Purpose

Decision taken by the Chief Executive in
consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Deputy Leader and
Cabinet Member for Finance and Asset Management and Service
Director – Finance

To provide funding to support the development of a volunteer
programme in Cultural Services.

To supplement the established Cultural Services staff team with a
group of volunteers to support the re-opening of the Stephenson
Memorial Hall.
To enable Cultural Services to operate as efficiently and
effectively as possible over the medium-term.

Content

To approve the requested level of expenditure,
as set out in paragraph 6.1 of the report, on the development of
the Cultural Services Volunteer Programme.
To approve the drawdown of funding from the Service Efficiency and
Improvement Reserve to meet the requested level of
expenditure.
To approve the establishment of the new post of Volunteer
Co-ordinator.

Alternative options considered

The Council could choose not to use volunteers
as part of the Cultural Services team required to re-open
Stephenson Memorial Hall. However this would require the
recruitment of additional paid staff, which are estimated would
cost £216K per annum. Due to the pressures on the
Council’s finances, this option is not recommended at this
time.