Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 The Bath & North East Somerset Initiative and the Bath Chamber of Commerce have been in discussions with the Council leadership with regard to a proposal to establish a limited company from April 2008, whose role will be to promote and improve Bath's attractiveness to residents, businesses and visitors and to take a proactive role in Tourism and Festivals activities.

1.2 This report explains how the proposed company will operate and how the Council will engage with it.

2 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 To support in principle the establishment of a limited company to promote and improve Bath's attractiveness to residents and visitors, to take a proactive role in Tourism and Festivals activities across B&NES, and to employ a Bath City Centre Manager who will become a catalyst for change

2.2 To delegate to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Resources and Customer Services:

(1) the detailed mechanisms for delivery including considerations of company membership and structure and

(2) decisions regarding implementing the Tourism and Festivals funding process, in consultation with Political Group Leaders

(3) any necessary discussions with relevant partners

3

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 Bath Chamber of Commerce has indicated that funds of at least £50K per annum would be available from their members to fund the new company. The Council is proposing to allocate at least £50K per annum to the company from its city "commercial" income, such as Commercial Estate, Parking and Heritage income.

3.2 In order to provide the Council's contribution of £50k per annum an adjustment will be required to the cash limits (profit targets) for the Commercial Estate, Parking and Heritage services from April 2008. These services will address the impact of these changes in their targets as part of the service planning process for 2008/09. The Council will need to ensure it complies with EU procurement regulations, if applicable, and that it considers the Council's powers to improve the city's wellbeing.

3.3 It is envisaged that the company will, over time, take an increasingly proactive role in determining the funding of Bath Tourism Plus (BTP) and Bath Festivals (BF). Currently the Council provides an annual fee of £405K pa for BTP together with a rent subsidy valued at £293K pa. The Council pays an annual fee of £300K pa for BF, together with subsidised rent valued at £20K pa and a further grant of £20K for festivals development that is reviewed annually. The precise nature of involvement will depend on further legal and taxation advice.

3.4 The company will employ a City Centre Manager whose role will be to tackle urgent city centre issues such as generally improving "first impressions" appearance and presentation. The Manager would also help coordinate private and public cleansing work such as Bus / Railway stations / SouthGate. The Council currently spends approximately £600K on city centre / car park / graffiti cleaning / Christmas lights etc. A proposed job description of the City Centre Manager is enclosed as an Appendix.

3.5 The company itself will require independent advice upon its financial position, including taxation issues. It will also need to make provision for its own financial management and administration, including ongoing and statutory reporting, and for other managerial and administrative arrangements.

3.6 The company may need external taxation advice.

3.7 Officers would, in addition, provide support to the proposals by attending meetings when requested and realigning existing budgets where necessary to support the Council's objectives generally and in relation to the new company. This support can be achieved within existing resources.

4 COMMUNITY STRATEGY OUTCOMES

5 CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES

6 CPA KEY LINES OF ENQUIRY

o Sustainable Communities and Transport

o Safer and Stronger Communities

o Healthier Communities

7.7 Other relevant representatives could join sub groups of those in 7.5 above.

8 RISK MANAGEMENT

9 RATIONALE

9.1 Many cities have City Centre Management arrangements in order to engage the private sector in the delivery of city centre improvements.

9.2 The new Local Government white paper contains proposals for Councils to raise funds via NNDR payments. This may be an additional source of city centre funding in due course.

9.3 Tourism and Festivals activities promote Bath and North East Somerset, not only Bath, hence the proposed name "Bath Plus Ltd".

9.4 The Council receives substantial commercial income from its Bath property interests, car parking and Roman Baths, and we share with the business sector a desire to improve Bath's presentation to the public, hence our willingness to support this Bath based initiative.

9.5 A number of priority issues were identified in the recent Destination Management Plan produced by The Tourism Company. It said that some parts of the City were "a bit ragged and run down" and it suggested the quality of the public realm falls below the standard people might reasonably expect from a City of this significance. It also highlighted a need for better signage and information to enable people to orientate themselves and easily find their way around. Bath Plus would be one of a number of initiatives we will be exploring to respond to, and resolve, such concerns.

10 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED