Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any declarations of interest by members of the Council in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer before the meeting.

Councillor March noted that she was a member of the Amelia Scott Board of Trustees. Councillor Hamilton noted that she was a member of Kent County Council which was a party to the Amelia Scott collaboration agreement. However, neither constituted a beneficial interest.

To note any members of the Council wishing to speak, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Meeting Procedure Rule 18, and which items they wish to speak on.

There were no Visiting Members registered to speak.

To approve the minutes of a previous meeting as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.

Councillor Ms Palmer advised that she did send her apologies for the meeting on 21 August 2019 but this had been omitted from the minutes.

RESOLVED –

1.    That minute COM9/19 be amended to show that apologies were received from Councillor Ms Palmer; and

2.    That, subject to the above amendment, the minutes of the meeting dated 21 August 2019 be approved as a correct record.

To note the Board’s forward work programme as attached.

Members considered the work programme.  No amendments were proposed.

RESOLVED – That the Work Programme as at 04 September 2019 be noted.

To consider and provide a recommendation to Cabinet on the proposals set out in the attached report.

Jeremy Kimmel, Audience Development Manager, introduced the report which included the following points:

·         Public consultation undertaken between 1 July and 16 August 2019.  Minor amendments followed, but overall, general support for the guidance was received.

·         If the Guidance was adopted, work would continue with the Planning Department to create appropriate processes for the use of monies received from Section 106 funds for the purpose of delivering Public Art that offered best value for money.

·         If approved, it would take effect immediately following Full Council on 24 October 2019.

Discussion included the following points:

·         Following a concern that the money allocated to Public Art could be diverted towards building costs (e.g. Amelia Scott), it was confirmed that this was not its intention. Money was intended for programmes that would increase arts provision rather than for physical capital construction work.

·         Guidance would seek to promote the use of local talent, and the encouragement of a wider audience that would offer the best potential to benefit the economy of the community.

·         The wider audience would include liaison with the Planning Committee, artist networks, adverts on Council portals and commissioning portals, with an assurance that local businesses were able to access those portals. Where appropriate there would be opportunities for engagement with local schools.

RESOLVED – That the recommendation set out in the report be supported.

To consider and provide a recommendation to Cabinet on the proposals set out in the attached report.

William Benson, Chief Executive introduced the report which included the following points:

·         This was a joint project with Kent County Council since 2015 – Successful funding applications received from Arts Council England for just under £900,000 and just under £4.3m from National Heritage Lottery Fund.

·         Tender exercise undertaken which had resulted in appointment of Wilmott Dixon Interiors to undertake the second stage tender – who in turn tendered the work packages to their supply chain, final sum submitted of £12.1m (excess of the original estimated cost of £8.4m as at September 2018).  To try and mitigate some of the excess costs, additional work was undertaken (as detailed in the report), with the outcome of a final shortfall of  just under £1.6m.

·         To manage the shortfall, it was proposed to seek additional contributions from partners – Kent County Council had agreed an additional sum of £400,000, TWBC would also seek to match that sum. A further request would be made to the National Heritage Lottery Fund with the outcome expected early 2020. Total fundraising was expected to raise between £1m to £1.5m.

·         Further tender for the interpretation of the collection – ensure collection was displayed in an enticing and appropriate manner internally.

·         Museum decant was complete, Adult Education decant was almost complete, library service scheduled to move to Royal Victoria Place Shopping Centre on 11 November 2019.

·         Activity Plan underway which would continue to grow as building was developed.

Discussion included the following points:

·         Further clarification was requested regarding where/why costs had risen. Contract ‘bundling’ accounted for some additional costs – lower costs were achieved by separating materials into individual component parts.

·         The procurement process had now been completed and an extensive survey of the building had been undertaken. Contingency was also included within the budget with some provisional sums also captured to take account of any issues that might arise. As such, the budget was as robust as it was possible to be – the price was a compliant price as far as the contract was concerned.

·         There were a number of mitigating factors that resulted in the cost increase from £8.4m to £12.1m that included currency fluctuations and an increase in construction, product and material costs. To ensure that revised costs submitted were appropriate, the Project Board commissioned a validation exercise of the figures that had been received.  The exercise confirmed that the costs were broadly in line with current prices.

·         In considering the overall funding, a benchmark was established to determine the extent of value engineering that would be acceptable so that there was no detrimental effect to the project as whole. Excessive value engineering would contravene the conditions as set out by the National Heritage Lottery Fund putting their funding contribution at risk.

·         Further cost reductions could result in the delivery of an entirely different project.

·         The funding gap was reconfirmed at just under £1.6m. This took into account the cost increases that were included in the report.

·         Although there were no detailed costs available if the  ...  view the full minutes text for item COM23/19

To consider any other items which the Chairman decides are urgent, for the reasons to be stated, in accordance with Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business.

To note that the date of the next scheduled meeting is Wednesday 13 November 2019 at 6.30pm.

The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 13 November 2019.

Exempt by virtue of paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended): Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person including the authority holding that information.

The matter to which the exempt appendices relate was decided in public session taking the exempt information as read.