Agenda item

Simon Walters, Director of Communities and Environment:

a)    provided Performance Scrutiny Committee with an update on the Let’s Enhance our Remarkable Place Strategic Priority in Vision 2025

b)    gave an overview of the key projects that the Council was progressing:

·       Emergence of an events programme for the city across the year

·       Hope Wood

·       Greening the City Centre

·       Heritage Action Zone

·       Leisure Strategy

·       Boultham Park Phase Two

·       Branding Green Spaces

·       Preparations for new Refuse Collection, Street Cleansing and Grounds Maintenance Service

·       Paper and Card Collections

·       Biodiversity Net Gain

·       St Giles Youth Centre

·       Greyfriars

·       Harlequin

·       Local Landscapes, Hidden Histories

c)    invited comments and questions from Members of the Committee.

Comment: Referred to the new programme of events for 2023 on page 98 of the report. Due to the inclusion of a hyphen, the overall cost to the City Council for the Monster Invasion read as minus £25,000.

Response: Apologies offered for the typo and thanks given for the feedback. Confirmed that the cost to the Council for the Monster Invasion was £25,000.

Question: Thanks given for the report. What was the budget for the programme of events for the 2023 financial year?

Response: £250,000.

Question: What was the budget set for the programme of events planned for the 2024 financial year?

Response: The budget set was £250,000 however it was possible that costs could be higher or lower depending on the shape and structure of the final programme of events, yet to be secured.

Comment: If inflation were to be considered, the 2024 events budget therefore would be a reduced budget when compared with 2023.

Response: Across the city Council there were contractual elements to the budget  that were inflated year on year however those not contractually bound would not be inflated. The actual spend in 2023 was £250,000 and broadly, the budget for 2024 had been set at £250,000 but that figure could be higher once the programme was agreed.

Question: What events were planned for Lincoln in 2024? Were they planned to be the same as 2023 or something new?

Response: 2023 was a pilot year and the development of the events programme was ongoing. Aspirations included the growth of events, if successful, such as the Lincoln Ice Trail and consideration had been given to new events also. More information would be provided further to sign-off from the relevant Portfolio Holder.

Comment: It was positive that a bid had been submitted for funding to aid with the associated running cost of swimming pools.

Response: Two applications had been submitted for support with energy costs. One bid failed. Sport England had not offered clarity on the reasons for failure. It was hoped that the current bid would enable investment in energy efficient measures and also support technology to measure and monitor the water of pools and new swimming pool covers which retained heat overnight.

Comment: Thanks given to officers for all the hard work that had been carried out. At a time where local authorities struggled financially, the continued hard work of officers and the Portfolio Holder had resulted in the continuation of the wonderful facilities available to Lincoln residents. 

RESOLVED that the progress made under the Remarkable Place Vision Strategic Theme be noted.