Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mark Boleat, Tom Hoffman, Sheriff Wendy Mead, Alderman Dr Andrew Parmley, Henrika Priest and Alderman Fiona Woolf.

Sylvia Moys declared a personal interest in item 15 as a Patron of Spitalfields Music.

Order of the Court of Common Council, 19 April 2012, appointing the Committee and approving the Committee’s Terms of Reference (copy attached).

The Order of the Court of Common Council held on 19 April 2012, appointing the Committee and approving the Committee’s Terms of Reference was received.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.  A list of Members eligible to stand was read and John Scott being the only Member expressing a willingness to serve was declared to have been elected as Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30. A list of Members eligible to stand was read and Vivienne Littlechild being the only Member expressing a willingness to serve was declared to have been elected as Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk relative to the appointment of Sub Committees for the ensuing year (2012/2013).

The Town Clerk read a list of Members wishing to stand as representatives of the Keats House Consultative Committee, and with three Members indicating their willingness to stand for two positions, a ballot was taken and votes were cast as follows:-

There being no further ballots it was,

RESOLVED – That the following memberships be agreed: - 

To approve the public minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2012.

The public minutes of the meeting held on 12 March were approved.

Matters Arising: -

Transfer of Responsibility for Festival Funding Budgets and oversight of the Museum of London Spending

The Chief Executive of Spitalfields Music advised that there could be ways of arranging a representative of the City of London Corporation to sit on the governing body of Spitalfields Music and that this would be investigated further.

Culture, Heritage and Libraries Department Business Plan 2012/13

The Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries informed Members that the requested draft paragraph for use in all relevant Business Plans relating to the provision of cultural activities by the organisation would be progressed in the context of developing the new Cultural Strategy.

It was noted that an eBooks service had been launched by the City Corporation’s lending libraries.

It was noted that the City Surveyor would write to all Members of the Committee within two weeks of the meeting to explain the latest position regarding the screen at the base of the Monument.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk presenting the recommendation of City Arts Initiative Group which met on 10 April to discuss five applications to be placed around the City.

Members asked to be reminded where the funding for such art projects came from and whether the Streets and Walkways Committee had been asked for their approval of this report. The Town Clerk responded that applications for public art generally come with funding already attached and that the Streets and Walkways Committee would consider such applications as appropriate.

The Town Clerk stated that the application from Red Ball should be made subject to the City Surveyor being satisfied that there would be no negative impact upon the structure of the bridge.

RESOLVED: - That –

(i)            the Red Ball application be approved subject to the City Surveyor being satisfied that there would be no negative impact upon the structure of the bridge;

(ii)           a reduced scale BT Art Box scheme be approved with ArtBoxes located at New Change, Newgate Street, Bishopsgate (subject to TfL approval), subject to Planning Permission and resolution of technical issue to the satisfaction of the Director of the Built Environment; and

(iii)          the application to place the Pillar of Friendship in the green space at the junction of Little Trinity Lane and Queen Victoria Street be refused

Report of the Chamberlain (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of The Chamberlain seeking Members approval to the use of London Metropolitan Archives as a Corporate Disaster Recovery Centre.

The Chairman stated that he preferred Option 1 (paragraph 7 of the report) which was to build a computer room of approximately 50m² adjacent to the existing IT computer room at the London Metropolitan Archives. 

RESOLVED – That subject to the Outline and Detailed Options Appraisal approval of the Project Sub Committee and Resource Allocation Sub-Committee, the use of the London Metropolitan Archives as part of the City’s critical disaster recovery infrastructure be approved.

Presentation by the Visitor Development and Services Director, Culture, Heritage and Libraries.

The Committee received a comprehensive presentation by the Visitor Development and Services Director of the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Department updating Members on the tourism element of Tower Bridge.

The Chairman thanked staff at Tower Bridge for their efforts.

Members queried whether consideration had been given to a ticket deal arrangement with the Tower of London & Historic Royal Palaces to which the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries responded that whilst the enthusiasm was not currently there for such a deal the City Corporation was on good terms with the both organisations.

A further query was raised as to whether the former Bridge Master’s accommodation could be used as a honeymoon suite, particularly as weddings were already taking place at Tower Bridge. The Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries responded that a feasibility study assessing the demand for and costs of using the accommodation as a honeymoon suite was underway and that the matter would be considered once this had been completed.

