Draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S Patel, J Collop, P Beal, D Tyler, D Whitby and C Morley.

Councillors R Blunt and A Ryves.

Councillor Ryves queried if it was appropriate for the meeting to be held in closed session.  The Chair explained that she had sought advice from the Monitoring Officer and it was appropriate for the meeting to be held in closed session due to the detail that was to be discussed.

RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2 or 3 of Part 1 of Scheduled 12A to the Act.

The reconvened meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel and Regeneration and Development Panel considered the outstanding matters from the adjourned meeting held on 30^th March 2022 which was to give consideration to recommendations 1, 6 and 7 as set out in the report.

Tim FitzHigham, Interim Creative Director was present at the meeting and along with officers and the Portfolio Holder for Business, Culture and Heritage, responded to questions and comments from the Panel Members and those attending under Standing Order 34.

Questions and comments related to:

·        Previous applications for funding and why they had been unsuccessful.

·        Commercial elements

·        Leases and tenants, including an overview of protected tenancies and current lease agreements.

·        Flexibility of spaces

·        Collaboration of organisations to ensure a sustainable vision for the future.

·        Catering offering.

·        Branding and Marketing.

·        Consultation with stakeholders and Town Deal Board engagement.

·        The Financial Business Case, contingencies and the importance of being prudent.

·        Educational aspirations.

·        Integration and inclusions and the wider visitor offer for King’s Lynn.

RESOLVED: That the Regeneration and Development Panel and Corporate Performance Panel supported the below recommendations to Cabinet, as set out below:

1.     That Council endorses the Vision Manifesto (appendix 1) and the Business Plan (appendix 3) for the Centre for submission to the Towns Fund and NHLF.

6.   The financial implications of the decisions as set out in section 7 of this report and endorsed and reflected in the Council’s Financial Plan from 2025 onwards.

7.   Delegate authority to the Assistant Director for Property and Projects in consultation with the portfolio Holder for Commercial Property to negotiate and conclude the leases with existing tenants.

The Joint Panels resolved to establish a Task Group to overview the process, be involved in the decision making process and input unto the governance structure.

RESOLVED:

1.     To establish a Task Group comprising 6 Members and the Democratic Services to contact Group Leaders to ask for their Membership.

2.     The Terms of Reference for the Guildhall and Creative Hub Task Group to be agreed by the Chairs of both Panels and reported back to Members.

3.     The Task Group to report back to the Regeneration and Development Panel.  Both the Corporate Performance Panel and Regeneration and Development Panel to receive updates on the Work of the Task Group either via written reports, or for the Corporate Performance Panel to be invited to the meetings of the Regeneration and Development Panel when updates were scheduled to be considered.