COMHAIRLE NAN EILEAN SIAR

ARTS AND LEISURE COMMITTEE

Minute of Meeting held in the Council Offices, Stornoway, on Tuesday 1 February 2005 at 9.00am.

PRESENT	Mr Malcolm J Graham (Chairman)
	Mr Iain Morrison (Vice-Chairman)
	Mr John Mackay	Mr Angus Campbell
	Mr Alex A MacDonald	Mr Angus McCormack
	Mr Norman L Macdonald	Mr Donald J Macsween
	Mr Keith Dodson	Mr Donald Manford


APOLOGIES	Mr George Lonie

MINUTES

Minute of Meeting of 7 December 2004

The Minute of Meeting of 7 December 2004 was approved.

Declaration of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

FINANCE

Third Quarter Revenue Monitoring 2004/05

PR110.05

The Acting Director of Finance submitted a Report detailing the Comhairle’s Forecast Revenue Outturn for 2004/05 at the end of the third quarter. A summary of the financial performance to the end of December 2004 was appended to the Report.

It was agreed to recommend that the Report be noted insofar as the Committee’s interests were concerned.

Third Quarter Capital Monitoring 2004/05

PR110.03

The Acting Director of Finance submitted a Report concerning progress in the 2004/05 Capital Programme as at 31 December 2004.

It was agreed to recommend approval of the recommendations in the Report insofar as the Committee’s interests were concerned.

Revenue Estimates 2005/06

The Acting Director of Finance submitted the draft Revenue Estimates for 2005/06.

It was agreed to recommend approval of the Draft Revenue Estimates 2005/2006, insofar as the Committee’s interests were concerned.

BUILDINGS

Capital Works: Programme and Progress

PR33.01.12

With reference to item 7 of the Minute of Meeting of 7 December 2004 the Director of Technical Services submitted a Report concerning programme and progress in respect of properties held on the Arts and Leisure account.

It was agreed to recommend that the Report be noted.

RELATED MATTERS

Lews Castle Project

AL02.17

With reference to item 5 of the Minute of Meeting of 20 April 2004 the Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning progress with the Lews Castle Feasibility study. Progress to date was outlined and a summary of interim Report conclusions of the Lews Castle Feasibility Study was appended to the Report.

It was agreed to recommend that the Report and the conclusions of the Lews Castle Feasibility Study be noted.

It was agreed that the public, including the press, be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the grounds that exempt information as defined in Paragraph 8 of Schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 would be disclosed, namely, information relating to the amount of any expenditure proposed to be incurred by the Comhairle under any particular contract for the acquisition of property or the supply of goods or services.

“The Village of Stornoway with Hunting Lodge”, James Barret 1798 – Purchase of Painting

AL05.01

The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning approval in principle for the acquisition by purchase of the oil painting “The Village of Stornoway with Hunting Lodge”, James Barret, 1798, subject to availability of external funding support.

It was agreed to recommend that:

(1) the acquisition of the oil painting by purchase be approved, in principle, subject to external funding support being secured;

(2) the Museum Curator be authorised to submit funding applications towards the acquisition of the painting in (1) above;

(3) the carry forward of the identified £15k from the Museum’s revenue budget into 2005/06 be approved as the Comhairle’s contribution to the acquisition cost; and

(4) in the course of negotiations for the purchase that the Director for Sustainable Communities be authorised to seek to obtain copyright rights in respect of the painting in question.

Links Project

AL09.01

With reference to item 11 of the Minute of Meeting of 2 November 2004 the Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning the current progress with the Links Project and its intended exit strategy.

It was agreed to recommend that the Report be noted.

Arising out of consideration of this item it was agreed that the Director for Sustainable Communities would submit a Report to the next meeting of the Committee providing a full breakdown of how the grant received from the Strategic Change Fund in 2003 for the Links projects had been spent. and that Report would also identify, if any, potential funding sources for Comainn Eachdraidh.

Site Use of Nicolson Lewis Sports Centre

AL06.01.40

With reference to item 7 of the Minute of Meeting of 20 April 2004 the Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning the site restoration of the campus following the demolition of the Nicolson Lewis Sport Centre.

It was agreed to recommend that the development of the campus surrounding the Nicolson Lewis Sports Centre, as outlined in Appendix 1 to the Report by the Director for Sustainable Communities, be approved, subject to the necessary funding being approved by the Comhairle.

Pitch Scoring

Matrix

AL06.01.62

With reference to item 6 of the Minute of Meeting of 7 December 2004 the Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning a scoring proforma to assist in the process of assessing proposals to improve the provision of pitches. A draft scoring proforma was appended to the Report.

It was agreed to recommend the utilisation of the scoring pro-forma, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the Report by the Director for Sustainable Communities, to assist in the assessment of proposals for pitch developments be approved.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Reports Outstanding: Progress

PR33.01.12

With reference to item 9 of the Minute of Meeting of 7 December 2004 the Director of Corporate Services submitted a Report concerning Reports Outstanding arising from decisions of the Arts and Leisure Committee.

It was agreed to recommend that the Report be noted.

Arising out of consideration of this matter it was agreed to recommend that a Report in relation to the Arts Strategy would be submitted not later than the June 2005 series of meetings.