Agenda and minutes

To receive details of any Members appointed to attend the meeting instead of a Member of the Committee.

None.

To receive any declarations of interest.

None.

Up to a total of fifteen minutes can be allowed, each speaker being allocated a maximum of five minutes, for members of the public to present a petition, ask a question or comment on any item on the Agenda or within the remit of the Committee.

None.

That the Joint Committee:

1.      note the upcoming event at Hartlebury Castle planned by Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust and agree the altered admission charge for this event; and

2.      delegate any further temporary admission charge alterations at Hartlebury Castle to the Assistant Director of Communities, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee, until the managing agreements between Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust and Worcestershire County Council have been reviewed and amended.

The Joint Committee considered a report to request a temporary adjustment to Hartlebury admission charges.

The Museums Manager, in presenting the report, stated that she had received a message from the Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust who had thanked the Joint Committee for taking the time out to consider this request.  As a small trust, in  post-Covid recovery, they need to make decisions quickly.  They find the Council procedures slow and this can be frustrating.  They did however appreciate the support of the Joint Committee and Museums Worcestershire to help them to move forward.

Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust (HCPT) and Worcestershire County Council’s (WCC) agreement on funding (May 2017) sets out that admission charges will be agreed annually between the two parties.  In addition WCC has delegated the decision making on altering existing charges at the museum sites to it Joint Museums Committee, this is normally carried out in November each year which HCPT are finding is not flexible enough to accommodate new opportunities for its business.

HCPT will be presenting a major weekend event in September 2022, paragraph 2.4 of the report refers, and require an uplift in admission charges to cover the costs of delivering the event.  They will be taking all of the financial risk and operational responsibility for the event.  HCPT expect there to be a significant demand for the event.  The site capacity will be up to 750 a day.

It is proposed that the Hartlebury Strategic Board delegate further Hartlebury admission charge adjustment decisions to WCC’s Assistant Director of Communities, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Joint Museums Committee.  This to remain in place until the review of the managing arrangements which is scheduled for later in 2022.

The proposed admission fee uplift for the event on 3^rd and 4^th September 2022 was highlighted in paragraph 3.3 of the report.

RESOLVED: That the Joint Museums Committee:

1.      note the upcoming event at Hartlebury Castle planned by Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust and agree the  altered admission charge for this event; and

2.      delegate any further temporary admission charge alterations at Hartlebury Castle to the Assistant Director of Communities, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee, until the managing agreements between Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust and Worcestershire County Council have been reviewed and amended.

Which in the opinion of the Chair is of sufficient urgency as to warrant consideration.

None.