Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

Purpose of report

To present the Portsmouth Museums Documentation Policy.

RECOMMENDED

(1)   That the draft Portsmouth Museums Documentation Policy be approved.

(2)   That a Documentation Plan is developed to drive the operation of this Policy.

(TAKE IN REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR OF CULTURE AND CITY DEVELOPMENT)

The report was introduced by Katy Ball, Collections Registrar. 

DECISIONS that:

1) The draft Portsmouth Museums Documentation Policy be approved.

(2) A Documentation Plan is developed to drive the operation of this Policy.

Purpose of report

To review the achievements of Portsmouth Museums in 2014/15 and present an action plan for the year ahead.  Portsmouth Museums' operational 'plan on a page' is attached at Appendix 1.

RECOMMENDED

(1)  The achievements of Portsmouth Museums in 2014/15 are noted.

(2)  Work on the development phase of Transforming the D?Day Museum continues as a priority for the service and the round 2 application to the Heritage Lottery Fund is submitted in October 2015.  

(3)  Assessments are obtained for the city's Natural History and the Edward King painting collection.

(4)  The community engagement project is developed for Paulsgrove High Street and funding sought.

(5)  The family-friendly 'Children's TV' touring exhibition is delivered at Portsmouth Museum.

(6)  Volunteers are recruited and trained to work in frontline roles to support paid staff and add value to the visitor experience.

(7)  That the decision to award a new catering concession at Southsea Castle is delegated to the Director of Finance and Information Services and the Director of City Development and Culture following a financial appraisal of the proposal.

(8)  Welcome Host Portsmouth Gold, or equivalent, is pursued for all permanent frontline staff and that we achieve the 'Great China Welcome' charter for all museum sites.

(TAKE IN REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR OF CULTURE AND CITY DEVELOPMENT)

The report was introduced by Dr Jane Mee, Museum and Visitor Services Manager.  She advised that paragraphs 4.12 and 4.13 of the report should be ignored and deleted as these had inadvertently been left in from a previous report. 

Councillor Hunt referred to paragraph 3.2 of the report and raised concern on the 20% reduction in visits at both Portsmouth Museum and Southsea Castle in 2013/14 and asked what the reasons were for this and how this would be improved.  Dr Mee advised that due to the exhibition programme visitor numbers fluctuate.  Figures at Portsmouth Dockyard had also decreased last year and it a full explanation of this was unknown. The digital uptake had also had an impact on visitor numbers.  Katy Ball, Collections Registrar, added that she had attended a recent meeting of the Hampshire Solent Museums Development Advisory Panel, whichis a conduit between the wider museum community and the Museum Development Programme, and many other museums had experienced a similar decline and some up to a 30% decline in visitor numbers. Councillor Hunt asked whether a report on how the Council is going to address this fall in numbers could be added to the next portfolio meeting and Councillor Symes said she would consult with officers and bring back a report if necessary.

Councillor Swan referred to paragraph 4.9 and the increased involvement of volunteers and suggested a 'supporting local charities day' as a promotional event.  Officers felt this would be a great idea and advised they would investigate this.

DECISIONS that:

(1) The achievements of Portsmouth Museums in 2014/15 are noted.

(2) Work on the development phase of Transforming the D-Day Museum continues as a priority for the service and the round 2 application to the Heritage Lottery Fund is submitted in October 2015.

(3) Assessments are obtained for the city's Natural History and the Edward King painting collection.

(4) The community engagement project is developed for Paulsgrove High Street and funding sought.

(5) The family-friendly 'Children's TV' touring exhibition is delivered at Portsmouth Museum.

(6) Volunteers are recruited and trained to work in frontline roles to support paid staff and add value to the visitor experience.

(7)  That the decision to award a new catering concession at Southsea Castle is delegated to the Director of Finance and Information Services and the Director of City Development and Culture following a financial appraisal of the proposal.   

(8) Welcome Host Portsmouth Gold, or equivalent, is pursued for all permanent frontline staff and that we achieve the 'Great China Welcome' charter for all museum sites.

Purpose of report

(1)    To update and inform the Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport of the work carried out by the Portsmouth Library and Archive Services in the last twelve months, i.e. 2014/15.

(2)  To update on the activities undertaken to address the recommendations for action agreed in the 2014 Libraries Update Report.

(3)  To make recommendations for additional actions to be undertaken in Portsmouth Libraries and Archives in line with the Business Plan for the period 2015/16

RECOMMENDED

(1)  That the updates to the agreed actions from the Portsmouth Libraries Annual Update Report 2013/14, shown at 3 be noted.

(2)  That the following actions and activities be carried forward from the 2014/15 Portsmouth Libraries Update Report to be delivered or continued in 2015/16:

·         That Arts Council England Capital Funding be sought to develop the Central Library Administration block as a Literature Centre and IT Learning Zone.

·         Develop a digital "front end” for the archive and local history catalogue entries to improve access to the records by the public.

·         Continue to develop the health and wellbeing library offer including library engagement with Macmillan Cancer Support, development of dementia collections, vision impaired services and Books on Prescription.

·         Increase volunteer hours with the Library and Archive Services by 5% annually

·         Continue the delivery and development of the following annual events:

·      BookFest Book Festival

·      Portsmouth History Fair

·      Summer Reading Challenge

·      Portsmouth Book Awards for Picture Books, Shorter Novel and Longer Novel

(3)  That the following recommendations be added to the Library Business Plan for the forthcoming year 2015/16:

·         Deliver 2015/16 budget savings.

·         Apply for and achieve Archive Accreditation with National Archives

·         Develop and deliver the Portsmouth Short Story competition as part of the

            BookFest Book Festival

·         Explore the delivery of current archive photographic records, on-line to improve public access.

