Denbighshire County Council - Agenda item - STORAGE SOLUTION FOR OUR ARCHIVE COLLECTIONS

To consider a report by Councillor Emrys Wynne, Lead Member for Welsh Language, Culture and Heritage (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet’s support for the preferred option for the future storage of the Council’s archive collections.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a) support Option 2 as the preferred option, i.e. (subject to a successful bid, see (b) below) to build a new joint archive facility on the Theatr Clwyd campus in Mold to relocate our archive collections from Ruthin Gaol and develop a community-based activity plan to reach all communities across Denbighshire. A detailed summary of the available options had been provided at Appendix A to the report;

(b) authorise officers to submit a joint funding bid with Flintshire County Council (FCC) to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) Wales, seeking a capital grant value of £7m to fund a new purpose-build net carbon zero building on the Theatr Clwyd campus;

(c) allocate £2,052,358 of Denbighshire County Council capital funding as our match towards the new joint archive facility, subject to the NLHF funding bid being successful;

(d) support the preparation of plans to enhance the visitor offer within Ruthin Gaol, including retaining an archive presence on site, and that the service will be open five days a week with digital service available throughout the whole time and an archivist service on at least one of those days, and

(e) confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix C to the report) as part of its consideration.

Having declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this matter, the Leader Councillor Jason McLellan left the meeting for the duration of the item and the Deputy Leader Councillor Gill German took the Chair.

Councillor Emrys Wynne presented the report seeking Cabinet’s support for the preferred option for the future storage of the Council’s archive collections.

The Council had a statutory duty to collect, preserve and make accessible documents of historical importance. A joint archive service with Flintshire County Council (FCC) had previously been established and, given both Councils faced similar issues with buildings that were no longer fit for purpose for storing archive material, there was a desire to find a joint solution. The problems associated with the archive storage at Ruthin Gaol were highlighted and the need for a sustainable solution going forward. The report set out the various options available and their viability. All options came with significant costs and potential risks but as the current arrangements were unsustainable and could not fulfil the Council’s statutory duties there was not a “do nothing” option. Therefore, a case was made for the preferred option for a new joint archive building in Mold (subject to National Lottery Heritage Funding) and proposals for Ruthin Gaol to enhance the visitor offer.

Councillor Wynne advised that the previous Cabinet had approved a similar proposal in November 2020, but the funding bid had been unsuccessful. The Head of Housing and Communities advised Denbighshire’s financial contribution would be just over £2m and would provide a resource costing £12m in total, provide more resilience for service delivery and better contribute towards the Council’s corporate priorities; prudential borrowing for the project would not be required until 2026/27.

Cabinet carefully considered the report and options available together with the rationale behind the recommendations and preferred option going forward. Cabinet had discussed the issue on a number of occasions and challenged officers to fully explore all options, particularly given the significant costs associated with the project against a backdrop of unprecedented budget pressures facing the authority with difficult decisions needing to be made regarding reduced services and budget cuts in order to deliver a balanced budget. The point was also made that the dire financial situation facing local authorities had been due to direct decisions taken by the UK Government over a number of years. Cabinet accepted that archives was a statutory service and that a solution was required and given the work undertaken by officers and after careful consideration of the options put forward, agreed that the preferred option as set out was the right one in order to ensure a sustainable and resilient service in the future and enable the Council to meet its statutory duties in that regard. Other benefits were also noted as detailed within the Wellbeing Impact Assessment to expand the Ruthin Gaol site which would increase footfall and boost the local economy in Ruthin and the surrounding areas together with plans to widen and diversify the service audience benefitting local communities and education.

Main points of debate focused on the following –

· Councillor Gwyneth Ellis noted that FCC would own the new archive facility and queried why Denbighshire could not own 40% in line with their financial contribution. Officers advised that FCC owned the land on which the facility would be built and discussions to date had focused on FCC owning the asset and being responsible for its operation and maintenance with Denbighshire having access for a peppercorn rent for 25 years with the option to extend that period as part of a Heads of Terms agreement. However, in the event of a successful bid the potential for a shared asset could be discussed further

· plans to enhance the visitor offer in Ruthin Gaol were discussed and assurances given regarding the specific intentions going forward which would be developed as a separate project alongside the joint archive facility, including retaining an archive presence on site and expanding that provision; it was suggested the wording of recommendation 3.4 could be strengthened to clarify that element

· it was confirmed that FCC’s Cabinet had agreed the proposal within their last administration and confirmed their commitment for their contribution in January

· elaborated on the difficulties if the bid was unsuccessful, including risks to the accreditation status and having to find alternative sites for archive storage which potentially could be outside of the area, and transport costs for both storage and retrieving archive material resulting in significant additional cost.

The Deputy Leader appreciated the hard work in developing the project and acknowledged the statutory responsibilities of the Council and the wider benefits of the project which together with Levelling Up funding would improve the economic future of Ruthin and the wider area. It was frustrating that the level of investment required came at a time of severe financial difficulties facing the authority.

The debate was opened up to non-Cabinet members. Councillors Bobby Feeley and Merfyn Parry spoke in support of the report recommendations which would secure the future of the archive service in the event of a successful bid and meet the Council’s legal duty in that regard. Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts was also supportive of the investment in Ruthin but queried the principle and prioritisation of investment given the potential cuts to other services such as libraries.

The Lead Member and officers responded to questions as follows –

· early indications were good regarding the likely success of the bid and there had been an open and supportive dialogue in that regard

· in the event the bid was unsuccessful a further review of the options would need to be carried out and a report back to Cabinet for a decision on the way forward

· highlighted the findings of the options appraisal and significant costs associated with other options which would likely increase over time

· referred to assurances sought at the Cabinet meeting in November 2020 regarding plans for enhancing the heritage attraction of Ruthin Gaol, service provision for communities and the role of libraries and the offer for schools, all of which were part of the current proposal including retaining an archive presence on site to be further enhanced through outreach work within communities and schools to extend the service with wider community access.

Councillor Rhys Thomas reiterated that the Council had a statutory duty and no choice but to approve an archive storage solution at significant cost and therefore it could not be compared with potential service cuts in other areas.

Councillor Emrys Wynne proposed an amendment to report recommendation 3.4 in order to clarify the expected archive presence on site, seconded by Councillor Gwyneth Ellis. Upon being put to the vote it was subsequently –