Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Brown and Phipps.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Formal notification had been received appointing Councillor Dedman as substitute for Councillor Phipps and Councillor Matthews as substitute for Councillor Brown.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Councillor Beesley declared his role as an observer on the BHLive Board, as referred to in the report. Councillor Williams declared his position as Member, Arts Councill Southwest. Councillor Brooke declared his role as a Board member of Bournemouth Development Company.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 29 July 2021.

In response to a question from a member of the Committee relating to the LGA peer challenge it was noted that the further information requested at the meeting had not been circulated and that the requested information would be set out as an informative at the foot of the minutes of this meeting.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee on 29 July 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s2305/Public%20Items%20-%20Meeting%20Procedure%20Rules.pdf 

The deadline for the submission of public questions is four clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a public statement is midday on the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is ten working days before the meeting.

There were no public issues.

This report updates Members on the contractual and governance arrangements between BCP Council and BHLive and BHLive Enterprises, which provides a range of leisure, conferencing and cultural services on behalf of the Council.

The Committee received a report prepared and presented by the Chief Executive of BHLive and the BCP Council Service Director for Destination and Culture. The Chairman reminded Members that the role and scope of the Committee was limited to consideration and assessment of the processes and arrangements in place for the governance of BHLive.

The report also included, as an Appendix, a previous report to the Committee in July 2020. There was therefore the opportunity for the Committee to check back on progress made against the issues that had been identified for action at that time. Specifically, these had included introduction of an annual reporting process to the BCP Council Overview and Scrutiny Board; the introduction of an ‘open book’ accounting style; the introduction of further clarity about the role of elected Councillors on the BHLive Board and the embedding within BCP Council of the identified contract management arrangements.

The steps taken to address each of these items was set out and explained to the Committee. Particularly highlighted was the temporary measure, currently being undertaken by the Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee, to take on a role as an independent observer of the BHLive Board.

The legal position was also set out. This included appraisal of potential for conflict between the role of an elected Councillor and the statutory requirements imposed upon an appointed member of a Company Board. The Companies Act requirements were explained and the nature of the statutory duties imposed on Board members, in contrast to the role of a Councillor, were set out and explained. The Committee discussed the relative merits and disadvantages of elected Councillors sitting on Boards.

The report continued with an overview of the contractual and governance arrangements as set out in the original 2010 contract establishing BHLive and now also considered within the context of recent activities and challenges and the strategic direction for BHLive going forward. It was reported that the pattern of governance at BHLive largely followed an established model operating within other areas of the country with BHLive Enterprises delivering the commercial elements, such as conferences, whilst the main Board had responsibility as a charity for delivering the core service to the public.

Recently revised governance arrangements, together with an indication of their regularity of occurrence, were set out in table format including particularly comments about the point of contact between BCP Council and BHLive and the governance frameworks around facility management; financial reporting; Partnership liaison; Political oversight and arrangements for operation of the Strategic Partnership Board. The implications and effects of the pandemic and the financial effects within the Leisure sector were fully explained.

In response to questions from Members to the specialist Officers, the style and frequency of monitoring meetings were explained including description of the format and membership of the Strategic Partnership Board which underpinned the main Board and met in sync with it to provide liaison at senior officer level and feed back to the Board. There was also regular involvement with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.