·         Explore options and undertake procurement activity with on-line genealogical subscription sites to deliver digitisation and access to specified elements of the Portsmouth Archive record.

·         Review the Mobile Library service offer and timetable

·         Develop and agree a policy for the identification, safe storage and management of "Born Digital" archive for Portsmouth.

·         Support the delivery of Universal Credits through Peoples Network access and staff support.

·         Increase virtual library visits by 5% in the year 2015/16

·         Explore the refurbishment of Cosham Library within existing budgets.

·         Develop Friends Groups at Alderman Lacey, Cosham and North End Libraries

(TAKE IN REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR OF CULTURE AND CITY DEVELOPMENT)

The report was introduced by Lindy Elliott, Library and Archive Services Manager.

Councillor Swan said she was very pleased with the progress of the service and recognised the benefits of the mobile library.

In response to a question regarding the locations of the mobile library, Lindy Elliott advised that a review of the mobile library service would take place in August 2015.  Some sites were exceeding expected library issues although there was one site which was doing less well which was the Paulsgrove/North Harbour site.  Initiatives were in place to increase visitor numbers to this mobile library site.

DECISIONS

(1) That the updates to the agreed actions from the Portsmouth Libraries Annual Update Report 2013/14, shown at 3 be noted.

(2) That the following actions and activities be carried forward from the 2014/15 Portsmouth Libraries Update Report to be delivered or continued in 2015/16:

·         That Arts Council England Capital Funding be sought to develop the Central Library Administration block as a Literature Centre and IT Learning Zone.

·         Develop a digital "front end” for the archive and local history catalogue entries to improve access to the records by the public.

·         Continue to develop the health and wellbeing library offer including library engagement with Macmillan Cancer Support, development of dementia collections, vision impaired services and Books on Prescription.

·         Increase volunteer hours with the Library and Archive Services by 5% annually.

·         Continue the delivery and development of the following annual events:

·       BookFest Book Festival

·       Portsmouth History Fair

·       Summer Reading Challenge

·       Portsmouth Book Awards for Picture Books, Shorter Novel and Longer Novel

(3) That the following recommendations be added to the Library Business Plan for the forthcoming year 2015/16:

·         Deliver 2015/16 budget savings.

·         Apply for and achieve Archive Accreditation with National Archives

·         Develop and deliver the Portsmouth Short Story competition as part of the BookFest Book Festival

·         Explore the delivery of current archive photographic records, online to improve public access.

·         Explore options and undertake procurement activity with on-line genealogical subscription sites to deliver digitisation and access to specified elements of the Portsmouth Archive record.

·         Review the Mobile Library service offer and timetable

·         Develop and agree a policy for the identification, safe storage and management of "Born Digital" archive for Portsmouth.

·         Support the delivery of Universal Credits through Peoples Network access and staff support.

·         Increase virtual library visits by 5% in the year 2015/16

·         Explore the refurbishment of Cosham Library within existing budgets.

·         Develop Friends Groups at Alderman Lacey, Cosham and North End Libraries.

Purpose of report

The report presents three policies for approval which are required for Archive development and accreditation: the Archives Care and Conservation Policy, the Archives Collections Information Policy, and the Archives Access Policy. The report clarifies the legislation governing provision and the standards for accreditation.

RECOMMENDED that the Cabinet member

(1)  Accepts the Archives Collections Care and Conservation Policy for implementation.

(2)  Accepts the Archives Collections Information Policy for implementation.

(3)  Accepts the Archives Access Policy for implementation.

(TAKE IN REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR OF CULTURE AND CITY DEVELOPMENT)

The report was introduced by Michael Gunton, Senior Archivist.

DECISIONS the Cabinet Member:

(1) Accepted the Archives Collections Care and Conservation Policy for implementation.

(2) Accepted the Archives Collections Information Policy for implementation.

(3) Accepted the Archives Access Policy for implementation.

Purpose of report

This report seeks to inform the Cabinet Member of the Society of Chief Libraries (SCL) digital workforce training carried out by all library staff; the importance of online skills and digital inclusion; the low level of digital inclusion and confidence in Portsmouth; the implementation of the programme through a series of staff training days; and the impact of the programme.

RECOMMENDED

(1)  That Library staff will work with relevant departments in the city council and liaise with other services in the city to facilitate the delivery of Universal Credit.

(2)  That the Library Service will actively recruit and train volunteers, in autumn 2015 to assist Universal Credit applicants to open and manage their accounts on the library PC's.

(3)  That newly-recruited library staff will undertake the Universal Information Offer Workforce Development Programme as part of their induction training.

(TAKE IN REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR OF CULTURE AND CITY DEVELOPMENT)

The report was introduced by Jacqueline Garrard, Access and Learning Librarian.

In response to questions from Councillor Hunt, Lindy Elliott advised that they were not required to consult the unions regarding recruiting and training volunteers as this was not a new role. There was not a target set for the number of volunteers they hoped to recruit as they were aware that it could be difficult to recruit volunteers. Councillor Swan suggested that a poster campaign be launched to reach those groups who need additional skills to access online services to encourage them into libraries. Officers said this would be a great idea and would take this suggestion on board.

DECISIONS:

(1) Library staff will work with relevant departments in the city council and liaise with other services in the city to facilitate the delivery of Universal Credit.

(2) That the Library Service will actively recruit and train volunteers, in autumn 2015 to assist Universal Credit applicants to open and manage their accounts on the library PC's.

(3) That newly-recruited library staff will undertake the Universal Information Offer Workforce Development Programme as part of their induction training.