Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Room C, Civic Centre, Neath.
Contact: Gareth Borsden - 01792 636824
No. | Item |
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Welcome. Minutes: The Chair welcomed Councillors Angharad Aubrey and Rhidian Mizen from Neath Port Talbot CBC to their first meeting of the Committee. |
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Councillor Des Davies. Minutes: The Chair referred with great sadness to the recent death of Councillor Des Davies who was a former long standing member of the Committee. All present stood in silence as a mark of respect and sympathy. |
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Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests. Minutes: In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by both
authorities, no interests were declared. |
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To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record. Minutes: Resolved that the
Minutes of the West Glamorgan Archives Committee held on 14 December 2018 were
approved as a correct record. |
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2019/20 Revenue Budget. PDF 64 KB Minutes: Kim Collis presented the report of the Director of Place
which gave details of the Joint Archive Service Revenue Budget for 2019/2020
and the reserves held by the Joint Archive Service, which was submitted for
information only. He indicated that it was based on a
budget assumption of a 2% pay award but was otherwise again a “standstill”
budget. The table in the report showed the estimated position of the Archive Reserves as at 31 March 2019. He outlined that the Archive Trainee post would continue to
be funded from the Training Reserve. He referred to the importance of the
Trainee post within the staffing structure. Resolved that
1)
the report be noted. 2) that the continuing use of the Training
Reserve to fund the Trainee Post in 2019/20 be agreed. |
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Report of the County Archivist. PDF 180 KB Minutes: The County Archivist presented a report which outlined the work of the Joint Archive Service during the period December 2018 – February 2019. Use of the Service He reported on the use of the Service for the quarter and
detailed the background and rationale behind the quarterly statistics. He indicated that the annual figures for usage would be
available at the next meeting and would enable the Committee to have a better
overall picture of usage benchmarked to other archive services across the UK.
He outlined the Service’s performance for last year in comparison to that of
other local authorities. He referred to a significant increase in use by researchers of
the aggregated catalogue known as the Archives Hub. Use of this resource was thought to be the
reason for a decrease of the Service’s own online catalogue. Figures would be provided at the next
meeting. Committee discussed the importance going forward of the use
of social media to better promote the service. Service Outreach He detailed the Service’s involvement in the development of
an exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Swansea
achieving City status. He indicated that the Service had been successful in
bidding for a grant from Welsh Government to create the exhibition which will
be aimed at 11-16 year olds and loaned to schools. This new portable exhibition will be ready in time to be
displayed at the Wales Air Show in early July. A static version of the
exhibition will be displayed at Swansea Museum later this year alongside
related artefacts. He referred to an event at Terrace Road School where the
Service’s women’s suffrage exhibition had been displayed and which finished
with the unveiling of a Blue Plaque to Clara Neal, a former headmistress of
the school and a
suffragist/women’s rights campaigner. He stated that a copy of the exhibition on Jewish refugees
in Wales which had been lent to the National Waterfront Museum and other
museums across Wales had been brought back to the Archives so that it could be
loaned to schools and community groups in the area. He detailed the success of the exhibitions displayed at
Pentrehafod School and also outlined the various exhibitions that had been
loaned to other various organisations and bodies. He outlined that the exhibitions held by the Service
continue to be available for schools/colleges etc across both authorities and
he asked Committee Members to promote these where possible. Publications He referred to the successful launch in December of Jeff
Childs publication “The Paris of Llangyfelach: Landed Estates, Farms and
Families” which took place in December. Education Service/Talks to Groups He detailed the various schools and groups that had visited
the Archives or received talks and education sessions by the Service since the
last meeting. He indicated that due to there being several new Members of
the Committee, a visit to the searchroom and strongrooms could be arranged following
the next meeting in June which it was hoped could be held in Swansea Civic
Centre. Fees and Charges He outlined the proposed fees for 2019-20 and referred to
the various fees that were being increased. Resolved that the
table of fees and charges for 2019/20 be noted. Renewal of Archive Accreditation He detailed the process for the renewal of the UK Archives
Accreditation Scheme which the Service achieved for the Swansea access point in
2016. He indicated that the Service will receive an intermediately
review in the coming months as part of the accreditation process and referred
to the various actions that would have to be achieved to come through the
review successfully. Professional Meetings and Partnership Working He reported on the various meetings attended by staff during
the quarter. Archive Collections He reported on the list of archives received by the Service
during the quarter. |