Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Victoria Moloney, Wiltshire Council Head of Economy and Regeneration, and Tamzin Earley, Wiltshire Council Arts and Funding Manager.

Tamzin Earley, Wiltshire Council Arts and Funding Manager gave a presentation on the Wiltshire Cultural Strategy which is appended to these minutes.

It was noted that the Wiltshire Cultural Strategy was part funded by Arts Council England. The Strategy was endorsed by Cabinet on 15 July 2024 (minute 89) and adopted by Full Council on 24 July 2024 (minute 50). Following adoption work had not stopped, key officers from across the council were being brought together in a cultural forum to help embed it into process across the council.

It was stated that humans have an innate need for creativity, and culture is who we are as people and how we relate to each other and our surroundings. So having a Cultural Strategy was important and could have a positive effect on many things. The reasons behind the strategy, and the vision, principles and themes were detailed in the presentation. Along with what the Strategy meant for South West Wiltshire and the Area Board.

The launch of the Cultural Strategy would take place in 2025, and the Cultural Strategy could be downloaded from the Wiltshire Council website here: https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/arts-galleries-arts-service.

Questions were asked regarding involving private businesses and schools in the Cultural Strategy. It was explained that Wiltshire College had been approached and that the council as just at the start of the Cultural Strategy journey at present, so work would continue.

The Chairman highlighted that the Cultural Strategy was one cog in a much bigger piece of work to advocate Arts and Culture and integrate it with other aspects such as developing the economy, for example the Wiltshire Marque (https://www.wiltshiremarque.co.uk/)  and the Explore Wiltshire Events app (https://events.wiltshire.gov.uk/).

Further questions were asked relating to Salisbury City Hall and Visit Wiltshire. In response it was explained that the council was working to remobilise City Hall and secure a third-party operator. Visit Wiltshire was a private company and was still operating.

Victoria Moloney, Wiltshire Council Head of Economy and Regeneration then gave a presentation on Economic Development which is appended to these minutes.

In summary, details were given regarding the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Funds used to be received from the European Union, and now funds were provided by the UKSPF. The UKSPF supported demand responsive transport and the Warm and Safe scheme (https://www.cse.org.uk/my-home/advice-projects/warm-and-safe-wiltshire/). The UKSPF invested in Wiltshire, with large scale projects to bring forward new companies. In addition, the UKSPF helped to fund the Building Bridges scheme, which helped people to find employment and helped small to medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) to provide mental health support to staff. Other schemes supported by the UKSPF were the Wiltshire Fit for Growth, Fit for Start Up, Fit for Net Zero, and the Rural Hubs Programmes.

The Wiltshire Towns Programme (https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshire-towns-programme) was briefly detailed, the programme supported the Cultural Strategy and aimed to improve high streets. Part of this was the Explore Wiltshire Events Web application, which the council were keen to get more businesses contributing to it. Energy Support was also available to certain businesses and Vibrant Wiltshire grants were available to breathe new life into vacant units in Wiltshire’s town centres.

The officer explained the Wiltshire Marque which was an accreditation scheme for food and drink made in Wiltshire. 

Project Gigabit (https://www.wessexinternet.com/project-gigabit-south-wiltshire)  was a project being run by Wessex Internet to deliver full fibre broadband to around 14,500 homes and businesses in South Wiltshire. 

The Chairman thanked both officers for their presentations.