Scottish Government

DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 02 OCTOBER 2006 AT COSLA HEADQUARTERS, HAYMARKET, EDINBURGH

Members were welcomed to the third meeting of the Cultural Planning and Entitlements Working Group.

Attendees:

Douglas Paterson (Aberdeen City Council)
Ian Hooper (Glasgow City Council)
Joanne Orr (Scottish Museums Council)
Fiona Bradley (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities)
John Travers (North Ayrshire Council - for Association of Directors of Education Services)
Elaine Fulton (Scottish Library and Information Council)
Rod Stone (Aberdeenshire Council)

Scottish Executive Secretariat:

Leslie Evans - Chair (SEED)
Angela Saunders (SEED)
Sue Selwyn (SEED - Seconded from Falkirk Council)
Kerry Jardine (SEED)
Gillian Miller (SEED)

Apologies: Steve Grimmond, Councillor Graham Garvie, Caroline Docherty.

2. Minutes of previous meeting - matters arising

2.1 The Minutes of the second meeting were agreed with the following amendments:

· Under Point 2.3, the members agreed that the minutes of the working groups meetings should be available on their organisations' websites. Some members had already actioned this point.

· JO wished the record to reflect that at the last meeting she offered to host a meeting / seminar for the collections bodies.

3 Paper 2 - Work plan update report

SS gave a brief update on actions since the last meeting. The following points were discussed:

· The group was advised that the first meeting of the QA sub group would be on 27 October;

· Following meetings with the DCMS pathfinders, SS agreed to write a paper on the learning from her visits;

· Key messages from her meetings included -

o Challenges regarding partnership, project management, and ways to deliver continuity when staff leave a project

o The need for clearly set objectives

o The need for a co-ordinated approach to data gathering and evaluation

· It was noted that the guidance would be completed in first draft around the end of October and would be circulated for members' comments very soon thereafter. There would be a short window in which to comment, initially by 'phone or email, before the 'clearance meeting' on 13 November.

· RS commented that the new arrangements should be citizen-led, not service-led, and the guidance should be clear about that. LE added that the arrangements should relate to outcomes and QA, but would not be prescriptive.

· LE asked the members to ensure that the networks and organisations that they represent had considered how to approach the consultation exercise. To ensure a robust and stimulating consultation, she reminded the group that their task was to contribute to guidance that would help explain in more detail provisions in the Bill, and related policy aspirations.

· AS said it was hoped the published guidance would include a skeletal QA tool, to demonstrate a strategic format for this activity.

ACTION:

FB agreed to try and book a meeting room at COSLA for 2pm on 13 November.

SS to disseminate paper on pathfinder visits.

4 Awareness raising/information sharing - update from members of Working Group

LE asked the group what level / quality / accuracy of awareness there was within the local authority sector and amongst cultural stakeholders.

4.1 JO advised that there was debate at a practical level i.e. how to better integrate the entitlements agenda for service providers and how to embed culture as part of other service delivery areas, like education.

4.2 There was discussion around the issue of embedding culture in areas of high deprivation and the associated barriers to access.

4.3 There was also discussion on the educational experience, and the difficulties in finding time in the curriculum for cultural activity. The role of the cultural co-ordinator was highlighted as a positive way of embedding culture into the school day.

4.4 The approach taken by the Youth Music Initiative was highlighted; that requires that every child must be provided for; it is not possible for the service provider (i.e. the school) to opt out or provide a generally available service. JT commented that Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) groups found culture a particularly effective route to engagement.

5 Paper 3 - Draft Guidance discussion paper

SS gave a brief introduction to her paper. This had previously been read and noted by the group.

5.1 10 of the 12 proposed telephone interviews, which aimed to explore the level of understanding of entitlements within local authorities, had been carried out. SS had found these to be very useful. Further interviews were anticipated but no dates confirmed.

5.2 LE confirmed that the principles of the culture policy needed to harmonise as far as possible with those of sport - language would be important. She stressed that the Community Planning Partnerships and relevant partners needed to engage with entitlements work. RS noted the challenge to have culture better understood and valued at corporate level.

SS put some questions to the group:

• 1 Are there any other issues which were not raised in the body of the paper?

· JT highlighted rurality (and transport) as an issue which had not been mentioned. SS agreed and advised that she was aware that this was important and could have been brought out more in the paper.

· There was discussion on outcome-focused Standards; how their relationship with Entitlements could be stressed; how they had a 'circular' role from planning, to provision, to monitoring. to evaluation.

· It was discussed that heritage is sometimes the property of the community - where connected with collective memory - and not concerned with physical holdings.

• 2 Challenging issues - general call for the members' experience in terms of good practice

· It was noted that this would be discussed further at agenda item 6.

• 3 Discussions with National Companies / Collections - How could members help take this work forward?

· JO reiterated her offer to arrange a seminar/meeting to discuss this agenda with the National Collections; which was gratefully accepted.

· The Scottish Arts Council would be invited to do the same for the national performing companies and other relevant bodies.

