Agenda item

Report No: OAS/FH/18/012

(Report No: OAS/FH/18/012)

The Committee received Report No: OAS/FH/18/012, which sought the establishment of a West Suffolk Joint Task and Finish Group to conduct a review into the delivery of the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre for 2019.

A formal review of the Fayre was last carried out in 2015 by a St Edmundsbury scrutiny Task and Finish Group and reported its recommendations to Cabinet in December 2015.  The review concluded that “St Edmundsbury Council should commit to the Christmas Fayre for the remainder of the current administration” (May 2019) and made a number of recommendations that had been or were being implemented.

It was now proposed that a further review of the Christmas Fayre be carried out by way of a West Suffolk Joint Task and Finish Group comprising of four members from St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee and four from Forest Heath District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, supported by officers including the Service Manager for Economic Development, Markets Development Officer, Service Manager (Health and Safety), a Policy Business Partner and the Portfolio Holders for Planning and Growth.  The review was needed for the following reasons:

·         The current commitment to continue with the Fayre only runs until April 2019, so decisions were needed as to what should take place in winter 2019;

·         Planning for the Christmas Fayre started in the preceding year.  As  such, a decision would need to be made in 2018 for the 2019 Fayre;

·         If the event went ahead as planned, the 2019 Christmas Fayre would be first to be run by the new West Suffolk Council as opposed to St Edmundsbury Borough Council.  For this reason, current members from across West Suffolk needed to be involved in the decisions about the future of the Fayre; and

·         The new anti-terrorist requirements for large scale events was not in place in 2015 when the previous review was carried out.  These requirements had financial and other implications and it would be helpful to consider these alongside a wider review of the Fayre.

The Director also updated the Committee of the discussions by St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee at their meeting which had been held on the previous evening.  It was explained that discussion had been held as to the membership of the Task and Finish Group and the importance of ensuring that rural areas and other towns were represented.  However, the precise extent of involvement of Forest Heath Members was also carefully considered, to balance the fact that the event had historically been led by St Edmundsbury, versus the benefits from Forest Heath Members giving a different perspective.  Various options were discussed, including splitting the review into retrospective and forward looking elements; the former being considered by St Edmundsbury Members only and the latter being constituted by the Shadow Authority.

Therefore, to reflect the outcome of the discussion, St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolved that a Joint West Suffolk Task and Finish Group be established with six members from St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee and up to six members from Forest Heath District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to carry out a review of the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre and to make recommendations for 2019.

The FHDC Overview and Scrutiny Committee acknowledged the importance of the Christmas Fayre for Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding area and expressed their appreciation to having the opportunity to be involved in this review, particularly taking into account that the 2019 Christmas Fayre would be the first to be run by the new West Suffolk Council.

The Chairman expressed concerns to ensure that the size of the Task and Finish Group did not become too unwieldly and would not wish to see the size exceed beyond 10 Members, but did indicate that in terms of the FHDC representation on the Group, then he would wish to at least have Members who represented the towns of Brandon, Mildenhall and Newmarket.

The Committee considered the report in detail and asked a number of questions to which Officers duly responded.

It was moved, duly seconded and with the vote being unanimous, it was:

          RESOLVED

          That:-

1.           A Joint West Suffolk Task and Finish Group be established, with up to four Members from Forest Heath District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Councillors David Palmer, Robert Nobbs, John Bloodworth and Christine Mason) and six Members from St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to carry out a review of the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre and to make recommendations for 2019.

2.           Final confirmation of the Members nominated to sit on the West Suffolk Task and Finish Group be delegated to the Chairmen of both St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s and Forest Heath District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees.