DIDCOT TOWN COUNCIL, ARTS AND GRANTS COMMITTEE, MONDAY 18TH JANUARY 2010, CIVIC HALL, 7.30PM
Admission of the Public and Media
Members of the Public and Media are welcome to attend in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meeting) Act 1960 Section 1 extended by LGA 1972 Section 100.
Public Participation
Public Participation will be strictly in accordance with Standing Order No. 11.
AGENDA
1. Apologies
2. Declarations of Interests – Members are reminded to declare any personal or prejudicial interests on any item on this agenda in accordance with the Didcot Town Council’s code of conduct.
3. Minutes of the Meeting held on 19th October 2009 (not attached, sent out with Council agenda 9th November 2009); and of the Special Meeting held on 9th December 2009 (not attached, tabled at Council 14th December 2009).
4. Questions on the Minutes as to the progress of any item.
5. Didcot Arts Forum (attached)
(a) Minutes
(b) Financial Statement
(c) Expenditure Forecast
6. Didcot Annual Art Exhibition (verbal update from Sue Atkins, Co-ordinator and Philip Pells, Chair of D’Arts)
7. Financial Statement
8. Grant Aid Applications
(a) Applicant: Didcot Volunteer Centre
Project Summary: Ongoing support
Power: Local Government Act 1972, section 137 (Power of Local Authorities to incur expenditure for certain purposes not otherwise authorised)
(b) Applicant: Didcot Ladies Afternoon Group
Project Summary: Room hire at the Civic Hall and public liability insurance
Power: Local Government (Misc Provisions) Act 1976, Section 19 (Power to provide and equip premises for social and recreational purposes)
9. Oxfordshire Touring Network Scheme 2009/10 (report attached)
10. Correspondence
(a) Letter of thanks from the Royal British Legion (Didcot branch)
(b) Letter of thanks from the Didcot Townswomen Guild
Dominic Stapleton
Town Clerk
13th January 2010
MINUTES
317. PRESENT
Councillors:
- Mr T Harbour (Chair)
- Mr A Thompson (Vice-Chair)
- Mrs M Flood
- Capt J Flood
- Mr C Daukes
- Mr B Cooper
Officers:
- Mr S Carter (Deputy Town Clerk)
318. APOLOGIES
Councillors Mr P Hayward (sick) and Mr W Service (work).
319. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were reminded to declare any personal or prejudicial interests on any item on the agenda in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct.
Councillor Mr A Thompson declared a personal interest in Minute 324, the Didcot Arts Forum (DAF) Minutes, financial statement and expenditure forecast, as he is Didcot Town Council’s representative on DAF.
320. MINUTES
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19th October 2009 and the minutes of the special meeting held on 9th December 2009 be approved and signed as a true and correct record.
321. In accordance with Standing Order 15(d) it was RESOLVED to alter the order of business.
322. It was RESOLVED to adjourn the meeting, to allow Mrs Sue Atkins (Didcot Art Exhibition Coordinator) and Mr Philip Pells (D’Arts Representative) to address the committee, in accordance with Standing Order 11.
323. DIDCOT ART EXHIBITION
It was explained that the proposed refurbishment and extension of the Civic Hall would have a direct effect on the exhibition as it could not be guaranteed that the work would be done in time for the August bank holiday, when the exhibition takes place.
It was further explained that there were three options, cancel the event in 2010, find another location to host it or move the exhibition forward so that it takes place before the planed closure.
It was commented that the exhibition had significant momentum and that cancelling it could be detrimental in the long run. Logistically, hosting the exhibition at an alternative venue to the Civic Hall would be problematic. Therefore the preferred option would be to host the event earlier in the year depending on Civic hall availability.
It was RESOLVED to reconvene the meeting.
RESOLVED that the Annual Art Exhibition be held prior to the Civic Hall closing, preferably on the 18th – 20th June 2010.
The Chair thanked Mrs Atkins and Mr Pells for attending and all the hard work they undertake to make the Annual Art Exhibition the ongoing success it is.
Clerk’s Note: The 18th – 20th June has been confirmed as available by the Civic Hall.
324. DIDCOT ARTS FORUM (DAF)
The Minutes of the DAF meeting 4th November 2009, financial statement and expenditure forecast were circulated to members.
No members of DAF were present to answer any questions.
It was commented that the DAF accounts were not presented in the most user friendly way and that it would be of some assistance if the actual income and expenditure were set out side by side.
NOTED
325. FINANCIAL STATEMENT
The financial statement for month 9 was circulated.
NOTED
326. GRANT AID APPLICATIONS
Ongoing support
RECOMMENDED that the decision is deferred pending further information regarding the amount of money in their account and whether it is to be used for a specific purpose, and clarification of regarding the reimbursement for drivers’ income, disbursement to drivers’ expenditure and subscriptions and fees expenditure.
(b) Didcot Ladies Afternoon Group
Room hire at the Didcot Civic Hall and public liability insurance.
RECOMMENDED that this request for grant aid be declined.
327. OXFORDSHIRE TOURING NETWORK SCHEME 2009/10
A report was circulated explaining that the Touring Scheme had been re-launched. This had replaced the Live and Local scheme that had been in place in 2008/09.
The report stated that the new scheme had provided a menu detailing all the shows that were available to book. Unfortunately, an administration error on the their part had meant the menu had not been received by Didcot Town Council until December 2009 and as the menu was for Winter 2009 to Spring 2010 many of the shows were no longer available.
RECOMMENDED that Didcot Town Council do not promote a show as part of the current scheme, but that the council continues to be involved with view to promoting a show following the Civic Hall’s reopen.
328. CORRESPONDENCE
(a) Royal British Legion (Didcot branch)
Letter of thanks for recent grant for the Remembrance Day service and parade.
NOTED
(b) Didcot Townswomen Guild
Letter of thanks for recent grant
NOTED
(c) Assisted Reading for Children in Oxfordshire (ARCh)
Letter expressing thanks for considering their grant application at a previous meeting. Further to this, apologising to the Council following a complaint made by a head teacher who was not happy that they named their school in the application, when there was no agreement for their volunteers to work in that school and any offense that this may have caused.
NOTED
The Meeting commenced at 7.30pm and closed at 8.25pm
Chair