· The best time for these meetings was agreed as being once the guidance/Bill consultation had been launched. However, efforts should be made to encourage these stakeholders to start thinking now about their specific contributions and responsibilities for delivery, going beyond what they were currently doing.

· LE highlighted the need to go beyond the pathways that are well trodden in terms of engagement with the 'Nationals' and called for open collaboration between all parties.

· EF mentioned a library entitlements card being developed by the SLIC and the National Library of Scotland, to cover all libraries.

• 4 How to engage with the Education sector?

· JT advised that the entitlements agenda could be discussed with head-teachers and Learning and Teaching Scotland.

· This discussion again highlighted the importance of Cultural Planning Partnerships, which should consider the agenda across the range of relevant strategies, such as NEET. When the consultation was launched, Cultural Planning Partnerships should be encouraged to get their lead partners to respond too, and to make joined-up responses - e.g. across social work and community services.

ACTION:

Once the guidance/Bill consultation had been launched, SMC and SAC would arrange seminars, respectively, to discuss the implications with stakeholders in their sectors.

SS and AS would mention the desirability for CPPs and their partners to respond to the guidance/Bill consultation jointly, when they met the Community Planning Partnership Network.

Group members would lead discussions of the entitlements and cultural planning agenda with members of their networks (e.g. ADES and CoSLA's Executive Group). They would report back to the working group.

• 5 Comments regarding inspection regimes

· It was agreed that this would be included in the remit for the QA sub group.

6 Paper 4 - Good Practice template

There was discussion on the need to start gathering examples of good practice to include in the guidance. Each member was asked to complete at least one copy of the template as a way of illustrating relevant 'good practice' examples that they were aware of.

6.1 LE suggested that it would be helpful if they could include examples of where culture has been embedded as part of a wider agenda.

6.2 LE also stressed that the SE was reliant on the members' expertise in this regard.

ACTION:

All members would provide their good practice examples to the Secretariat by the end of October 2006.

7 Paper 5 - Cultural Pathfinders - recommending selection of bids for submission to Minister

LE noted that there had been an impressive number of pathfinder bids. In total, 26 local authorities had indicated an interest in being involved in the programme.

7.1 Bids had been assessed according to the following criteria:

Weighted criteria:

• What sector(s) of the population were they targeting specifically?
• What experience did they have of providing cultural opportunities specifically targeted at the needs of those under-represented groups?
• Would they be working in partnerships with other LA(s) or CPP(s)?
• Would they bring cultural planning into the Pathfinder?
• Would they secure the engagement of other departments, elected members of the LA, and the CPP?
• Would they ensure effective community consultation, and involvement of relevant sections of the community in delivering the pathfinders, to inform development of cultural entitlements?
• Are they committed to quality and evaluation?
• Do they have plans for sustainability?

Not Weighted, but fully considered within the assessment:

· Proposed methodology

· Project start date (length of project - and was it a new or continuation project?)

· Deliverability

· Match funding

· Value for money

7.2 Before discussing the content of the pathfinder applications, the members were asked to declare their interest in the applications. Declarations of interest were:

7.3 AS noted that the Scottish Adult Learning Partnership (SALP) had submitted a pathfinder application. AS asked the members if they were content for that application, which would potentially involve as many as 8 local authorities, to be considered. The members agreed.

7.4 AS suggested that a network of pathfinder local authorities could be a useful resource to share learning. The members agreed.

7.5 Members agreed that some funds should be kept aside in case a local authority had a new idea for an innovative project in the future, or there was a desire to fill 'gaps'.

7.6 AS stated that there would be sufficient funds kept aside to part fund perhaps a couple of further projects. She would provide those budget details to the group.

7.7 It was agreed that those local authorities which had been successful might be encouraged to partner with a neighbouring authority that had not been successful, or that had not applied, to identify if there was any scope for them to work together

7.8 Members were happy to agree the recommendations of the secretariat with the following caveats:

· Sufficient budget set aside to help fund at least 1 other pathfinder

· There should be effective periodic monitoring of the projects i.e. progress, and evaluation milestones/reporting all agreed in advance

· Local authorities running pathfinders should be encouraged to work with national cultural bodies as appropriate.

7.9 It was agreed that the local authorities who had submitted a successful pathfinder application should be asked to fill out the template discussed at item 6 of this minute. These templates would be used to raise general awareness across Scotland and to encourage networking.

ACTION:

The additional information members had asked for would be sent by the secretariat ASAP. Thereafter, members would signal any concerns as quickly as possible. Meantime, the secretariat would prepare a submission for the Minister's approval.

8 AOCB and date of next meeting

It was noted that the secretariat proposed a change of date for the next meeting. 13 November 2006 at 2 pm was agreed and, if possible, the meeting would be held at COSLA.

LE urged all members to attend if possible at what would be a crucial and time sensitive stage of the project.

ACTION:

FB to confirm availability of meeting room at COSLA.

Members to confirm attendance ASAP.

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

CULTURAL PLANNING AND ENTITLEMENTS WORKING GROUP SECRETARIAT

OCTOBER 2006