Issue - items at meetings - Brighton and Hove: Recovery Plan for Culture

Report of the Executive Director Economy, Environment & Culture (copy attached)

RESOLVED: That the Sub-Committee –

(i)             Noted that the culture and creative sectors had been badly affected by the Pandemic for over nine months now, and normal activity levels were not expected to return until the second half of 2021;

(ii)            Noted the key aspects of the Recovery Plan for Culture as laid out in sections 3.4 and 3.5 of the report, which placed the regeneration of livelihoods for thousands of creative workers at centre of a series of projects over 2021 and 2022.

32.1    The Sub-Committee considered the report of the Executive Director Economy Environment & Culture which provided an update on plans for recovery in the culture and creative sectors where the pandemic has had greatest impact. The Executive Director was accompanied by the Assistant Director Culture Tourism & Sport.

32.2    Councillor Platts referred to the Creative Worker Income Guarantee and asked for more information on how that was going as she was aware that many businesses relied on seasonal workers and asked how people could contribute.  The Assistant Director Culture Tourism & Sport said that many people within the culture and creative sectors worked for themselves and they were being affected by the current pandemic, and they felt that their value to the economy was not being recognised. The conversations with them have primarily been to look at this as a research initiative as it will be a complex project and potentially quite expensive.  The Council were looking at working with academic partners to make a joint application for research funding. This would be a long-term initiative, and it was important to meet with the research partners quite quickly with a view to making a bid in the next year.

32.3    Councillor Clare asked if it was anticipated that additional funding would be needed and was advised that the Council were hoping to attract funding for the plan and organisations across the City had been successful in doing that. The Cultural Recovery Fund opened today, and the Council would be holding a supporting training course for organisations, and additional funding sources were likely to be announced by the Government which the Authority would bid for. The Council would like to support the recovery plan but that would be budget based.

32.3    Councillor Miller referred to the five thematic strands and suggested that it would be useful to have to more tangible recommendations with them. With regard to the Creative Worker Income Guarantee, he suggested it might be a distraction and the focus should be on tangible recommendations which would boost the cultural economy in the City. The Assistant Director Culture Tourism & Sport said that the pandemic had highlighted that small businesses or those who work for themselves had been the worst hit and so now was the time to look at the societal impact and benefit on them, and so it was right that this was part of the plan and the research programme.

32.4    Councillor Yates noted that the budget would be agreed in February 2021, but information on Government funding until after that, and so it would not be known how much money would be available when the budget was set. The Assistant Director Culture Tourism & Sport said the Government had provided a lot of money for businesses and it was expected that this would continue, and the Council wanted to be ready to bid for any future funding.

32.5    The Chair said that due to the lockdowns everything was taking longer than usual, but that did give the Council more time to be fully prepared to apply for any funding. He had discussed the funding with the other seven local leaders, at the Greater Brighton Economic Board and through the LEP.

32.6    RESOLVED: That the Sub-Committee –

(i)             Noted that the culture and creative sectors had been badly affected by the Pandemic for over nine months now, and normal activity levels were not expected to return until the second half of 2021;

(ii)            Noted the key aspects of the Recovery Plan for Culture as laid out in sections 3.4 and 3.5 of the report, which placed the regeneration of livelihoods for thousands of creative workers at centre of a series of projects over 2021 and 2022.