Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED – (a) That Councillor L. Beardmore be appointed Chairman for the ensuing year until the next Annual Meeting in June 2021.

(b) That Councillor Mrs. V. Wilson be appointed Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year until the next Annual Meeting in June 2021. 

There were no Declarations of Interest made.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2020 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

Joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council)

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Corporate Services and City Director of Housing and Community Services setting out the predicted outturn for 2020/21 (Schedule 1 to the signed minutes).

Members noted that a spend of £788,133 was predicted against an approved budget of £613,830 which, if realised, would result in a net overspend of £174,303 comprising core services (£72,279) and Staffordshire County Council Sites and Public Services (£102,024). Whilst this overspend also included a net transfer of £37,200 from reserves, it would be met by the County Council, if necessary.

With regard to the General Reserve, the current forecast was a balance of £69,160 at year end. This assumed a transfer of £37,200 net underspend from Stoke-on-Trent City Council (referred to above) and payment of £251,000 towards match funding for the Staffordshire History Centre Project.

They also noted a balance of 57,547 expected in the Archive Acquisition reserve.

RESOLVED – (a) That the report be received and noted.

(b) That £251,000 match funding for the Staffordshire History Centre Project be committed from the General Reserve. 

Joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council)

The Committee considered a joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and the Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council) regarding a review of the Joint Archive Service’s fees and charges for 2021/22 (Schedule 2 to the signed minutes).

Members noted that the Archive Service’s fees and charges were reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that they reflected changes in demand and costs of providing the various services available in terms of staff time, equipment and travelling. In addition, account was taken of the prevailing economic climate and the availability of the on-line service offer.

For 2021/22 it was proposed that fees charges for the Research Offer should remain unchanged. However, it was proposed to simplify the structure of fees and charges for the supply of copies, in order to better reflect the time spent by staff in providing the service. The current price differential between copies ordered in the Reading Room at Staffordshire Record Office and those ordered on-line was to remain in place. However, this was for the first copy only, with remaining copies being charged at the same rate as those ordered in the Reading Room. In addition, it was proposed to remove the price differential between black and white and colour copies by introducing a single charge of £1.50 to reflect that the majority of orders were now fulfilled on-line and to make estimates easier to provide.      

No change was proposed to fees and charges for talks and visits, owing to demand having dropped significantly during the Covid-19 Pandemic and in recognition of the current low rate in the Retail Price Index.

RESOLVED – (a) That the report be received and noted.

(b) That the revised schedule of fees and charges set out in Appendix 2 to the report be approved for introduction by the Joint Archive Service from 1 April 2021.   

Joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council)

The Committee considered a report by the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council) updating them on progress with regard to the Staffordshire History Centre (SHC) Project (Schedule 3 to the signed minutes).

Considerable progress had been made in the Audience Research strand of the project including completion of an online survey in May and June 2020  in order to:- (i) understand motivations for visiting; (ii) identify key market drivers and barriers to visiting and; (iii) understand more about users and other cultural venues they visited, which received a total of 440 responses from all age groups. Whilst most respondents were found to be from Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent, 69% were female and approximately half had visited the service previously.

The Staffordshire Record Office was found to be the most frequently visited site with family and local history being the key motivation. Most people had discovered the service through publication of the regular newsletter (which had included a link to the survey) or Facebook page. High social media usage was found amongst visitors with the main reasons being given as, “to keep up to date with talks and events” and “to see behind the scenes images of documents and objects”.  Whilst 46% of respondents planned to visit the service in the future, the main barriers were found to include lack of free time or awareness of the service offer. Little reference was made by respondents to accessing exhibitions or events.

In addition, two online focus groups had been recruited with the aim of gaining a better understanding of motivations for heritage attendance, expectations and preferences/perceptions and to test the proposals for Staffordshire History Centre. The two groups expressed interest in exhibitions and events relating to the Staffordshire Hoard and pottery industries and also suggested other themes for the future initiatives. Views about the Staffordshire History Centre, William Salt Library and talks and tours were very positive and there was high demand for expansion of the digital offer.

The results of the above audience research work were being used by the contractor to develop a Marketing Strategy for the Staffordshire History Centre.

Research undertaken in connection with the Learning strand had also been completed. A survey of local teachers had elicited 31 responses with the following common themes about the offer emerging:- (i) needs to enhance, enrich and be relevant to, the school curriculum; (ii) requires pupils to put their learning into context; (iii) essential to be child-friendly and appealing to pupils and teachers alike; (iv) must be inclusive and accessible to all; (v) needs to offer hands-on engagement for pupils; (vi) must be something that the school cannot (or is unable to) provide easily; (vii) venue and activities should encourage ‘awe  and wonder’ in pupils and; (viii) Offers value for money. Teachers were also asked for their opinion about the single most important item the Staffordshire History Centre should offer and the responses received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

RESOLVED – (a) That the date and time of the next meeting be noted.

(b) That Members be notified of the venue for the next meeting once further details are known.    

The Chairman to move:-

“That the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business which involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972 indicated below”.

PART TWO

(exemption paragraphs 2 and 3)

Exempt joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council)

(exemption paragraphs 2 and 3)

The Committee received an exempt joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council) regarding the restructure of the Archives and Heritage Service and noted the progress which had been made.

(exemption paragraphs 2 and 3)

Exempt joint oral report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council)

(exemption paragraphs 2 and 3)

The Committee received an exempt oral joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Families and Communities (Staffordshire County Council) and Director of Housing and Community Services (Stoke-on-Trent City Council) updating them on the progress made with regard to the relocation of Stoke-on-Trent City Archives.