Councillor says Town Council lacks capacity for the community engagement needed, as draft brief proposes £6,000 for an outside organiser.
Just seven months after ending funding for Midsomer Norton Community Trust and opting to deliver events directly, Midsomer Norton Town Council has agreed to seek proposals from outside organisers for its Christmas lights switch-on.
At Full Council on Monday 14 September, Cllr Cheryl Scott said the Town Council lacked the capacity for the community engagement needed to make the event successful.
“We [the Town Council] do not have the capacity to engage in all of the community engagement that needs to happen in respect of organising an event of this nature to make it successful at the moment,” she said.
She said a Christmas event involving more people and greater community engagement would require bringing in an outside organisation to help.
The decision to outsource the Christmas event comes after the Town Council’s controversial decision in February to stop funding the Community Trust, which had previously organised the Christmas event and similar events for 12 years. Instead, the Town Council opted for direct delivery of events.
The loss of funding led to the redundancy of the Community Trust’s manager and the departure of key volunteers. Other volunteers who stayed to help organise this year’s Town Summer Fayre stepped away after the Fayre.
Midsomer Norton Community Trust is now understood to be in financial difficulty following the Town Council’s decision to withdraw funding.
Town Clerk Tara Bailey has prepared a seven-page draft brief and a report to Councillors seeking “experienced event management companies” to plan, coordinate, promote and deliver the Christmas celebration.
In her accompanying report, the Town Clerk said delivering a significant public event “requires considerable preparation and officer time”.
But who exactly would be approached to run the event remained unresolved at the meeting. It will now be down to the Clerk to decide who is invited to submit a proposal.
Cllr Scott said “it may be a community organisation who might step up”.
She said she did not think the intention was to approach a private company.
The Clerk’s brief lists the potential organiser’s responsibilities, including coordinating entertainment, traders and suppliers, arranging permissions and infrastructure, preparing safety documentation and marketing the event.
The Town Clerk’s report acknowledges the short period in which to obtain proposals and appoint a provider.
Under the agreed timetable, proposals from potential organisers will go directly to Full Council for consideration and appointment, without waiting for the next meeting of the Community and Events Committee, which was set up to oversee the Town Council’s events.
The draft brief sets a maximum budget of £6,000 excluding VAT. That must cover both the organiser’s professional fees and event delivery costs, including entertainment, promotion, equipment and any necessary stewarding, security and first aid.
The ability to reclaim VAT was one of the main issues raised when the Town Council decided to stop funding the Community Trust. However, reclaiming VAT charged by an outside Christmas event provider was not raised as an issue at the latest meeting.
The brief says the Town Council wants to “retain the established community character of the event”, indicating that the Town Council will keep to the traditional Community Trust format.
Seasonal music, school and community performances, Christmas stalls, refreshments and children’s activities will form part of the proposed programme.
The Christmas lights and tree will be arranged separately by the Town Council. Midsomer Norton Illuminated Carnival will continue to provide Father Christmas.
According to the brief, the organiser would manage the programme, bookings, site layout, suppliers, set-up and arrangements on the day.
They would also be expected to involve local schools, choirs, performers, charities and community groups, alongside shops, cafés, pubs and other town centre businesses.
Safety documentation, licensing, traffic and pedestrian management, first aid, waste collection and bad-weather plans would also fall within the organiser’s responsibilities.
Marketing and promotion would form part of the commission, including social media, posters, local publicity and coordinated promotion with schools, community organisations and businesses.
Providers would be asked to demonstrate experience of similar events, explain their timetable and give a clear breakdown of fees and delivery costs. Any extras outside the £6,000 budget would have to be separately priced.
At the meeting, councillors agreed that three proposals and associated costs would be presented to Full Council in 2 weeks on 5 October, for the appointment of an event provider.
Later in the Town Council meeting, Cllr Scott said the Town Summer Fayre accounts would be presented at the next Finance and Operations on September 21. However, despite her reassurances, the budget did not make the agenda.
The Town Council did not discuss seeking sponsorship for this year’s Christmas event, despite having obtained sponsorship in the past.
