Minutes:
The Council noted a report from the Leader of the Council as follows:
· There were less than four weeks to go until the biggest cultural event in the Council’s calendar and preparations were in full swing to deliver the tenth anniversary Lumiere festival between Thursday 14 and Sunday 17 November. The 2019 programme would be the largest ever with 37 installations. Ten festival favourites would return from previous years as well as a programme of new artworks. The Leader thanked everyone in advance including the council's teams, partners and sponsors for their tremendous support in making the Lumiere biennial event such a success. Tickets for the free event would be available from Monday 28 October, online and from eleven venues across the County. It was important to note that ticketing was only required for the very busy central areas of the event areas at peak periods (from 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.) to help ensure that everyone had a comfortable and enjoyable visit. 26 of 37 installations would be outside the festival area and after 7.30pm none of the areas would be ticketed. The Leader stressed the importance of events like Lumiere for the county, highlighting that over the last ten years Lumiere in Durham had established a world-class reputation allowing Durham to shine bright on a global scale with images from the festival beamed across the world to people who may otherwise not have heard of Durham. It had helped change perceptions of the city and the county where people literally saw Durham in a new light and allowed Durham’s already famous history and heritage to be illuminated in unique ways. More broadly it had helped put Durham on the map as a culturally vibrant place to live, visit and work. The UK's largest light festival also provided a significant economic boost to local businesses. Over the last ten years there had been over 840,000 visits to Lumiere bringing in more than £28 million at a time of year in mid-November when visitor numbers were traditionally lower. In 2019 Durham would look forward to welcoming it’s millionth visitor. Lumiere also touched the lives of hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds through community outreach programmes, providing the chance to work with professional artists and become part of the festival. Over 10,000 people had taken part in Lumiere related community projects to date and there were over 300 volunteer Festival Makers each time. Lumiere would be the culmination of County Durham’s year of culture 2019 which recently saw a very successful Durham Book Festival and would shortly see the re-opening of Auckland Castle after a multimillion pound re-development.
· On Friday 25 October 2019, around 200 partners would come together at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street to launch the County Durham Partnership's new vision. The vision had been built following extensive public consultation, where residents, businesses, partners and visitors were asked what they would like to see in the future for the county. Building on the success of the last ten years the new vision would replace the current ‘Altogether Better’ vision from 2009. Some successes included:
o an increase in employment from 64.6% in 2010 to 74.6% in 2018;
o a reduction in smoking from 22% in 2012 to 14% in 2018;
o a reduction of the Council’s carbon emissions of 45% in the past 10 years; and
o a reduction of 55% in 10 years in the amount of household waste sent to landfill.
· The annual County Durham Environment Awards would be taking place at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield. The awards celebrated projects that improved and enhanced the County's environment, whilst also recognising the environmental achievements of individuals and groups. This year's Environment awards were particularly special as it was the 30th anniversary of the awards.
· Annual winter road maintenance operations were underway. Daily TwitterGritter reports commenced on 1st October and the Council were well prepared.
· Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems Europe was the first tenant to sign up for a new business unit at Jade Business Park, located off the A19 near Dalton Park on the outskirts of Murton, and was set to provide over 1 million sq ft of new employment space and over 2,500 jobs. The Council was funding the first phase of development. The Leader thanked the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NELEP) and the Highways Agency for involvement with the scheme. Meanwhile work continued apace at the lntegra 61 site off the A1(M) which would also create thousands of new jobs;
· Freemans Quay Swimming pools had re-opened following essential repair works and refurbishment of the changing village and toilets. New lockers and changing cubicles had been added to modernise the space. Reception and studio areas had also been freshened up with new flooring and wall decoration. Since opening in 2008, over five million customers had visited the facilities.
· The new £3.4 million digital media centre at Durham Sixth Form Centre had opened last month. The new state of the art facility, built by the Council's building and facilities maintenance team, included a high-tech IT hub, a multimedia room, TV studio, cinema, conference and events suite and 13 classrooms.
· Work was continuing on the new County Council HQ in Durham City, which would free up the current County Hall site to create one of the best new business parks in the north east, creating up to 6,000 jobs whilst also providing a £400m economic boost to the county. It would also see 1,000 extra workers in the city centre, providing an all year round economic boost to Durham. 850 staff currently at County Hall would be moving to four strategic sites across the county, boosting footfall and the local economy of towns, such as Crook and Spennymoor.
· During October the Council would be joining with colleagues across the country to raise the profile of adoption as part of National Adoption Awareness Week. This year there would be an extended awareness campaign lasting around three weeks. The adoption team had included extra public information sessions, including an open-door event at their offices in Seaham, a coffee and chat session in Consett, and an event specifically for staff based at County Hall. Recent figures showed that three times as many children were waiting to be adopted as there were people coming forward to adopt in the North East. The Council were working hard to redress the balance and it was hoped that the awareness campaign would encourage people to explore how they could start their next chapter by adopting with the Council.
· 28 October was Care Leavers Week. The Council had maintained its very public commitment in ensuring that care leavers were given the best possible support, to enable them to live fulfilling independent lives and to help them reach their potential. A range of both practical and financial support was on offer, including money to help buy essential items for setting up a home, priority bidding for housing, assistance to access grants and benefits, bursaries for higher education and guaranteed interviews for certain council jobs. During care leavers week the Council would be asking staff across the council what they could do to provide further help or guidance to care leavers. From mentoring and work experience through to sponsorship and discounts there were many things that the various Council teams were considering that could result in a hugely positive impact on the lives of care leavers. The Leader of the Council explained that community groups and local businesses were also being encouraged to think if there was anything they could do to help those vulnerable and sometimes disadvantaged young people to enjoy a good quality, healthy and prosperous independent life.
· The Leader congratulated Angela Hilton, a teacher at Cleves Cross Primary and Nursery School Academy in Ferryhill. Angela was one of eleven UK teachers who had been honoured as winners of the 2019 Pearson Teaching Awards for their inspirational work in education. The Pearson Awards celebrated the best of teaching across the UK. Angela had played a vital role in helping her pupils reach high standards along with a key role in the school's highly successful International Schools programme. Working with the Council’s International team, exchange visits had been arranged with partner schools in Sri Lanka and France. Angela was currently leading a countywide project to build relationships with schools in Kenya.
· County Durham's efforts to ditch single-use plastics had earned a national award with the Council's single-use plastics pledge having won the Best Waste Minimisation or Prevention Project award at the LARAC (Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee) Awards.
· The Council’s pest control team had again achieved a prestigious European standard, for the second-year running having been awarded the Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA) certified status, meaning their work met the highest industry standard.
· Finally, the Leader reported that an aspiring child psychologist, Amy Waites, who held a passion for youth work, had been appointed as the county's first young people's commissioner. Amy’s appointment came via the Council’s apprenticeship programme and would help ensure that the voices of children and young people were heard and that their needs were met by professionals in the county. The Leader wished Amy well in her important role.