Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Catherine McGuinness, Wendy Mead and Trevor Phillips.

The Chairman welcomed Graham Packham, the new Chairman of the Culture, Heritage & Libraries Committee, to his first Barbican Centre Board meeting.

There were none.

To approve the public minutes and summary of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 24 May 2017.

The public minutes and summary of the Board meeting held on 24 May 2017 were approved.

To receive the draft public minutes and summary of the Finance Committee of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 28 June 2017.

The draft public minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2017 were received.

To receive the draft public minutes and summary of the Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board held on 28 June 2017.

The draft public minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2017 were received.

Report of the Managing Director.

Members received a report of the Managing Director providing updates from the Barbican Directors on their respective areas.

The Board was delighted to note that the Barbican’s National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) application to the Arts Council had been awarded the full requested amount of £480,000 per annum for four years. It was also pleasing to observe that feedback on the application had improved significantly from the previous round of funding.

Following on from discussions at the recent meeting of the Board’s Finance Committee, Members asked a number of queries concerning the ongoing “Into The Unknown” exhibition. The Chief Operating & Financial Officer advised that, whilst the show was not currently performing as well as expected, attendance levels had started to increase in the last week and it was anticipated that the imminent school holidays would see attendances rise further. Notwithstanding this, interest in the show across the pre-arranged international programme was strong and the show was therefore very likely to generate additional income when on tour. Members reiterated importance of taking risks to the integrity and success of the artistic programme, noting that it was inevitable that some exhibitions would be less commercially successful than others. It was particularly noted that the metrics of success were not limited to raw audience numbers observing that, even if the number of visitors was comparatively low, shows that attracted new audiences and demographics to the Barbican could be considered successes and delivering on the Barbican’s mission.

Noting that discussions were ongoing with the Bank of England with respect to the use of the Barbican car park, Members suggested that it would beneficial to use the opportunity to raise the prospect of corporate membership.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Board received a report of the Town Clerk setting out the outstanding actions list and noted the various updates and additions. The forthcoming workplan for Board meetings was also noted.

It was agreed that the outstanding item concerning invitations to INVAC training should now be deleted from the list of actions.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Director of Arts.

The Board received a report of the Director of Arts proposing the adoption of an Ethics Policy, which would be designed to ensure the Barbican had a clearly defined process and framework for making ethical decisions and that it was consistent and accountable in the choices it made.

It was noted that the Risk Committee had strongly endorsed the adoption of the policy, which was appended to the report.

RESOLVED: That the Ethics Policy, as set out in the appendix to the report, be adopted.

Joint report of the Director of Arts and the Head of HR.

The Board received a joint report of the Director of Arts and the Head of HR concerning work undertaken to develop and implement a new Equality and Inclusion Strategy.

Although listed as a “for information” report, it was observed that the Board should in fact be being asked to consider and approve the strategy presented for adoption.

Members expressed their strong support for the strategy; however, it was observed that without baseline figures it would be very difficult to assess progress and set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The Head of HR advised that benchmarking data for staff was currently available and he was confident that the audience research project should also provide baseline figures in respect of that area. However, data collection for artists had only recently begun and therefore might take a reasonable period of time to build up. He also cautioned that it was not possible to make it compulsory for all individuals to submit accurate data, so there could never be full confidence that figures would be entirely accurate; notwithstanding this, the Barbican would strive to collate as accurate information as possible.

With reference to the individual department plans which were tabled, it was also noted that gender and ethnicity were not the only protected characteristics and the Head of HR was urged to look across all such items, as well as the intersections where possible.

RESOLVED: That the Equality and Inclusion Strategy, as set out in the report, be endorsed and approved.

Report of the Director of Arts.

N.B. – to be read in conjunction with the non-public sections and appendix at Item X.

The Board received a report of the Director of Arts providing an update on performance over the past year and setting out the opportunities, challenges and plans for the coming period.

Members congratulated the Head of Visual Arts on a successful year, commenting on the impressive variety of exhibitions and the subsequent diversity of audiences attracted.

The benefits of the partnership models increasingly being used were discussed, with the Head of Visual Art commenting that it allowed the Barbican to be more ambitious with its programming and take more risks. Given the significant increases in partnership income over the past year or so, the Head of Finance & IT suggested that there was need to consider how this was report in the annual art-form updates in future.