Another query was raised regarding the capacity of the bridge to which the Director responded that last year they accommodated a footfall of 515,000 and that due to weight restrictions there was a limit of 250 people on the new walkway at a time. He added that even with this number and the Olympic ring installation there would be no safety concerns.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries (copy attached).

The Board received a report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries informing Members on progress made against the Corporate Investors in People Action Plan.

The Chairman welcomed the report and requested that Intercoms, the Departmental Staff Newsletter, be emailed to all Members to keep them informed.

Members indicated that it was hard to note how the department was doing against targets from the current headings, to which the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries responded that there was a lack of precedent due to the newness of the report template but that he would consider Members’ feedback when preparing future reports.

RECEIVED.

Verbal update from the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries.

The Committee received a verbal update of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries on progress made in formulating the Cultural Strategy of the City Corporation.

Members were informed by the Director that a draft Cultural Strategy had been completed and that the next stage of the process would be to send the document back to the internal Members group. He added that a new version of the Cultural Strategy would be taken to the next meeting of this group on 15 June 2012 and that he hoped the Cultural Strategy would be submitted to the next meeting of the Committee for endorsement.

RECEIVED.

Verbal update from the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries.

The Committee received a verbal update of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries on developments at 10 Keats Grove.

The Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries informed Members that the City of London had assumed full responsibility for the former Heath Library premises (now known as 10 Keats Grove) from the London Borough of Camden on 16 April. Camden had completed their dilapidations work and the City had undertaken some improvements to the events space. He further informed Members that agreement had been reached and a licence had now been issued for the Keats Community Library to run a community library on-site. 

The Director also drew Members attention to the Keats Festival 2012 programme of events leaflets that had been laid around the table.

Members queried whether the licence issued to the Library covered the costs of maintaining the building to which the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries responded that whilst the actual costs of running the building were still being calculated, the London Borough of Camden, as reported to this Committee at its meeting on 12 March, had estimated the premises  costs for 2011-12 as £30,000. The Keats Community Library was currently paying an annual fee of £22,500 and the Director advised that he was looking to make up any gap through the hire of the excellent new event space.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries summarising progress made during the fourth quarter of 2011-12 in delivering the Keats House Business Plan. The report updated Members on the present position concerning Ten Keats Grove in relation to which the City had begun to develop its own programme of events and activities in support of the Keats House Charity. It further added that a licence had been granted to Keats Community Library for it to run a library service on the premises.

RESOLVED – That this report be noted.

Report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries seeking approval to fund Spitalfields Music for 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 with a grant of £45,000 per annum.

The Chairman welcomed the report and added that he was impressed with the money raising ability of Spitalfields Music and the accomplishments that schools and children had achieved through the organisation.

In response to a Members question, the Chief Executive of Spitalfields Music informed the Committee of a particularly successful project the organisation had undertaken where musicians had been taken into the Royal London Hospital for a period of 10 weeks to compose special lullabies with the intention of soothing difficult births and bringing new-born babies and their families closer together. She added that this project had provided some early evidence that music aided babies’ recoveries.

RESOLVED – That the Finance Committee be recommended to fund Spitalfields Music for 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 with a grant of £45,000 per annum which represents a 10% cut to the previous level of grant to the organisation, in line with that applied to other City arts organisations.

1)    Guildhall Bookshop (future plans)

In answer to a Member’s question the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries responded that the future use of the space was being considered as part of a wider review that was underway examining how to make more effective use of areas of the Guildhall complex. He added that he would like to see the space used as a flexible space for seminars and networking events and that this would be a formalisation of what it was currently being used for.

The Chairman added that he would ask the City Business Library to give a presentation on their work at a future meeting.

2)    Terms of Reference

In answer to a Member’s question regarding the Committee’s Terms of Reference, the Chairman agreed that the Committee should ideally be updated on the present position regarding each of the matters within their Terms of Reference by the end of each civic year.

3)    Celebrate the City & Keats Festival Leaflets

Leaflets were laid around the table by the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries.

There were no urgent items.

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.

Item No.                                                          Exemption Paragraph(s)

19, 20                                                                        3

21, 22                                                                        -

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.