| OSC.376 | Councillor Walker declared a personal interest in Minute OSC.378 below, Destination Management, as a Member of the East Lancashire Railway Trust and as a Member of Bury Football Club. |
| OSC.377 | There were no questions asked from the public present at the meeting under this item. |
| OSC.379 | The Cabinet Member for Leisure, Tourism and Culture and the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Regeneration submitted a report providing an update on the Plan for Change reviews in respect of Leisure, Parks and Countryside, Environmental Services, Highways, Adult learning and CCTV. It was explained that the reviews had various timescales in place, with some such as the Libraries review, being a more complex process in order to ensure that all legal requirements are complied with. Review teams are in place and have been tasked to put forward a sustainable, long term vision for each service area.
During discussion of the review report, the Chair, Councillor Hankey, expressed concerns in relation to the timescales for the reviews and stressed the need for the Committee to have detailed information in order to have input into the ongoing reviews. The Cabinet Member for Leisure, Tourism and Culture explained that the report suggested the formation of working groups due to the scale and number of ongoing reviews.
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| OSC.380 | A report by the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism was submitted outlining the Council’s co-ordinating and enabling role in Destination Management for the borough. The report set out proposals for new arrangements to support this area of work and requested approval to the proposals for consultation with stakeholders. It was explained that the report would be submitted to Cabinet on 10 October for decision.
Questions and comments were invited from Members of the Committee and the following issues were raised:
• Councillor Walker commented that the Tourist Information Centre was an asset to the Borough and stressed the value of face to face interaction.
• With regard to the proposed consultations, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that on line consultation should only be one part of the process and undertook to meet with all interested parties and stakeholders.
• Councillor O’Hanlon commented that without detailed financial information it was not possible to judge whether the tourism service was providing value for money.
• In response to questions concerning the setting up of a dedicated Visit Bury website, the Cabinet Member acknowledged the need for ongoing maintenance and the importance of the site being kept fully up to date and monitored. It is envisaged that the site would link with the Marketing Manchester.
The Chair, Councillor Hankey, invited members of the public present at the meeting to ask questions or make comments and the following issues were raised:
• Alex Stacy, Chair of the Whitefield Business Group, paid tribute to the work undertaken by Town Centre Managers to support local the business community across the Borough. He expressed concern that the report did not set out detail of potential job losses and the impact this would have on business development work in the community. The Cabinet Member referred to the large number of events held across the Borough and highlighted the need to look at how these events can continue to be supported and remain sustainable in the future.
• Colonel Brian Gorski, representing the Fusiliers Museum, highlighted the role played by the Tourist Information Centre in developing the tourism quarter in Bury and its integral role within the Fusiliers Museum. Colonel Gorski commented that the proposed changes could jeopardise future funding streams particularly in respect of Heritage Lottery Funding.
• A number of people present at the meeting expressed concerns over the potential job losses resulting from the proposals and warned that cuts to the service would result in a greater reduction in income in the long term.
During discussion of this item, the Cabinet Member restated that the recommendation was to consult on the proposals in the report and re-affirmed that she was keen to meet with all interested parties and stakeholders as part of any consultation process.
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| OSC.381 | The Committee considered a presentation from the Executive Director of Resources on Bury’s proposed Council Tax Support Scheme. The presentation set out the following information:
The Council currently administers on behalf of the government, a scheme for providing support with Council Tax costs, to people on low incomes; Council Tax Benefit.
The Government is legislating to ‘localise’ the scheme whilst at the same time imposing a 10% reduction in the amount of funding provided. The Council would lose funding of around £1.4 million a year.
The Government has stipulated that benefit must not be reduced for pensioners, cuts in funding would have to be concentrated on the remainder of the caseload.
The scheme would be operational by 1st April 2013 and the final scheme needs full Council approval by 31st January 2013. Public Consultation would take place between 4th September and 31st October 2012.
In addition to the Council tax freeze and the cost of the cut to the Council Tax Support, the Council must find an additional £9.8 million of savings.
The local scheme should aim to protect vulnerable people in the borough from the effect of the changes. The new scheme should contain a mixture of measures with the aim of spreading the effect of government cuts.
During discussion of this item, the Executive Director clarified that the Single Persons Discount was a statutory requirement. With regard to the issue of Council Tax avoidance by landowners who demolish buildings on brownfield sites, the Executive Director explained that the issue was something to be addressed at a national level.
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