Noting the increasingly international popularity of the programme, particularly with reference to the forthcoming Basquiat exhibition, it was suggested that thought should be given to an international strategy which would raise the profile of the Barbican globally and assist in attracting more diverse audiences and increase the development team’s fundraising opportunities. The Director of Arts advised that work was already underway on such a strategy and this would be presented to the Board in the coming months.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Director of Learning & Engagement.

N.B. – to be read in conjunction with the non-public appendix at Item X.

The Board received a report of the Director of Learning & Engagement providing an update on performance over the past year and setting out the opportunities, challenges and plans for the coming period.

Members commended officers for the excellent work that had taken place over the past year, commenting that it was particularly pleasing to note the significant amount of Creative Learning activity that had taken place and the difference that it had made to such a large number of schools and individuals. Given the Barbican’s mission was about arts and learning both, it was vital to ensure that due weight was accorded to the real and lasting impact made in this area.

It was noted that it had been a very strong year, with the department having consolidated and built on previous activity to grow and expand its work. The engagement with some 35,000 people this year was particularly noted, as were the successful re-organisation of the department and the realisation of key strategic initiatives such as the associate schools programme and the expansion of the Barbican Box programme to Manchester.

With respect to the associate schools programme, it was confirmed that a key element was to develop legacy plans so that there was clarity around know what the relationship with the Barbican would be at the end of the three year period. This was designed to encourage schools towards a level of independence, mitigating against the risk of dependency on the Barbican for the continuation of programme; part of this was the organisation of participating schools into ‘clusters’, so that they were able to support each other and have networks in place at the end of the three-year periods.

It was agreed that there was real scope for doing more across digital platforms, with officers advising that they were

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION – That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items, on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of Exempt Information, as defined in Part 1, of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act

RESOLVED – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public Minutes of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 24 May 2017.

The non-public minutes of the Board meeting held on 24 May 2017 were approved as a correct record.

To receive the draft non-public minutes of the Finance Committee of the Barbican Centre Board held on 28 June 2017.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2017 were received.

To receive the draft non-public minutes of the Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board held on 28 June 2017.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2017 were received.

To be considered in conjunction with Item X.

The Board received the non-public appendices to be read in conjunction with item 8.

To be considered in conjunction with Item X.

The Board received the non-public appendices to be read in conjunction with item 9.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered and approved a report of the Town Clerk proposing a review of the Board’s skills and areas of expertise, with a view to informing future recruitment.

Report of the Director of Learning & Engagement.

The Board received a report of the Director of Learning & Engagement concerning the purchase of a new ticketing system.

Report of the Principal, Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

The Board received a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (GSMD) concerning the GSMD’s progress in developing its new strategic plan.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Board received a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer which set out the latest fundraising results against budget.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer

setting out the Business Review for the Period 2 Accounts 2017/18.

Report of the Managing Director.

The Committee received a report of the Managing Director providing an update

in respect of the Barbican’s Strategic Plan and Service Based Review Targets.

Report of the Director of Operations & Buildings.

The Board received a report of the Director of Operations & Buildings updating Members on the key risks facing the Centre and detailing the steps being taken to mitigate these risks.

The Director of Operations & Buildings to be heard.

The Director of Operations & Buildings provided Members with an oral update on security matters.

Report of the Managing Director.

The Board received a report of the Managing Director setting out the final outturn position for the final year (2016/17) of the Cap 3 period, comparing actual expenditure to anticipated expenditure for the period and explaining significant variances. The report also detailed those projects which would now be delivered in the 2017/18 year.

Report of the Managing Director.

The Board received a report of the Managing Director providing information on a project concerning the maintenance and replacement of foyer furniture at the Barbican.

Report of the Director of Operations & Buildings.

The Board received a report of the Director of Operations & Buildings concerning a project of remedial works associated with the Art Gallery roof.

Report of the Managing Director.

The Board received a report of the Managing Director concerning a refurbishment project in the Curve Gallery.

Report of the Director of Operations & Buildings.

The Board received a report of the Director of Operations & Buildings concerning a project to install a new fire alarm system.

Report of the Director of Operations & Buildings.

The Board received a report of the Director of Operations & Buildings providing updates on those projects across the Barbican Campus.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board received a report of the Town Clerk advising of one action taken under delegated authority since the last meeting.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.