Q ... Collectively, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery's stakeholder, ratepayers and donors have accumulated collection assets in the order of $240 million, have underwritten in the recurrent budget, something in the order of $60 million plus, over the last decade; have funded significant capital expenditure that Council argues is confidential as an operation matter; has largely excluded ratepayers from taking any part in or being permitted to offer comment, criticism or critique, relative to such operational matters; and that pre-COVID-19, stakeholders and ratepayers have been underwriting the QVMAG's costs in excess of $50 per visitor per annum. Then, over time, on our assessment, Council has failed or has been unable to provide expert institutional governance and it is very concerning to ratepayers that Council has allowed for the blending of the functions of governance and management. This has reduced the QVMAG's capacity to operate purposefully and deliver on performance indicators determined collectively by governance and funding agencies, and in turn, seriously reduced its funding opportunities. Furthermore, this diminishes and devalues the trust the ratepayers and supporters have invested in the QVMAG and security of its collections and is against the interests of stakeholders in Tasmania nationally and internationally. Council has been unsuccessful in shaming our State Government into trebling the funding it currently provides. Consequent to all this will Council now consider abdicating its governance role in favour of an expert Commissioner and Board of Governors, formally charged with proactively reviewing and renewing the QVMAG Charter and a purposeful Strategic Plan; transition the QVMAG into a stand alone Regional Community Cultural Trust say, within a decade; establishing working entrepreneurial alliances with like institutions in Tasmania, nationally and internationally and consider doing this in the current financial year?
A ...The Deputy Mayor, Councillor D C Gibson, responded by saying that the Council is in the process of completing a review of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery which will address the matters raised in your question. It is intended that the details of the review will be publicly released later this year.
NB: Launceston's ratepayers funds the recurrent costs of the QVMAG to the extent of almost $5Million. By comparison the State Govt's TOTAL Arts Grants & Loans for all artforms is in the order of $3.5Million. Ratepayers have been excluded from the 'Cultural Strategy Process', the consultation process.
Also, Cr. Gibson appears to be appointing himself as Launceston's Champion of Culture but so far he has been 'championing' the status quo and council's 'behind closed doors policy deliberations'.
Curiously, he is asking the questions recorded in this weeks council agenda question that by now he should already know the answers IF he has been paying attention and seriously going about his business as Launceston's 'King of Culture'.
Will he leave it at that OR will step up to the plate?
We might also ask does he actually know what questions need to be asked next?
City of Launceston. COUNCIL AGENDA. 97
Thursday 17 September 2020
12.1.1 Councillors' Question on Notice - Councillor D C Gibson - Cultural Strategy and Child Friendly City - 7 September 2020 FILE NO: SF2375 AUTHOR: Anthea Rooney (Council and Committees Officer) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Michael Stretton
QUESTIONS and RESPONSES:
The following questions, submitted in writing on 7 September 2020 by Councillor D C Gibson, have been answered by Mrs Leanne Hurst (General Manager Community and Place Network) and Ms Tracy Puklowski (General Manager Creative Arts and Cultural Services Network).
Questions:
1. Following the conclusion of the consultation period for the Cultural Strategy, what are the steps/processes and milestone dates that will be undertaken now and who will be implementing the additional changes into the document (ie. will this be undertaken internally by staff or using a consultant)?
