COMHAIRLE NAN EILEAN SIAR

ARTS AND LEISURE COMMITTEE

Minute of Meeting held in the Council Offices, Stornoway, on Tuesday 22 August 2006 at 9.00am

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

		MINUTES
Minute of Meeting of 13 June 2006	1	The Minute of Meeting of 13 June 2006 was approved.
Declaration of Interest	2	There were no declarations of interest.
		FINANCE
General Fund Revenue Monitoring 2006/07 PR110.05	3	A Report was submitted by the Director of Finance informing Members of the Comhairle's forecast revenue out-turn for 2006/07 The Report stated that at the end of 2005/06 the Comhairle was showing uncommitted balances of £4,067K, whixh were detailed in Appendix B to the Report. However, with budgeted deficits in the current and next financial years, forecast free balances at the end of 2007/08 would be reduced to £920K, which was significantly below the Comhairle’s target of £1,800k. It was recommended that the Directors of Social Work and Corporate Services reported back to the next series of meetings on options to bring their budgets back into balance within this financial year. Failure to achieve this would further reduce balances to £529K. A seminar, to consider the efficiency savings the Comhairle needed to make to address its budget deficit, had taken place on 29 August. It was agreed to recommend that, in so far as the Committee’s interests were concerned the Comhairle: (1) note the report; and (2) require the Director of Social Work and Corporate Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance, to report to the October series of meetings on options to bring their budgets back into balance during this financial year.
General Fund Capital Monitoring 2006/07 PR100.03	4	A Report was submitted by the Director of Finance to provide Members with an update on the progress of the 2006/07 Capital Programme at 30 June 2006. The Report stated that Forecast Capital Expenditure in 2006/07 was expected to be £31.6m. This compared with £30m achieved in 2005/06. If this level of expenditure was achieved it would require the acceleration of resources from 2007/08, as it was £3.8m above available resources. At 30 June 2006 19.46% of the forecast expenditure for the year had been achieved. The summary of expenditure was shown in Appendix 2, to the Report and the Report stated that the detail per Committee is available in the August Information Bulletin and on the Comhaile’s intranet. It was agreed to recommend that, in so far as the Committee’s interests were concerned the Comhairle approve the Forecast Out-turn as the Revised Approved Programme for 2006/07 and specifically approve: (1) in the Education Capital Programme, slippage of £837k, including: £209k in the Boiler Plant Replacement Programme £50k in the Schools Accessibility Programme £100k in the Water Services Improvement Programme £53k in the Window Replacement Programme £83k in the Toilet Improvement Programme £67k for Energy Improvements in Sir E Scott School £100k for Structural Improvements to Schools £50k for Traffic Management £60k for HORSA Replacement £65k for Safer School Playgrounds; (2) in the Environmental Services Capital Programme, acceleration of £22k in the ACE grant scheme; (3) in the Transportation Capital Programme, acceleration of £263k in the Spinal Route project and £3k for Amenity lighting; slippage of £529k for work on the North Ford Causeway and £110k on Alternative Energy Projects; (4) in the Arts and Leisure Capital Programme, slippage of £87k for work at Lews Castle and £60k for work to play areas; (5) in the Policy and Resources Capital Programme, slippage of £61k in work to the Comhairle Offices.
		BUILDINGS
Capital Works: Programme and Progress PR33.01.12	5	With reference to Item 6 of the Minute of Meeting of 13 June 2006 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. Arising out of consideration of this matter it was agreed to recommend that a Report be submitted to the next meeting of the Committee detailing (1) the standards required by the Comhairle in relation to maintenance of play areas where it leases the play area or has provided grant funding; and (2) the standards applied by the Comhairle in relation to maintenance of play areas operated by the Comhairle including, without prejudice to the foregoing generality, details of the inspection regime and the legal position of the Comhairle were an accident to occur.
Repairs and Maintenance (Revenue) Programme 2006/07 – Quarterly Expenditure to 30 June 2006 PR33.01.12	6	With reference to Item 7 of the Minute of Meeting of 13 June 2006 the Director of Technical Services submitted a Report detailing expenditure on repairs and maintenance for properties held on the Arts and Leisure account to 30 June 2006. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle note the Report and note that further Reports on the repairs and maintenance of properties held on the Arts and Leisure Account would continue to be placed before Committee at quarterly intervals.
Accessibility - Museum nan Eilean, Stornoway AL09.01	7	The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report seeking approval for the release of £104,000 currently included in the provisional capital programme to the capital programme to enable necessary adjustments to be made to the Francis Street museum in order to comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. It was agreed to recommend, in so far as interests of the Committee were concerned, that the Comhairle approve the release of £104k from the provisional capital programme to the capital programme for the purposes of the works detailed in the Report to enable the Museum to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
		ARTS
Outer Hebrides Cultural Strategy (2006 - 2010) AL05.08	8	With reference to Item 7 of the Minute of Meeting of 30 August 2005 the Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report seeking adoption of the final draft of the Outer Hebrides Cultural Strategy (2006 – 2010). The Report outlined the national context and the role of local government in developing the Outer Hebrides Cultural Strategy. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle adopt the final draft of the Outer Hebrides Cultural Strategy (2006 - 2010) as detailed in Appendix 1 to the Report. Arising out of consideration of this matter it was agreed to recommend that a Report be submitted to the Policy and Resources Committee detailing the Comhairle’s duties in relation to archiving and the steps being taken to fulfil these duties.
Partnerships for Change: A Strategy and Forward Plan - Museum nan Eilean AL09.01	9	With reference to item 7 of the Minute of Meeting of 14 June 2005 the Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning the adoption of the final draft Strategy and Forward Plan, Partnerships for Change: Meeting the Challenges 2006-09. The Report gave details of the publication and submission of the Strategy for the museum accreditation standard. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle approve: (1) the adoption by the Comhairle of the final draft of "Partnership for Change, Meeting the Challenge 2006 - 2009"; (2) its bilingual publication as an outcome of the Links Project; and (3) its submission as part of the necessary documentation in Stornoway Museum’s application for Accreditation.
Stornoway Town Centre Feature: Competition AL07.01	10	The Director of Technical Services submitted a Report seeking approval for the Comhairle to undertake a competition for the design of the replacement for the pyramid in central Stornoway. The background to the matter was summarised and a brief for the replacement of the pyramid included as an appendix to the Report. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle: (1) approve the holding of a competition for a new feature in Stornoway to replace the existing brick pyramid; (2) approve the Brief as shown in Appendix 2 to the Report including the proposed programme and the Panel membership; (3) nominate Mr Angus Campbell to serve on the Panel; and (4) note that the final funding package and the recommendation of the Panel will be reported to the Comhairle for a decision in December 2006.
Establishment of Post of Creative Links Officer - Scottish Arts Council Creative Links Initiative M02.03	11	A Report was submitted by the Director of Education seeking approval to establish the post of Creative Links Officer to oversee the Creative Links Programme in line with the Scottish Arts Council Education Department initiative. The Report stated that the Creative Links Programme was a key initiative of the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) Education Department and that Creative Links Officers worked at a strategic level to develop high quality arts and creativity practice in Education across Scotland. The Report further stated that the Scottish Arts Council had awarded the Comhairle ‘seed’ funding of £60,000 over the next three years as a contribution towards a full time post. The cost of the post would be in the region of £35,000 per annum, with the match funding each year being made up of £5,000 from the Arts Development budget of the Arts and Leisure Committee and £10,000 from the Education Department (Inclusion Section/Youth Music Initiative). It was agreed, in so far as the Committee’s interests were concerned, to recommend that the Comhairle approve the appointment of a Creative Links Officer AP5/PO2 for a three year fixed term period to create and implement an Arts Education Strategy for the Western Isles and make a contribution of £5k towards the costs of the post.
		SPORT
Support for Local Sports Councils AL06.01	12	The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report seeking approval for continued financial support to the Uist and Barra Sports Council and the Lewis and Harris Sports Council. The Report gave a summary of the background to the matter. It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle approve continued support for the local Sports Councils through devolving £7400 to the Uist and Barra Sports Council and £8500 to the Lewis and Harris Sports Council from the 2006/07 Sports and Games budget in accordance with the recognised financial procedures.
Ionad Spòrs Leòdhais AL02.20	13	With reference to Item 8 of the Minute of Meeting of 2 November 2004 the Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report giving an update on the revenue projections for Ionad Spòrs Leòdhais, seeking approval for an event policy and requesting support for the establishment of a role of honour. The Report gave details of the background to the matter and a draft charging policy for events and commercial lets was appended to the Report. It was agreed to recommend that: (1) the ISL Event and Charging Policy be resubmitted to the next meeting of the Committee providing details of the proposed charging policy and how it was proposed to be applied to particular events and uses of Ionad Spors Leòdhais; and (2) the Chairman and Vice-Chairman be nominated to participate in the Roll of Honour Selection Forum.
		PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Reports Outstanding: Progress PR33.01.12	14	With reference to Item 13 of the Minute of Meeting of 13 June 2006 the Director of Corporate Services submitted a Report concerning the reports outstanding arising from decisions of the Arts and Leisure Committee. It was agreed to recommend that the Report be noted.