Decision details

To approve the Council becoming a member of Visit West and the transfer of staff to Visit West for the delivery of the Council’s destination management function.
To approve the transfer of the Christmas market staff from Visit Bath to the Council and provide indemnities to Bath Forum in respect of the Box Office.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1)  Authorise the Council to become a member of Visit West a company limited by Guarantee in accordance with the terms of the Membership Agreement.

2)  Authorise the Council to enter into the Asset & Employee Transfer Agreement with Visit West as guarantor for Visit Bath and for the future delivery of the Council’s destination management function through Visit West.

3)  Authorise the Council to enter into the Asset & Employee Transfer Agreement with Bath Forum to provide an indemnity for staff transferring from Visit Bath to Bath Forum.

4)  Authorise the Council to enter into the Asset & Employee Transfer Agreement with Visit Bath to provide for the transfer of Christmas Market staff to the Council and to address all residual matters.

5)  Delegate to the Director of Economy & Growth in consultation with the Cabinet member for Resources the power to make any minor changes to the Transfer Agreements or the Membership Agreement.

6)  Appoint the Director of Finance to the Board of Visit Bath to effect the voluntary strike-off of Visit Bath and to provide an indemnity to that officer to provide protection from personal liability pursuant to the Local Authorities (Indemnity to members and Officers) regulations 2004.

7)  Approve the use of reserve funding to enable the Council to meet the outstanding company liabilities, with delegation given to the Director of Finance (S151 Officer) in consultation with the Chief Executive and Cabinet member for Resources to make final arrangements.

8)  Authorise the Council to take leasehold assignments for Bath Street and Bridgewater House.

9)  Instruct the Chief Executive to urgently undertake a review of governance arrangements for arms-length service providers and larger contract holders and report the outcome of this review to the Cabinet as soon as practicable.

Covid 19 has significantly impacted on the long-term viability of Destination Management Organisations across the UK.  In conjunction with neighbouring Councils, B&NES considers it necessary to combine the back-office functions of the existing Destination Management Organisation, Visit Bath, with Destination Bristol, to create Visit West.

Retaining Visit Bath as a separate Council owned company. This is not considered financially affordable for the reasons set out in the report.

Closing Visit Bath and leaving the private sector to provide Destination Management services. The most successful Destination Management models in the UK are a partnership between the public and private sector. Creating a new regional model creates a strong financially sustainable partnership, bringing the best of both worlds, and is supported by Visit England and Visit Britain.