Response:
To ensure continuity, consultant Colin James is working closely with the City of Launceston team to integrate any changes arising from community feedback into the final Cultural Strategy document. It is envisaged that a final document will be presented to Council for endorsement in November. The timing of a public launch will then be confirmed, depending on COVID-19 restrictions. [CLEARLY NO SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES TO THE DRAFT ARE BEING CONTEMPLATED BY 'MANAGEMENT' AND YET AGAIN THE ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF COUNCILLORS (GOVERNORS DEFAULT TRUSTEES) AND MANAGEMENT ARE BLURRED AND DELIBERATED UPON IN CAMERA]
Post adoption, the Creative Arts and Cultural Services and Place Making teams will work together on developing a draft Implementation Framework. At the same time, Governance models to support the implementation of the Strategy will be explored based on best practice, capacity to manage, the Council's governance structures, and representativeness of the wider cultural sector. [BEST PRACTICE IN AUSTRALIA AT LEAST SEPARATES THE ROLES OF GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT AND LIKEWISE GOVERNANCE, EXPERT GOVERNANCE, FUNDS CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS/ORGANISATIONS IT DOES NOT OPERATE THEM ... CLEARLY MANAGEMENT IS WORKING TOWARDS THE CONTINUATION OF THE STATUS QUO WHERE THE TWO DISTINCT FUNCTIONS REMAIN 'AMALGAMATED']
THIS PROCESS FAILS THE CREDIBILITY TEST AND IT GIVES ALMOST NO OPPORTUNITY TO THE COMMUNITY IN ITS DIVERSITY TO CHALLENGE THE ASSERTIONS, FLAWS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS EMBEDDED IN THE DRAFT. THUS ITS CREDIBILITY IS HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE.
2. [With regards to the process of achieving a Child Friendly City status] How is this important work tracking and how are we going in our efforts to achieve this?
Response:
Following Council's decision in May 2013, to give in-principle support to Launceston pursuing Child Friendly City status as recognised by UNICEF, the Council in partnership with Anglicare's Communities for Children (CFC) initiative and the Northern Tasmanian Early Years Group formed the Child Friendly Working Group. City of Launceston
COUNCIL AGENDA. 98. Thursday 17 September 2020
12.1.1 Councillors' Question on Notice - Councillor D C Gibson - Cultural Strategy and Child Friendly City - 7 September 2020 …(Cont’d)
One part of developing a strategic pathway for Launceston to become a child friendly city was to identify what data was being collected on the health and wellbeing of children aged 0-18 in the Launceston area. In addition to collating data from State and Federal Government reports, including data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, two forums were held in September and December 2013 with service providers and community groups. Data was gathered in five key areas with indicators relating to:
Children developing well; Children being safe and secure; Children learning and engaged; The health of children; and Children participating in their communities.
In many ways it indicated that Launceston is a wonderful place to bring up a family, however, there are some children who are considered vulnerable or at risk.
As a result, "The State of Launceston Children's Report" was produced by Anglicare's CFC initiative and was released in July 2014 as a first step towards Launceston becoming a Child Friendly City. It was envisaged as a tool to assist in informing the community’s decision-making about how together we can work on addressing the health and well-being issues of Launceston's children.
There followed a period of community engagement, including "The State of Launceston Children Summit", coordinated by Anglicare in August 2014. The summit participants identified areas of priority from the Report findings to focus on moving forward. A number of conversations were held with the community and providers through to the end of 2014. At this time Anglicare, as facilitating partner for the Launceston and East Tamar Communities for Children site, was exploring a collective impact approach and also reviewing its governance model.
In 2015, the then Communities for Children Council (on which City of Launceston officers were represented), was dissolved and a new governance structure was put in place, with a new Council with changed membership and focussed on funding priorities, as well as local committees identifying local area needs using a collective impact approach. This effectively also dissolved the Child Friendly City working group. The "Every Child Succeeds" initiative was launched by CFC at the same time as a collective impact approach to attaining better outcomes for Launceston and the Tamar Valley's children. It appears to be around this time that the focus of efforts shifted away from directly seeking UNICEF Child Friendly City status for Launceston. City of Launceston
COUNCIL AGENDA 99 Thursday 17 September 2020
12.1.1 Councillors' Question on Notice - Councillor D C Gibson - Cultural Strategy and Child Friendly City - 7 September 2020 …(Cont’d)
In conclusion, while Council did give its in-principle support to support to Launceston
pursuing Child Friendly City status in 2013 and has engaged with the community in the
manner outlined above, the action has not been included in the Council’s annual work
plans for many years and accordingly, it has not been resourced as a priority action. It is
suggested that if the Council still believes that this is an important initiative to pursue, then
it needs to be workshopped and re-prioritised in future.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Councillor's Questions on Notice - Councillor D C Gibson - 7 September 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment