Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Wendy Hyde and Deputy Dr Giles Shilson.

The Chairman also welcomed Jonathon Poyner, the new Director of Operations & Buildings, to his first meeting.

There were none.

To approve the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 8 November 2016.

The public minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2016 were approved.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee noted the various outstanding actions and the updates provided thereon.

With reference to the Diversity and Inclusion action, it was noted that a meeting was shortly to be confirmed for 13 February.

In discussing Board Appointments, it was advised that Roly Keating would be resigning from the Board following his recent appointment to the Board of Channel Four. There was still some uncertainty as to the exact date of Mr Keating’s departure and an email would be circulated to the Board once this was known. The result of this would be that there would now be four vacancies on the Board arising at the end of March and it was confirmed that thought was being given to a diverse range of prospective candidates, which would be reviewed initially by the Nominations Committee. It was also confirmed that thought was being given to the establishment of a more structured induction programme for Board Members and a paper would also be going forward to the Nominations Committee.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer concerning a project to replace the Theatre Main House Dimmers and the Pit Theatre Dimmers and Control.

Members stressed the importance of ensuring that lessons learnt were recorded and used while preparing future projects, so as to avoid errors being repeated. The Head of Projects confirmed that a report had recently been drafted providing an evaluation of lessons learnt from all projects conducted by the Centre in recent years, with the Director of Operations & Buildings reassuring Members that processes were being tightened to ensure that a programme of continual improvement was in place.

In discussing the particular tendering issues that had been associated with this project, Members expressed concern that the weighting of the scoring matrix was insufficiently nuanced to allow for tenders that were markedly over budget to be discarded. Concerns were also raised over the fact that the overall budget had had to be disclosed as part of the second tender, which might have had the unintended consequence of resulting in tender submissions being inflated. The Head of Projects undertook to raise these concerns with colleagues in the Procurement Team.

It was also confirmed that the “anti-grope” lighting referred to in the report was low-level background lighting used when the theatre was dark for performances. This allowed for audience members to find their way around during performances should they need to leave the theatre, for technicians backstage to see what they were doing, and so on.

RESOLVED: That the lessons learnt be noted and, following the end of the defects liability period and payment of any retention, the project be closed.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer concerning a project to replace lighting, small power and distribution boards in various locations across the Centre.

In response to a query concerning the nature of the project delays, the Head of Projects advised that the project’s initial rejection by the Projects Sub-Committee and the subsequent change in scope needed to gain approval had required the start of works to be delayed. Consequently, the delivery window had slipped and had then needed to be altered further to avoid clashes with pre-planned events at the Centre.

RESOLVED: That the lessons learnt be noted and, following the end of the defects liability period and payment of any retention, the project be closed.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer concerning a project associated with investment in coffee points and mobile bars at the Barbican.

In discussing the lessons learnt, the Chief Operating & Financial Officer advised that interaction across departments on projects was currently being looked at to try and further improve the clarity and efficiency of the process.

RESOLVED: That the lessons learnt be noted and, following the making good of any defects during the warranty period along with release of any retention, the project be closed.

There were no questions.

There was one item:

Bad Debts Annual Update

The Committee received a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer informing Members of a number of items under the value of £5000 that the Managing Director, under his delegated authority, intended to write off.

RECEIVED.

MOTION – That under Section 100(A) 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 I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100(A) 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 I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To approve the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2016.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2016 were approved.

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 8 Accounts 2016/17.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer (TO FOLLOW).

The Committee received a report of the Managing Director which explained the increases from the base 2014/15 Service Based Review (SBR) salary budget to the 2017/18 budget and aimed to show that the changes were necessary and business critical.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer concerning the catering and bar offer at the Barbican, setting out the financial position for a 12 month period as at the end of August 2016 and the actions being taken to resolve some performance issues.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer concerning the implications of the Government’s Museum and Galleries Tax Relief Scheme and proposing the formation of a limited company, with permission to trade and to become VAT registered, to allow the Barbican to participate.

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 Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

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

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Director of Operations & Buildings providing an update on the Barbican Centre’s Capital Cap programme and a number of non-Capital Cap projects.

There were no questions

There were no urgent items.