Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Roly Keating and Brian McMaster.

Standing Declarations -

          Deputy Catherine McGuinness has declared a general personal interest as a Trustee of the Guildhall School Development Fund, and as Chair of Governors of the City Academy, Hackney, which benefits from work with the Creative Learning Department.

Cllr Guy Nicholson has declared a general personal interest as a Regional Council Member for London Arts Council England, a Board observer to Hackney Empire Ltd, as a Non-Executive Director of CREATE Ltd. 

Roly Keating has declared a general personal interest as a BBC employee with regard to the Barbican Centre’s connection with BBC’s Orchestras and the BBC’s Digital Partnership with the Arts Council. 

Christopher Purvis has declared a general personal interest as the (unpaid) Chairman of the Trustees of the Associate Ensemble. 

Standing Declarations -

Deputy Catherine McGuinness declared a personal interest as a Trustee of the Guildhall School Development Fund, and as Chair of Governors of the City Academy, Hackney, which benefits from work with the Creative Learning Department.

Councillor Guy Nicholson declared a personal interest as a Regional Council Member for London Arts Council England, a Board observer to Hackney Empire Ltd and a Non-Executive Director of CREATE Ltd. 

Christopher Purvis declared a personal interest as the (unpaid) Chairman of the trustees of the Academy of Ancient Music, one of the associate ensembles which, in the 2010-11 season, had an engagement at the Barbican Hall and had engagements planned for the future.

John Scott and Tom Hoffman both declared an interest as members of the Board of Governors of the Museum of London and the City Arts Trust.

Jeremy Mayhew also declared an interest as a member of the City of the City Arts Trust.

1.    To agree the public Minutes and summary of the Barbican Centre Board held on 30 May 2012

2.    To note the public draft Minutes and summary of the Barbican Risk Committee held on 21 May 2012

3.    To note the public draft Minutes and summary of the Barbican Finance Committee held on 2 July 2012

RESOLVED, That,

i)              the minutes of the previous Board meeting be approved subject to the following amendments being made:-

John Scott and Alderman David Graves were both present on 30 May 2012 and apologies had been received from Deputy Richard Regan.

N.B It was noted that as the Development Sub Committee was now dormant, Christopher Purvis would need to be appointed as a trustee of the Barbican Centre Trust in his own right rather than ex officio as chairman of that sub committee. This required no change to the constitution of the Board or Trust.

ii)             the Minutes of the Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board held on 21 May 2012 be noted; and

N.B:  It was agreed that the Risk Committee would be chaired by the Deputy Chairman of the Board at future meetings.

iii)            the Minutes of the Finance Committee of the Barbican Centre Board held on 2 July 2012 be noted and the following Officers included in the list of attendees: -

At the Chairman’s request, the Town Clerk agreed that, in future, the approved minutes of the Audit and Risk and Finance Committee of the Barbican Centre Board could be circulated electronically, with hard copies being made available upon request.

Report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries

For Decision

The Board considered a report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries seeking Members approval to a new Cultural Strategy for the City of London Corporation which sought to present a coherent overview of the City’s important contributions to the life of London and the nation around culture and heritage, with development plans that could be monitored.

The Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries advised Members that a new cultural strategy was needed to showcase the funding, promotion and support  which the City gave to UK culture and heritage projects and to create a framework for the future.

The Managing Director of the Barbican Centre added that the Cultural Strategy represented a key moment in bringing together the various cultural institutions of the City and co-ordinating their separate activities into a coherent whole. He added that it was a good plan of action for the immediate future, and that the Barbican especially endorsed and supported the idea of a cultural quarter in the City.

The Chairman welcomed the excellent work undertaken to compile the document and welcomed the emphasis on increased partnership.

Members had a number of comments to feedback into the Cultural Strategy as follows:-

Report of the Town Clerk

For Decision

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk, prepared on behalf of the Post Implementation Working Group which sought feedback and comments from Members on the governance arrangements introduced in March 2011 and the impact they may have had, if any, on the operation of the Committee.

