Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Horne.

There were no declarations of interest.

Purpose of report

The report presents Portsmouth Museums Strategy - 'Unlocking Potential Transforming Lives' - with the changes made following consultation.

RECOMMENDED

That the amended Portsmouth Museums Strategy is approved, incorporating the amendments described in paragraphs 4.4, 4.5, 4.6 and 4.7 of the report.

(TAKE IN REPORT BY THE HEAD OF CITY DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURAL SERVICES)

Councillor Symes advised that one written deputation had been received for this item which had been made available to herself and to the Opposition Spokespersons before the meeting. 

The report was introduced by Dr Jane Mee, Museums & Visitor Services Manager.  She introduced Kelly Dubock, Market Research Officer, who had assisted Dr Mee in analysing the results of the consultation and was present to answer any questions. 

Dr Mee advised that there were two minor corrections to the report.  Within the recommendation reference to paragraph 4.5 should be removed as there were no amendments within this paragraph.  Also the consultation began on 6 February, not 15 February as stated in paragraph 3.2 of the report.

Dr Mee summarised the changes to the strategy following the consultation. Kelly Dubock had prepared a document containing results of the consultation which had been circulated to members before the meeting.  She drew members' attention to pages 6 & 7, challenges and opportunities, where she had created a word cloud with the largest words being the most frequent answers.  This was a quick way of identifying key themes.

Dr Mee said that following the points raised in the written deputation, an additional appendix had been provided on the cost of service over three financial years.  It was proposed to append this to the strategy and copies of this were circulated to members at the meeting.

Councillor Symes felt this was an outstanding document.  She said that there was more that could be done with regard to marketing and advertising.   Members felt that the city's museum volunteers are a credit to the city.  It was felt a central point for potential volunteers was required to make this more accessible for people wishing to volunteer and to create a record of potential volunteers.   It was suggested that a link on the Portsmouth Museums and Records website to an online form for volunteers to complete be created, and officers said this could be considered.

Councillor Hunt felt this strategy was a great achievement which was down to the skills and expertise of the council's officers.  He felt that more partnership working was needed between the cultural venues in the city.  It was felt that if all venues promote and support each other, more visitors will visit and the council would be more likely to obtain funding.

Councillor Swan suggested that QR codes with a website link underneath could be included on all leaflets to link all cultural venues in the city.  This could perhaps be a project undertaken by a university student in conjunction with the Council's IS Team

Members thanked Dr Mee and other officers involved for their work on the strategy. 

DECISION

That the amended Portsmouth Museums Strategy is approved, incorporating the amendments described in paragraphs 4.4, 4.6 and 4.7 of the report and the additional appendix 3 cost of service for three financial years.