To consider any communications to be submitted by the Mayor or the Chief Executive.
Minutes:
Barnsley Cultural Services
The Chief Executive was delighted to inform Members of the Council that Barnsley’s Cultural Service had received national recognition in particular for their exemplar practice in digital engagement and also in supporting the Covid response to the digitally excluded and most vulnerable in the borough.
The Local Government Association had highlighted this national best practice and as a result, Barnsley was the only case study presented at the LGA Member’s Leadership Essentials Seminar on the subject of innovation last month. Officers had also been asked to lead a national seminar on the subject in March.
The National Archives had also highlighted the excellent work of the Archives Service in response to the pandemic in a best practice case study and Officers had also been asked to present at a national seminar for this. The success was underpinned by Barnsley’s Digital First Strategy.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport had asked Barnsley Museums to provide digital content to showcase their work during the pandemic to Ministers and the Museums Service had also been asked by the NP 11 (the Group of the 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships from across the North of England) to provide a case study for a campaign using social media and PR to showcase the importance of heritage, arts, culture and nature in debate about northern economic renewal post Covid-19.
The Chief Executive was sure that Members would agree with her that having this great success of the Cultural Services highlighted in this way was a great plaudit for Barnsley.
Councillor Cheetham, Cabinet Member of Place (Regeneration and Culture) echoed the words of the Chief Executive and he asked to place on record his personal thanks to Sue Thiedeman, (Head of Culture & Visitor Economy) and to the whole team for the fantastic work they did. He highlighted the importance of the cultural assets of the borough which not only had an economic impact but also, the service involvement with everyone, including the vulnerable, in bringing people into gallery displays, performances and events.
The Service had been taken forward in an unexpected way and the digital first strategy was one of many initiatives that had enabled the Council to support digital investment and working in new ways. The Managers at all Levels Strategy had encouraged staff to take on issues, to be innovative and to bring forward their own ideas and it was from these strategies that the cultural initiatives referred to had come from.
The Cultural and Visitor Economy Team had been doing a fantastic job and the Cabinet Spokesperson had been saying so at every opportunity and this was recognised by all Members. It was also commendable that the Team were being supported in doing so by the wider Council. The Cabinet Spokesperson and Sue Thiedeman had been asked to speak at the LGA event to talk about how the Council had managed to achieve both national and world recognition for some of the work that had been done and it was amazing to see how many other Councils were not doing things such as developing their staff and giving them the freedom to innovate in the kind of ways that had brought so much to the borough, its residents and visitors over the last few months.
In concluding, he asked to thank not just the Cultural and Visitor Economy Team but the wider management of the Council as a whole.
The Mayor also echoed these comments and added her own personal congratulations to the Team. She stated that the work undertaken had been recognised worldwide and she had also received many comments from local residents who had logged on to look at some of the virtual exhibits/material that was available online.