatrical tradition, infrastructure, skills, |

|heritage, and ambition to present these collections in a dynamic way. |

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|In the meantime, plans are being finalised to improve access to our own Local Studies collections at the Central Library. The |

|collections will be brought together in the first floor Learning Centre. This will provide a dedicated research area and more space for |

|this important material, in recognition of its significance to Blackpool’s heritage. |

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|The Government is now expected to announce in the spring that it plans to undertake a review of the current Tentative List of UK sites |

|wishing to apply for World Heritage status. This will provide the framework within which Blackpool will be able to bid for a place on the|

|Tentative List to achieve our ambition for inscription as a World Heritage Site |

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|The Arts |

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|The Grundy Art Gallery’s first Open Exhibition was launched very successfully at the end of November when 966 people visited the Gallery |

|in one day to attend the private view. A total of 263 people entered the competition, and 10 pieces of work have already been sold. |

|More than 2000 people have already visited the exhibition, which closed on 6th January 2007. This level of attendance makes it one of |

|the most popular exhibitions of the year, and very likely to be repeated next year. |

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|The Grundy Art Gallery’s excellent exhibitions have attracted the interest and support of the University of Lancaster. Its Innovation |

|Department has offered specialised consultancy support to the Gallery through its ‘Be Creative’ programme, and one of the University’s MA|

|graduates is currently developing a general marketing plan for the Gallery. |

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|The Arts Service is proving to be a key partner for ReBlackpool, our Urban Regeneration Company, in the Living Landmark project to create|

|The People’s Playground on the remodelled central seafront. ReBlackpool in partnership with the Council was successful in securing a |

|£250,000 development grant to work up the plans for a Stage 2 submission of a £21 million bid. |

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|A community arts programme with the seafront communities will be an essential part of the project and a bid for £150,000 from the Arts |

|Council over 2 years is being submitted for this work. |

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|The Great Promenade Show on the New South Promenade has recently been enhanced by the installation of new Lakeland slate tablets |

|providing information about the artworks etched in white letters. The tablets were produced locally and the material was selected for |

|its durability and attractive appearance |

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|Adult and Community Learning |

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|The Adult Learning team has hosted a most successful Family Learning Day at Layton Library when families were taught how to create family|

|Christmas DVDs. One family described the computer workshop as invaluable as they were able to record Christmas greetings to send to |

|grandparents who lived far away. |

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|The Service has been preparing for the visit of the Adult Learning Inspectorate in January to re-inspect the curriculum area 14, |

|Preparation for Life and Work. Learning provision for learners with learning disabilities has been reviewed and new learning programmes |

|have been developed to improve the learning offer. |

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|The January programme of Adult and Community Learning opportunities has been published and distributed. Courses on ICT topics such as |

|the internet, e-mail, and digital photography are still proving popular, as are Holiday Spanish and Genealogy. |

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|Libraries |

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|I reported to the last Council meeting that the government commissions the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy to |

|manage the national survey of public library users every three years. The latest survey was carried out in October 2006, when adults |

|visiting one of Blackpool’s eight libraries completed 2,491 questionnaires. The results of the survey are now available and I am pleased|

|to announce that our customers are more satisfied with our library service than ever before. The overall satisfaction rate has increased|

|to 94%, which means that we have now achieved the National Public Library Standard for overall customer satisfaction rates. |

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|Every year, the library service also takes part in a countrywide assessment of the success rates of and speed of response to customer |

|enquiries and reservations over a period of a week, selected nationally. This survey also showed that reservation supply times have |

|increased significantly over all 3 time periods (within 7, 15 and 30 days) and the service is meeting the National Public Library |

|standard on all three elements. |

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|Both these surveys show a continuous improvement in service and stock performance and will make a positive contribution to the Council’s |

|Comprehensive Performance Assessment score. The Audit Commission has announced that the national Children's Public Library User Survey |

|will take place in October 2007. |

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|Plans are now being developed for a re-organisation of the Central Library in response to customer feedback. Most of the computers in |

|the Learning Centre on the first floor will be moved to the ground floor. There, all but our catalogue and quick reference computers |

|will be brought together away from the book stock in a new computer area to be established in the old children’s library to the north of |

|the building, now the reference area. Young people are already being consulted on what they would like to see in the Teenage Library, |

|which will be created in the area vacated by the Local Study collections’ move to the first floor Learning Centre. |

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|Parks |

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|In the SANDS (Stillbirth and Neo-Natal Death Society) Section of Carleton Cemetery, there have been ongoing issues between the bereaved |

|and the management of the cemetery in relation to the fact that the general policy of their not being able to place artefacts or items on|

|that section which is a lawned graves area. |

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|Further to public consultation and dialogue, the Parks and Green Environment Section have agreed with the bereaved that a “Friends of the|

|SANDS Section” will be formed in January 2007 with a formal launch of the group in February 2007 in the Mayor’s Parlour. |

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|A draft partnership agreement has been developed between Parks, the Group and Victoria Hospital Health Trust and will be tabled and |

|agreed at this month’s AGM. |

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|The group will work with the Parks Section and Victoria Hospital Health Trust to develop a shared and collective vision in terms of |

|policy, the development of the SANDS area, supporting the bereaved and information and events. |

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|I am pleased to report that security at Stanley Park has been boosted with the increase of Police Community Support Officers from four to|

|five. The fifth officer has been appointed after further negotiation with the Police and at no additional cost. This will help in the |

|management of the security of the park, particularly in light of the current restoration programme that is in progress. |

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|In terms of the latter, works are near completion in the Rose, Italian and Sensory Gardens with Mawson Drive, Car Park, Café Terrace and |

|Café works starting this month. In relation to Mawson Drive the 42 diseased elm trees have been removed, a sad necessity, but they are |

|to be replaced with native oak trees. |

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|Sport and Physical Activity |

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|I am pleased to announce that £100,000 has been achieved from the “Barclays for Sport” programme to invest in Watson Road and Kingscote |

|Parks and develop multi-use games areas for children and young people. This programme will be developed with the local Friends’ group |

|and Ground Works. In addition, revenue funding of £40,000 will see a programme of activities developed and available over the next two |

|years. |

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|The progress made within cycling since the Tour of Britain start of the second leg, Blackpool to Liverpool, in August 2006 has been |

|immense. |

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|Blackpool has been identified as one of five local authorities to pilot “Bikeability”, cycling proficiency for the 21st century. Revenue|

|funding will be provided to support a programme within schools over the next five years. |

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|To ensure a framework and pathway is in place for those who wish to progress into competitive cycling, we have applied for funding of |

|£100,000 from British Cycling in order to appoint a Development Officer/Coach over the next three years. The funding is lottery monies |

|and a decision will be made in February 2007. |

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|In terms of cycling for general health, cycling as part of the GP referral programme has also been launched for people with a disability |

|in Stanley Park and plans are being developed to launch an “Everyday Cycling” campaign. |

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|In addition to all these developments, a programme of events for 2007 is being produced, with a major Cycle Fest on 13th, 14th and 15th |

|July 2007. This will be the UK’s largest cycle festival in 2007 and will include the following: |

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|Friday 13th - Blackpool Grand Prix Elite Men’s Circuit Race |

|- Blackpool Grand Prix Men’s Support Race |

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|Saturday 14th - Blackpool Grand Prix Youth Circuit Races |

|(7 races – national standard) |

|- Blackpool School’s Yellow Jersey Event |

|- Blackpool Grand Prix “De Dames” Race |

|(UK Women’s Top Cyclists) |

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|Sunday 15th - Blackpool National Tour Cycling Race (140km – start/finish |

|Blackpool – route in and around Lancashire) |

|- Blackpool mass participation cycle on promenade – am |

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|Teams from Belgium and Spain have made contact with British Cycling and discussions are being held in relation to their participation. |

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|Regional Commentaries |

|‘Creating a partnership for improving cultural and leisure services’ |

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|The Regional Commentaries framework has been introduced to provide an insight through a two-way dialogue between local authorities and |

|regional agencies. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport, (DCMS) representatives in the North West Regional Government Office, the |

|regional Cultural Consortium and the three key agencies of Arts Council, Museums and Libraries Association and Sport England formed part |

|of the commentaries team for Blackpool. Blackpool’s Department of Leisure, Culture and Community Learning was invited to take part in |

|the first round of Regional Commentaries in the North West region and this took place during September to December 2006. |

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|The Regional Commentaries process involved carrying out a self-assessment of our Cultural and Leisure Services in areas of Management and|

|Leadership, Community Engagement, Partnership Working and Performance Management. This self-assessment was then submitted to the Regional|

|Commentaries Team who examined and evaluated the evidence to acknowledge areas of good practice, identify key strengths and recommend |

|areas for future development. |

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|The Regional Commentaries process proved to be a positive experience for the Department with many examples of best practice identified |

|across all areas of the commentary framework. A draft report identifying these strengths has been presented to the Department and areas |

|for future improvement are to be finalised and agreed by the end of January 2007. |

|Thank you Mr Mayor, I will be pleased to invite any questions or comments from Councillors in relation to the Culture and Leisure |

|portfolio. |

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