The Chairman noted that since the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee did not have responsibility for some of the major cultural institutions funded by the City, including the Barbican Centre; it was difficult for that committee to drive the City’s cultural strategy.  In this context, the Members Cultural Strategy Group, which had been set up as a temporary working party to assist in the drafting of the Cultural Strategy, had proved to be a very useful body and it was suggested, with the agreement of the Chairman of the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee, that the Implementation Working Party be requested to consider formalising this group.

RESOLVED – That the Board’s comments in relation to the Members Cultural Strategy Group be forwarded to the Post Implementation Governance Working Party. 

Report of the Managing Director (copy attached)

For Information

The Board received a report of the Managing Director of the Barbican Centre updating Members on the six sections of the Barbican Centre.

The Managing Director of the Barbican Centre added that an outstanding weekend of work had just taken place beyond the walls of the Barbican which had gained high profile coverage and very good attendances, in addition to the continuing success of events at the Centre.

Members were informed that the Barbican Centre had attained 1000 red Members, which had reaffirmed that the current membership strategy was now moving in the right direction. The recent Lord Mayor’s Breakfast had brought together a wide range of digital stakeholders from the City and East London.

The Chief Operating and Financial Officer informed Members that there had been recent water supply issues with Citigen, but it was hoped that these would be resolved in the very near future. He added that there would be a contingency option put in place to link the supply of Guildhall and the Barbican Centre to ensure that the buildings would not be affected if such problems reoccurred.

The Chairman responded to queries about Members tickets for events at the Barbican Centre and reminded Members of the guide in the induction document which was available to all Members. The Barbican Centre wished all Board Members to attend events, and tickets would be found wherever possible for any event, but there were logistical and financial limits on the number available, so it might not always be possible for members to be accommodated. There would also be special events throughout the year that all Members of the Board would be invited to attend.

RECEIVED.

There were no questions.

There was one item of urgent business relative to meeting dates.

It was agreed that the meeting scheduled for 6 March 2013 would go ahead as planned.

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 (Paragraph 3) of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – 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 (Paragraph 3) of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

1.    To agree the non-public Minutes of the Barbican Centre Board held on 30 May 2012

2.    To note the draft non-public Minutes of the Barbican Risk Committee held on 21 May 2012

3.    To note the draft non-public Minutes of the Finance Committee held on 2 July 2012

The non-public minutes of the Board meeting held on 30 May 2012 were considered.

The non-public minutes of the Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 21 May 2012 were considered.

The non-public minutes of the Finance Committee of the Barbican centre Board meeting held on 2 July 2012 were considered.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Town Clerk

The outstanding actions of the Barbican Finance Committee and Board were considered.

A report and presentation from the Director of Creative Learning

For Information

The Board received a presentation from the Director of Creative Learning.

RECEIVED.

The item was deferred to a future meeting.

Report of the Managing Director

For information

The Board received a report of the Managing Director.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Managing Director

For Decision

The Board considered a report of the Managing Director.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Managing Director

For Decision

The Board considered a report of the Managing Director.

RECEIVED.

EXTENSION OF THE MEETING

At this point, the time limit for Committee meetings as set out in Standing Order No 40 had been reached, but there being more than a two-thirds majority of the Committee present who voted in favour of an extension, the Committee agreed to continue the meeting.

Report of the Head of Development

For Information

The Board received a report of the Director of Audiences and Development.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Town Clerk

For Information

The Board received a report of the Town Clerk.

RECEIVED.

The Board considered a report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer of the Barbican Centre and the Chamberlain.

RECEIVED.

Chief Operating and Financial Officer, Barbican Centre

For Decision

The Board considered a report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer of the Barbican Centre.

RECEIVED.

The Board considered a report of the City Surveyor and the Managing Director.

RECEIVED.

There were no questions.

There were two items of urgent business.