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57 (29) RIDDINGS POOL IMPROVEMENT WORKS – The Service Director Asset Management and Culture submitted a report seeking approval to proceed with improvement works to Riddings Pool ventilation and pool water treatment as part of the Free Swimming Capital Modernisation Programme.

The council introduced free public swimming sessions for those aged 60 (or over) and those aged 16 (or under) on 1 April 2009 running until 31 March 2011. The Government’s Free Swimming Programme was a £140m package offered to all local authorities in a series of funding programmes. The programme was divided into four distinct elements, these were described in the report.

The ventilation plant at Riddings Pool was old and needed replacing in the near future. The council had been offered a grant of £157,000 from Pot 4 towards the £214,600 anticipated cost of improvements at Riddings Pool.

Resolved – That the offer from Sport England of £157,000 to the council to improve ventilation and pool water treatment at Riddings Pool be accepted.

58 (30) BRIGG FIDDLE FESTIVAL – The Service Director Asset Management and Culture submitted a report for consideration of an application for funding of £1,000 from Brigg Fiddle Festival for the 2009 programme of events.

Brigg Fiddle Festival had requested a grant of £1,000 in support of their 2009 festival programme. Their application met the criteria of the Arts Development Grant scheme. The total programme was estimated to cost £16,980 in 2009. It was anticipated that £9,250 would be made on ticket and other sales.

Brigg Fiddle Festival had also applied for funding to Arts Council England Yorkshire, Brigg Town Council and Broughton School for the remaining money needed to support this event. Decisions on these grants were expected during April.

The estimated value of the event to the North Lincolnshire economy was around £40,000. More information on outcomes achieved by Brigg Fiddle Festival was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The officer recommendation was to fund Brigg Fiddle Festival a lesser amount for the 2009 programme to ensure the event could take place while encouraging the group to work towards sustainability without relying on public funding. A figure of £500 was proposed. However in light of the current economic climate the Cabinet Member agreed a figure of £750.

Resolved – That Brigg Fiddle Festival be awarded funding of £750.

59 (31) ART AND ART DEVELOPMENT GRANTS – The Service Director Asset Management and Culture submitted a report for consideration of the amount of funding available for Arts Grants and Art Development Grants for 2009-10, and for consideration of changing the names of the Arts Grants and the Arts Development Grants.

In the last three years the Arts Grant fund has been under subscribed and it was felt that the funding could be more usefully allocated. In 2007/8 only two Arts Grants were approved with a total spend of £1,550. In 2008/9 five Arts Grants were approved with a total spend of £3,600. The majority of requests for funding were for around £600.

The proposal was to allocate £3,000 for this grant scheme with a maximum grant available of £600. It was proposed to make the total amount of funding available in 2009/10 in the Arts Development Grant Scheme amount to £10,000. This sum would cover the ongoing commitment to the Ropewalk as part of its new Regularly Funded Organisation status, and other strategic initiatives which could arise during the year.

It was proposed to rename the existing two funding streams available to community and art groups in North Lincolnshire. It was felt that this would demonstrate more clearly the purpose of the funding and the difference between the two grants schemes.

Resolved – (a) That £3,000 be allocated to the Arts Grant scheme, with the maximum grant amounting to £600, (b) that £10,000 be allocated to the Arts Development Grant scheme, (c) that the name of the Art Grant scheme be changed to the Community Art Grant scheme, and (d) the name of the Arts Development Grant scheme be changed to Key Arts Organisation Grant.

60 (32) LEISURE GRANT AID APRIL 2009 – The Service Director Asset Management and Culture submitted a report giving details of the different leisure grant aid schemes in existence, and seeking approval of an application for financial assistance.

Resolved ­- That the applications be dealt with as follows:

Note: Reports are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and therefore require a suitable reader to view them. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).