Minutes:
The Chair welcomed the Committee to CAPA College and thanked the College for hosting the meeting. The Chair welcomed the new members of the Committee who were confirmed at the Combined Authority Annual Meeting on 23 June 2022 including:
· Nicky Chance-Thompson (The Piece Hall)
· Nathan Clark (Brudenell Social Club)
· WiekeEringa (Yorkshire Dance)
· Halima Khan (Street Games)
· Sam Nicholls (Music Local)
· Leigh-Anne Stradeski (Eureka! Halifax)
· Ben Walmsley (University of Leeds, Centre for Cultural Value)
It was also highlighted that the name of the Committee had changed from the ‘Culture, Arts and Creative Industries Committee’ to the ‘Culture, Heritage and Sport Committee’ to better reflect the nature and scope of the Committee’s work.
The Chair provided an update to the Committee on good news from around West Yorkshire from the sectors represented since the last Committee meeting in March:
· Bradford has been awarded City of Culture for 2025. The Committee passed on their congratulations to everyone involved in the bid.
· Women’s Rugby League continues to grow and a league record crowd was at Elland Road to watch Leeds Rhinos vs St. Helens. Birkenshaw Bluedogs under-13s won the Bradford cup final at Odsal stadium, the team formed during lockdown with 18 out of 20 girls new to Rugby League.
· International cricket returned to Headingley stadium in Leeds. The Chair congratulated Yorkshire County Cricket Club for their ongoing work to make Headingley a safe and inclusive place to enjoy test match cricket.
· Impact Hub Bradford partnership launched a £6.6m Social investment Fund.
· Ageless Festival by Yorkshire Dance welcomed international guests and local community participants to celebrate age and aging. The youngest performer was aged 2 and the oldest aged 92. Another Ageless festival is planned for 2024.
· Slung Low is partnering with international property developer CEG to create a new artist development space on Bath Road, Holbeck as part of the Temple Development. The space will house office space for the region’s young and emerging artists and companies. The site will also host an outdoor stage that will present performances. The venue will operate on a Pay What You Decide basis.
· Screen Yorkshire reported that nearly 900 days of work were secured for local freelancers in the first quarter of 2022 through our crewing service. Filming days were up nearly 40% from 2020-21 and the upward trend continues in 2022.
· The documentary ‘A Bunch of Amateurs’ premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest. The film was supported with investment from Screen Yorkshire won the audience award at the festival.
· Yorkshire Sculpture Park celebrates 45 years this year and will be celebrating with a piece by Roger Hiorns at the park.
· Thackray Medical Museum is 25 years old this year and audience numbers are recovering especially amongst schools, 3300 students visited in the first quarter of 2022/23 – compared to 641 during the same period last year.
· Leeds Art University have been able to have end-of-year exhibitions, shows, performances and events in person this year - along with in-person graduation ceremonies.
· Leeds Beckett University launched a film to mark the opening of the Leeds School of Arts building, centred around a poem ‘When I feel like I’m sinking’ by Leeds Beckett graduate, Zodwa Nyon.
· Lewis Everest and Lewis Barn, both graduates from MSc Sound and Music for Interactive Games at Leeds School of Arts won Baftas for sound design at the Bafta Games awards. Another graduate, Jessie, performed at Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
The Chair also updated the Committee on ongoing work through the Creative New Deal:
· Bradford Literature Festival 2022 has taken place and was a great success. The Combined Authority supported the whole programme with £250k in grant funding.
· The Young Poet Laureate Project has continues to be scoped and refined with the Education team, specifically to ensure it:
o Delivers maximum benefit to all schools and pupils who participate
o Raises awareness of pathways into the creative industries
o Is see as an attractive proposition for schools and teachers and compliments the national curriculum.
· The CA approved Kirklees Year of Music business case on June 23 without further request for information, and can now move to delivery phase, with a budget of £850,000, which will support a range of music activities that will enrich the lives of our communities, develop skills, create jobs and support the local economy.
· Leeds City Council have submitted a business case for Leeds 2023 to the Combined Authority for approval at the meeting on 22 July 2022.
· On the 18 May the Combined Authority wrote to all Committee members making them aware of the new UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and the requirement by Government to establish the new UKSPF West Yorkshire Local Partnership Advisory Group (LPG) to ensure the Authority engage with a range of partners. Members of the Committee Alan Lane, Sam Keighley and Catherine Mitchell were put forward to join the group. Each Local authority is also sending a representative to LPG, and Cllr Jonathan Pryor of Leeds will represent elected members of the Culture, Heritage and Sport Committee. There will be a regular agenda item on future Committee agendas for these members to update the Committee.
· The Create Growth Fund is a fund from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport that aims to make high-growth Creative Industries SMEs investment-ready for angel investors and venture capital. The Combined Authority, in collaboration with Local Authority colleagues, submitted an Expression of Interest on 7 July which focused on the potential of our clusters in screen, gaming, textiles and music, and we await the outcome.
Catherine Mitchell provided background to the Committee on the Arts Council England relocate fund which aims to help National Portfolio Organisations relocate out of London. This fund could have an impact on the West Yorkshire culture sector if organisations choose to relocate to the region.
Nigel Harrison from Yorkshire Sport Foundation gave a brief update to the Committee including:
o The British Transplant Games 2022 will take place in Leeds at the end of July.
o The Birmingham 2022 Queen’s Baton Relay came to Leeds on 12 July.
o Activity levels reduced through the Covid-19 pandemic but levels are starting to recover. West Yorkshire has a higher rate of activity than the national average.
o £1.8m has been awarded to some areas of Leeds, Wakefield and Kirklees through the Active through Football programme from Sport England.
The Chair thanked Catherine Mitchell and Nigel Harrison for their updates.