Councillors have backed recommendations to keep Ty Pawb 'in-house’ with Wrexham Council.

The Employment, Business and Investment Scrutiny Committee discussed the delivery model of Ty Pawb based on a report by CultureRunner yesterday, June 13.

The recommended option in the report is that Tŷ Pawb remains in-house, which was supported by the Advisory Board and the lead member, Cllr Hugh Jones.

This is to ensure the financial sustainability of Tŷ Pawb and ensure it is retained as a community asset. The report did also acknowledge that there is potential to develop Tŷ Pawb over the next five years so that it could be ready to possibly run sustainably and independently by 2029.

The other three models that were identified in the report were Tŷ Pawb operating as an independent entity (charity or CIC), the arts programme being transferred out into an independent entity, and Tŷ Pawb operating within a wider cultural trust.

Committee member Cllr Andy Gallanders said he found the report “lacking” and felt there was only one delivery model they could vote on, with details such as “footfall” missing in the report.

Cllr Hugh Jones  said Ty Pawb was “nationally and internationally recognised as a beacon in Wrexham” and that they could “deliver art to a national and international level.”

Cllr Marc Jones, however, said separating the performance and delivery model was not helpful, also suggesting that the report was lacking in areas.

He said: “We need to see what the performance is, to understand how best to deliver and what would’ve been really useful for example and what I find lacking in the report is any detail on the £514,000 income.”

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Concerns were raised that there was not enough evidence that things could be done best if Ty Pawb remains in-house, with the report mentioning little about the other models.

It was also acknowledged that keeping Ty Pawb in-house benefitted the 2029 City of Culture bid.

Cllr Dana Davies said: “What we’re basically saying here is the council’s priority of the City of Culture bid 2029, the current in-house model really strongly supports that.”

She also asked if other opportunities could be gained by another delivery model in the future, then “that’s not off the table?”

Cllr Jones said the bid is actually just 18 months away so there needed to be a “period of stability” for the build-up.

Concerns were also raised about what could be done about energy efficiency, but Cllr Jones said they “just didn’t know yet”, however, it is one of the council buildings that is being looked at.

Cllr Davies recommended the committee recognise the recommendation fits with the council's priorities at this moment in time, and that the committee would like a further report post the decision on the city of culture bid because they recognise that the model is “here and now”.

She also recommended that the performance report in October includes all historical information from September 2018 onwards to see covid and recovery.

Cllr Gallanders recommended that the makeup of the advisory board be circulated with members of the scrutiny group, and tried to recommend that all information on all options in the report be delivered to the scrutiny board. However, he was informed that there was no other information to be given as this was the only report they had received.