Meeting documents

Cabinet
Tuesday, 17 January 2006

CA170106-16

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Division(s): West Central Oxford

ITEM CA16

CABINET - 17 JANUARY 2006

OXFORD CASTLE - HERITAGE INTERPRETATION CENTRE

Report by Head of Property

Introduction

  1. This report explains the overall progress with the Castle project, and in particular the proposals for the future management of the Heritage Interpretation Centre (known as the Oxford Castleyard Project) including the Education Room.
  2. Overall Progress

  3. The main part of the project has been substantially completed with the hotel and restaurants opened and evidently trading successfully. There are still further works to be completed on the main part of the scheme but it is currently expected that the Council will be in a position to issue a Completion Certificate by the end of February.
  4. The restoration works to St George’s Tower, D Wing and the Debtor’s Tower, together with the construction of a new tunnel linking St George’s Tower to the crypt below D Wing, the demolition of part of the prison wall at the base of the Mound, and the construction of the Tidmarsh Lane building including the Café and Education Room, were all completed by Oxford Castle Limited under the main scheme. Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) finance has been secured by the Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT) for the works necessary to complete the works to those buildings, construction of the new shop and ticket office, and the external works to the ‘Castleyard’ so that the Heritage Interpretation Centre can be brought into use. Those works are programmed for completion in early May.
  5. The County Council has appointed an Education Officer who will be within the staffing structure for the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies but will primarily be responsible for developing the educational functions within the Heritage Interpretation Centre.
  6. Future Management Arrangements

  7. From the outset of the Castleyard project it was intended that Oxford Preservation Trust would undertake the physical works through their grant from the HLF and other funding and that the finished project would then pass to a newly formed charitable company, the Oxford Castle Trust, which would be responsible for running the Heritage Centre. As a condition of the offer of a grant from HLF, OPT were required to review the proposed management arrangements and in particular to consider working with a commercial operator with the relevant experience to run the completed project. A review of all of the options for future management was undertaken and the preferred option was to work in partnership with an experienced operator. Negotiations followed which are now likely to lead to an operating agreement between OPT and the preferred operator, creating a partnership for the running of the completed development, now to be called ‘Oxford Castle – Unlocked’. The operators will pay a rent and profit share to OPT but will take the risk should the business fail to make a profit. Any rent or profit share received by OPT will be reinvested in the project.
  8. The operating agreement and the reinvestment of the available monies will be administered by OPT, via a newly constituted committee of OPT – the Castle Committee. This has been formally agreed by the trustees. The Committee will consist of the current six OPT Castle trustees who have been delegated the task of delivering the current project. The County Council has the right to appoint three trustees to OPT of their own choosing. They are currently Councillors Keith Mitchell, Anne Purse and Tim Hallchurch. It is intended that either one or two of these County Council trustees should be invited to sit on the Castle Committee and OPT would like to encourage the Council to appoint one of the three trustees for this specific purpose. In addition, it is likely that there will be co-opted members of the Castle Committee. These could include members of the current Oxford Castle Trust Working Group which comprises the four initial subscribers to the company together with other individuals who were approached as potential trustees. OPT have indicated that a further co-opted member from the County Museums Service would be welcomed.
  9. If these arrangements are agreed then there will no longer be a purpose for the Oxford Castle Trust. The Trust was established as a registered company some time ago but has not yet been registered as a charity and no trustees other than the four initial subscribers have been appointed. If the arrangements outlined above for the establishment of the Castle Committee as a committee of the Oxford Preservation Trust are put into place then it is intended that the Oxford Castle Trust will be brought to an end.
  10. Conclusion

  11. The arrangements for a commercial operator to be appointed by Oxford Preservation Trust to undertake the management of the Heritage Interpretation Centre will ensure that appropriate experience and resources are applied to the Heritage Interpretation Centre. Although the operator will be entitled to recover a profit should the Centre be successful, a part of that will be reinvested into the project and the operator will take the risks commensurate with a commercial enterprise. This will also avoid the need for the Oxford Castle Trust to be established as a registered charity and for trustees to be appointed who would be required to take on the responsibilities for managing a Heritage Interpretation Centre which would require appropriate skills, commitment of time and acceptance of risks. The establishment of the OPT Oxford Castle Committee with members representing the County Council, will ensure that there is appropriate monitoring and oversight of the management of the Heritage Interpretation Centre.
  12. RECOMMENDATIONS

    9. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED, subject to the completion of the operating agreement with the commercial operator, and the formation of the Oxford Castle Committee of the Oxford Preservation Trust with one or two members nominated by the County Council, together with other appropriate co-opted members:

          1. to agree that the Oxford Castle Trust should be brought to an end; and
          2. to consider whether one or two of the present County Council trustees of the Oxford Preservation Trust should be appointed to the Oxford Castle Committee, and if so which they should be.

NEIL MONAGHAN
Head of PropertyBackground Papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Neil Monaghan, Head of Property, Tel: 01865 815 712

January 2006

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