Agenda item

To consider a report from the Chief Officer Economy and Culture setting out an update on delivery of the programme in the second half of 2023, governance arrangements and closedown of the Leeds Culture Trust, evaluation and impact, beyond 2023 and funding and sponsorship. This follows consideration of an update report on Leeds 2023 at the Boards meeting on 17 July 2023 and previous consideration of the programme as part of the Board’s work programme over a number of years.

The Board considered a report from the Chief Officer Economy and Culture setting out an update on delivery of the Leeds 2023 programme in the second half of last year, governance arrangements and closedown of the Leeds Culture Trust, evaluation and impact, beyond 2023 and funding and sponsorship. This follows consideration of an update report on Leeds 2023 at the Boards meeting on 17 July 2023.

In Attendance for this item were:

·  Cllr Jonathan Pryor, Executive Member for Economy, Culture & Education

·  Eve Roodhouse, Chief Officer, Culture & Economy

·  Karen Murgatroyd, Executive Manager – Leeds 2023

·  Kully Thiarai, Creative Director and CEO Leeds 2023

·  Abigail Scott Paul, Director of External Relations & Strategic Partnerships Leeds 2023

·  Richard Coram, Director of Finance & Operations Leeds 2023

The Executive Member for Economy, Culture & Education opened the item by passing on thanks for the work done by the Leeds 2023 team, noting that it will be the last time they attend scrutiny albeit the final evaluation report will return later in 2024. The Executive Member noted the hundreds of events that had been delivered, the excellent coverage received for the city and the lasting impact the programme will have in terms of inspiring people and economic benefits.

The Board received a presentation from Leeds 2023 setting out the unique Covid-19 impacted circumstances of the programme, the events that had taken place, the goals of the programme, the local and national media coverage, the partners that had taken part, creative engagement and learning and details on evaluation and legacy.

In response to questions and comments from Board members, the following was discussed:

·  The Board asked about neighbourhood hosts and how they integrated/interacted with existing community groups during 2023 and the plans for future work through communities and the neighbourhood hosts. In response the Board were informed that there will be a direct evaluation with the neighbourhood hosts and there is ongoing discussion between the Council and Leeds 2023 around future plans both through community groups and neighbourhood hosts. It was also noted that The Centre for Cultural Value (Leeds University) is conducting specific research on the neighbourhood hosts that will lead to a detailed, qualitative report on their roles. In addition, the neighbourhood host role was new and learning from it will be passed on to the Council around things that could be changed about the approach taken. It was also noted that plans on this and how to take it forward are still being developed a key issue being around funding of any future activity. The Paul Hamlyn Foundation were also to be approached in regard to funding a continuation of the neighbourhood host scheme, and they retain ambition to develop devolved approaches to this type of activity and understanding the impact of grassroots working. The Board also heard that the impact of the pandemic played a part in how the role developed as people were not allowed to meet in person for much of the planning phase.

·  Members wanted to understand more about the various Boards that have played a part in the governance of the Leeds 2023 project and whether these are available to members to look at minutes and terms of reference with a view to scrutinising the work moving forward. It was noted that these will be available to scrutiny members and can be provided both retrospectively and going forwards.

·  On the evaluation of the project, it was suggested that the organisations involved are culture focussed so it might be better to have more independent evaluation and analysis. In response members heard that the evaluation and research partners were obtained through a transparent procurement exercise and that having expertise in the field was a requirement to get value for money and have the necessary expertise. Some of the organisations, notably Open Innovations, had not been involved in culture projects previously and Leeds 2023 were one of the first culture based evaluations undertaken by them. Funding for evaluation was an issue and a consideration when procurement took place.

·  In response to a question about the Northern Dreaming book that was to be provided to all children born in Leeds in 2023 the Board were informed that these were distributed through libraries, community groups and the book trust. Plans to work with maternity units were limited by GDPR constraints and pressures on maternity wards that made that difficult. A small number of books remain but the vast majority have been distributed, in total 13,000 books were produced to support this element of the project, with a handful of copies left.

·  Noting the plans to continue to employ some Leeds 2023 staff beyond the 2023/24 focussed on closing down the Leeds Culture Trust, will be paid work and that it is accounted for in the closedown plans that are in place.

·  On funding and Hibiscus Rising the Board wanted to know how much of the funding from the Council will be used for landscaping which was part of the £1.83m forward funding provided by the authority. The Board were informed that the landscaping costs moving forward are £46,000 over 15 years and will be provided through Green Spaces within the Council.

·  Members asked about the loan linked to Hibiscus Rising and plans to recoup the loan made by the Council. Concerns were raised about whether the loan will be paid back in full as well as wider concerns about funding and cash flow. The Board were informed that front funding has taken place by the Council whilst the Leeds Culture Trust awaited the funds to come back. The Board were informed that due to the nature of the projects much of the funding is paid after the activity had occurred and that cash flow has been managed appropriately with expenditure matched against the timing of income to ensure cash flow is in place. In addition, it was noted that Trusts and Foundations hold a percentage of funding allocation back until final reports are received usually in the region of 10%.

·  Specifically on the loans question the Board heard that there were different types of loan arrangements included in the funding for Leeds 2023. These included loans linked to tax relief payments. External analysis of the robustness of the tax relief claims has been carried out and advice has been provided on these which means that there is a high degree of confidence that the relief payments will be made. On Hibiscus Rising, reports have been regularly provided to the Readiness Board throughout the process, but it is important to note that it is not the end of the process yet with fund raising going on and significant effort still ongoing to reach the fund raising target. One issue that has been encountered is linked to wider economic issues in Leeds and nationally that have led to some funding applications being unsuccessful due to organisations, trusts and foundations prioritising other grants to address the needs of communities with cost of living issues. The fund raising has not reached the target expected but efforts are still ongoing to reach a higher fund raising figure.

·  Some members were keen to understand more about the number of events delivered through Leeds 2023 with a concern about delivery of value for money. In response it was noted that the final evaluation will provide fuller details on this but for example Leeds 2023 reached schools in each ward in the city and that once feedback is received from partners the number of events will increase and will feature in the planned future report

·  The Board sought clarity on the Hibiscus Rising sculpture costs is it £1.83m or is that cost expected to increase. In response the Board heard that the £1.83m budget will be met. The cost of maintenance and upkeep of the sculpture will be £46k over 15 years and this function will fall to the Green Spaces team.

·  The Board also asked about KPIs on funding and the doubling of funding provided by the Council through other sources. It was confirmed that the £11.9m raised in addition to funding from the Council does double the total amount allocated by the Council, which was £10.6m. Total core funding allocated by the Council was £4.07m with the rest of the funding allocation made up of funding replacement from Gainshare and Business Rate Pool funding.

Resolved:

The Board:

a)  noted the information provided in this report and the progress made.

b)  Noted that a final evaluation report will be provided to the Board in Autumn 2024.