Agenda item

To consider a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources, copy attached as item 12

The Committee had a report before it, attached as item 12, which had been circulated to all Members, a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes. This report set out background information on the Portfolio of the Worthing Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure to enable the Committee to consider and question the Cabinet Member on issues within her portfolio and any other issues which the Cabinet Member was involved in or connected with the work of the Council and the Worthing communities.

A Member asked, “With the council's long term ambitions to pass power and control over to what happens within communities, to communities: can you talk the committee through the process of how the Worthing Festival is organised and what control do members of the community, including those that volunteer their time to support engagement, have in decision making?”

Members were informed since the inception of the Worthing Festival in 2023, the Council had always indicated they would encourage community participation and control in how the Festival is delivered and shaped. An Arts Forum, made up of over 50 creative individuals and organisations, helped contribute to the inaugural Festival at a series of workshops through 2022/23, which led to the brilliant week the previous year.

However, a lot of learnings had been taken from the year following a comprehensive ‘evaluation report’. Recommendations from this report would take a number of years to deliver, however for 2024 the focus was on how to establish a greater connection to young people (as participants and audience), business engagement and enabling ‘the network’ to support each other. The coming year, the Council had the support of a number of individuals from the community, aligned to the aforementioned, who were actively helping to deliver the 2024 Festival. Again, the Arts Forum had heavily influenced the direction for that year. 

In the future, the hope was that the Council could become even more of an enabler around the Festival and the community take full ownership of how this was delivered, knowing the Council was supportive.

A Member asked, “In your briefing to the committee you talk of the fact that sports participation hasn't returned to its pre-covid levels. You also highlight the development of a stakeholder group across Sports & Leisure to develop a plan. How will members of this group be identified and selected and what time frame is estimated for the establishment of it?”

Members were informed that over the previous 12 months, the Council had focused on the creation of an Arts Forum to ensure the Council was supporting the cultural sector in the best way possible. This was the focus and priority for 2023, however as that was now established, they would start looking at a similar forum around sport and leisure. 

A good basis to work from was in place as Officers compiled a list in 2022/23 regarding the range of sport and leisure clubs available across Worthing. As with the Arts Forum, they would first be asking as many groups/clubs as possible whether they would like the Council to facilitate a ‘forum’ and, if yes, what would they like to see and get from it. This would be important to make sure the forum had integrity and value. 

The Cabinet Member anticipated they would look to establish the group, if that’s what the community wanted, from April onwards as there was awareness there was a lot of work currently being prioritised in those teams that supported the sport and leisure sector. However, they would ensure they continued to identify as many sports clubs and groups as possible over the course of the next few months who may be interested in being part of this group and, equally, if fellow Members were aware of any organisations who may be interested, to get in contact.

A Member asked, “I'm aware there has been some work done with the LGBTQ+ community on ensuring Worthing Pride is an inclusive community event that encourages maximum participation. It was disappointing to see the hoardings erected around Pride this year, which many commented on social media were unattractive and gave the impression that if you couldn't afford to pay for the event, you were not welcome. Could you give some more detail on what conversations are continuing to take place with our LGBTQ+ community about Worthing Pride and what improvements can be made for future events to provide more sense of inclusivity and openness?”

Members were informed the Council continued to work closely with the event organisers of Worthing Pride, including a thorough post event review. By working collaboratively with Worthing Pride the Council had ensured the popular Pride Procession continued to form an integral part of the wider Pride celebrations, at little or no cost to participants. Member engagement with the borough’s LGBTQ+ community informed the Council’s feedback to Worthing Pride ensuring the continual improvement of this pivotal event for Worthing. Through the council’s events application process and officer support, communities were encouraged to celebrate the annual Pride month and many town centre businesses had taken the opportunity to show their shared support through sponsorship of the Pride Procession, ‘after-parties’ and the flying of the freedom flag. With regard to the use of solid fencing at the previous year’s Worthing Pride event, the primary reason for the use of shielded fencing was a security measure. In addition to this solid fencing shielded the view of the portable toilets and helped to shield the surrounding buildings from the sound generated at the event by both people and amplified music. 

Thoughts on how Worthing Pride could be further improved were always welcome.

A Member asked, “It's good to see Brooklands Cafe is finally set to open. Could you tell us what has led to the delay of that concession opening and the missed opportunity for people to use and enjoy the cafe over the Summer months?”

Members were informed the Council was delighted that the Brooklands Cafe was now open and the operator was seemingly very pleased and busy. But, as indicated, there was a delay in opening and this was fundamentally down to the Council not receiving assurances from the contractor regarding final works (including obtaining a new electrical supply and contractor issues with resources and supply chains) and a delay in the necessary warranties, for the work, being provided from the appointed contractor. The Council had already undertaken a ‘lessons learnt’ workshop, with appropriate Officers, to try and mitigate this happening in the future.

A Member asked how events across Worthing Pride might cater for those with special needs in the same way that Worthing theatres and museums had. Members were informed that while the focus had been on the Pride event itself, they were unsure what else was available and that if any information came through it would become available. Members were also advised that they would contact community groups that already exist to support those people and see what could be done.